November 2, 2011, by bbasb

My Advantage Award Experience by Adlan Wafi Ramli

After completing my first year as a medical student, I contemplated upon the time that had passed and realised that I hadn’t done that much during my time at the University of Nottingham. That’s when I was determined to do more than just studying for my degree. Upon hearing about the Student Associates Scheme from a friend, I decided to give it a shot. It wasn’t long before I learned about the Nottingham Advantage Award and quickly registered for it.

My friends were slightly puzzled as to why I would go for the Award as in their opinions; the employability of medical graduates is not that competitive compared to others. Nevertheless, I wish to make my stay in Nottingham worthwhile by gaining experiences outside of the medical field.

Being a Student Associate allows me to have an insight on how joyful the life of a teacher could be. Meeting the children at Portland Primary School in Bilborough absolutely lifted my spirits up when I was having a tough time at medical school. Moreover, the experience made me appreciate my teachers more and I became more competent in communicating with children.

In addition to this, I also became a volunteer at Nottingham University Samworth Academy (NUSA). Although the two modules maybe similar in nature, yet in this module, I was given the wonderful opportunity to carry out a research for the betterment of the academy. It was really interesting as my research requires me to conduct group interviews and that was definitely something new to me and a really enjoyable experience.

Last but not least, I chose to learn Arabic. The main reason I applied for this module was to have a deeper understanding of the Holy Quran. In addition, I believe it would be beneficial for me to learn another language as it would help me to converse with people in other countries. After all, when I went to Spain and Turkey last year; the second language that the locals frequently used after their mother tongue was Arabic and I can’t wait to go travelling again once I have become more proficient in the language.

The Nottingham Advantage Award is truly a must-do for all university students regardless of their ambitions. It certainly motivates me to aim high and bloom out of mediocrity.

Adlan Wafi Ramli – 3^rd Year BMedSci Medicine

For more information about all of the modules we offer, check out our Module Guide for this year which has now gone live on our website. Click here to view it now.

• Share on Facebook
• Share on Twitter
• Share on Google+
• Share on LinkedIn