Blogs

Being a pansexual student has often raised many questions. “What does it even mean to be pansexual?”, is one of the most common questions I get asked about my sexuality, so let me break it down for you.

The most widely accepted definition of pansexuality is that it is an attraction towards people regardless of their gender identity or sex.

It was only a matter of time until I found myself lost in Bologna, wandering under the 666 arches and eating my way around the city. 

Part of the reason I applied to Yale University was because the student body has a reputation for being politically minded. It doesn’t matter who you are or what subject you take, these conversations are always being had in classrooms and around campus. 

Taking a short break from my social media dependence was an experience that I won’t forget any time soon.

No one wants to admit how much time they waste on social media or how much it means to them to share the little achievements of their daily lives. And who can blame them? We all want to be liked and crave the attention that we feel we deserve.

Everything about social media, from its endless scrolling format to the pesky Snapchat streaks, is all cleverly made to be so rewarding that we never realise that it has been designed to keep us hooked.

At 7am, as the sun’s rays sneak between my blinds and my alarm rings, I open my eyes. Climbing out of bed, I open my dormitory door and knock on the door of my hall mate, Fiona, to wake her before heading to the bathroom to wash up.

Another day, another opportunity to make it count. Here is what a typical day in my life as a final year student at the National University of Singapore Business School is like.

I remember dreaming of university as a 16-year-old. I received excellent GCSE results and all I could think about was going to college, smashing my A levels, and then attending a Russell Group university and “living the dream”. I had planned to study outside London, and I was excited to move away. I had imagined that I would call my mum every week, and video call my brother, and have the best years of my life.

I phoned my father at the start of sophomore year to tell him that I had declared social studies as my major. There was silence on the other end of the phone for a little while and then he asked, “What’s that?”

Social studies is a degree that very few people outside the Harvard community, particularly outside the US, know about. I find myself describing it as Harvard’s version of politics, philosophy, economics (PPE), which is mostly true, but it also includes statistics and history.

If you don’t study in the United States, you have probably never heard of a historically black university or college (HBCU). Or you have and you aren’t entirely sure what they are. 

HBCUs are higher education institutions created before the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to provide higher education for African American students at a time when they were not permitted to attend colleges alongside white students. Many of these institutions were created with assistance from religious organisations.

As an electrical engineering master’s student at the Federal University of Itajubá (UNIFEI), which is located in the south of Minas Gerais, my routine is pretty unusual. I work part-time as an independent software consultant, and the other half of my day is dedicated to UNIFEI activities: attending lectures, working in research labs, mentoring students, teaching short-term extension courses and reporting to my advisers.

My day at a glance

When I started studying at Yale University in August 2017, I thought I knew what to expect. Fooled by a common language, I was unaware of the subtle but abundant cultural differences that awaited me in the United States.