Trip to Durham University

The trip to Durham university is certainly rewarding, inspiring and helpful. On the first day, we had to wake up really early to meetup at school. Despite the fact that some trouble took place, we successfully got on our bus to London as well as getting on the train at London. Once we've arrived at Durham, we first went to Marriott Hotel to put down our luggage. We then headed towards University of Durham to attend a talk regarding archaeology. Before attending the talk, I would've never thought that archaeology is correlated to engineering. However, after the talk, I understood the importance of archaeologists to engineers especially to civil engineers. By that time, it is already quite late and we went for dinner at a local restaurant that serves pizza and pasta. Unfortunately, there weren't enough seats by that time. But such unfortunate events led to us visiting the castle in Durham which acts as a student accommodation. After our short tour around Durham, we were able to get a taste of the food at the local shop. Following up the delightful meal would be some rest at the hotel.

On the next day, we first went to attend a talk held by the international office telling us the details of studying at Durham University as well as A-level requirements if we are to study at Durham University. We were then given a tour by a student around Durham University where we went around the campus checking out different collages and departments, as well as pubs in collages. Afterwards, we were able to visit the engineering department in Durham University. We were first brought to participate in a lab section investigating the efficiency of wind turbines in converting energy. It was rather challenging as the whole experiment is based on trial and error but we were then told how turbines are designed to maximize the efficiency. We then had a tour around the department as professors show us around different labs as well as telling us what the students have done in the past. At last, we had a chat with professors that specify in certain areas of engineering such as civil engineering and mechanical engineering such that we could learn more about what are going to be taught. I think the tour is quite useful as I am able to learn more about what types of equipment and researches will be done when I study at university. Before our dinner, we had a quick chat with different international students regarding university lifestyles and what collages to choose. Our dinner was as expected really delicious.

On our last day, we had a chance to visit the library of Durham University as well as having some free time to roam around the campus. We then proceeded to visiting Dominic's Collage, which was quite spacious and quiet. In the end, we successfully went back to Oxford.

From this trip, I think it's a great opportunity for us to know more about the subject of engineering, about how it works and how students cope with it. It also served the purpose of introducing the university to us and giving us an extra choice in the future when submitting UCAS applications. I am truly grateful for this opportunity and thank Mr Fuge  for his planning and relationships with the University.