Alicja Antczak

Why did you originally apply to do your chosen course at Birmingham?

I originally applied for Physics at Birmingham as I was very interested in quantum mechanics and saw that they had a quantum mechanics module in first year which isn’t true for all universities. Moreover, something that was really important to me was feeling like I belong; as such, one of the other reasons I chose Birmingham, was for its high gender ratio as compared to other universities. Finally, of course its high ranking in the league tables was a very appealing to me.

What do you think are the best points of your course?

The flexibility between different flavours of physics and as such a diversity of modules that you can choose. Whether you’re interested in particle or astrophysics you can give either of them a go without having to commit to an entire astro or particle physics degree straight away. Moreover, everybody is caught up to speed in first year meaning people like me, who didn’t do A-level further maths, aren’t left behind.

What’s the best thing about studying at Birmingham?

There's a lot of things to choose from so I don’t think I can give one answer but among others: the red-brick campus, the fact it’s so close to the city and the massive amount of societies and clubs that it has.

What’s the highlight of your time at the University?

The highlight of my time at university would probably be the societies that I’ve joined such as the Snowsports society where I got to compete in loads of races and other events but also met some of my life-long friends, the Poynting physical society which host annual Physics balls that I’ll remember long after I graduate and the Olympic weightlifting club where I again met so many of my friends.

What advice would you give to students thinking about studying on the course?

I think many people who come to study physics at a Russel group university are used to being one of if not the brightest in the classroom, and joining a cohort of so many alike students, can make your confidence waiver. University isn’t supposed to be easy, Physics isn’t easy, but it doesn’t make you any less bright. One thing I wish I could tell my younger self is that if you’re finding a topic difficult, its likely not because you’re not clever, but it’s because everybody is finding it difficult and that’s okay. At the end of the day, you’re here for a reason and you shouldn’t forget that. As tough as physics is, try to enjoy the learning process, its never going to be a completely smooth ride but I promise it’s worth it.

Is there anything extra students thinking about studying on the course should know?

If you’re scared of applying for Physics because you don’t think you’re clever enough, believe me nobody does, I didn’t think I was but here I am in my final year. If you want to do it, if you find Physics interesting, just do it, the most important thing in this degree by far, is a passion for the subject, everything else will follow; a little faith in yourself goes a long way.