immersed immersed
immersed January 2019 ISSUE 1
Happy New Year! This is the first edition of our alumni magazine, Immersed. Since our programmes began we have welcomed thousands of students from over one hundred different countries. All these bright young minds have one thing in common - they have all been immersed! With this in mind we’re launching this magazine to keep you up to date on key events at Immerse, developments among your fellow alumni as well as a range of competitions, features, and events. In this edition you will find an alumni update from a 2017 participant who is currently finishing his high school studies but has already set up several of his own businesses. We also have features on the impact of the internet on our brains, and education around the world as well as competitions, advice and our first alumni event in London. If you have any thoughts or ideas about Immerse that you’d like to share with us, then get in touch! Our students are at the heart of everything we do and we love hearing from you. Until then, we hope that 2019 brings you success and fulfilment! With best wishes, The Immerse Team
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Alumni Update: Erik Enger Karlson
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Internet Insecurity
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Student Recipe: Melting Mug Cake
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Competition
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Mentor Insights
Skills advice: 20 7 Tips for
Efficient Studying
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Immerse News
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Alumni Event!
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World update
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Spotlight On: London
Alumni Update
Erik Enger Karlson
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few months ago we reached out to our alumni to find out what you have been up to since you left your various Immerse programmes. Hundreds of people replied, among them, Erik Enger Karlson who studied with Immerse in Cambridge and has now set up his own company. We spoke to him to find out a bit more about his time with Immerse and his business ventures since then.
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When did you take part in Immerse? “I think it was in August 2017, I took part in the Computer Science programme. I didn’t know anyone else who would be there so that was a new experience in itself to have to get to know new people in that kind of environment where not everyone is from Sweden. There were people from
different cultures and so on but something that I was actually surprised by is how similar people still are all over the globe. And I think that might be the very best thing about Immerse was how fun and interesting it was to get to know people from all of these different cultures and backgrounds and see how they still could have the same interests and the same goals, that they worked hard.
people know programming but it’s not as common as it was when you were sat in a room each day with like 7 people who all had the same interest in Computer Science.”
I think it took maybe 4 days or something for me to feel fully settled. That was also a good thing I think, because we built more social experience getting to know people and not just settling with the first people you meet.”
Your mentor was Dylan, how did he contribute to your experience of Immerse? “He was a very engaging and fun person I’d say. I really liked him as a mentor he was always very fun to be around and even if we didn’t win in competitions and stuff he was always in good spirits and was really good at bringing us together socially and including people in the conversations. Also I’d say he was more of a friend than a leader, he was a leader too but he set a good example and encouraged us to socialise, he just put us at ease.”
How did you find the Computer Science programme? “I think that it was a good mix because I had mostly learnt programming before, and here you got the know more about other things such as AI and how databases work and stuff like that because Computer Science is so much more than just programming and understanding the whole picture was new for me. I also really liked the fact that there were a lot of people who knew a lot about programming so there were other people that were experienced and we could learn from both the tutors and from each other as well. Here in Sweden, some
How did your business start? “I’m still in high school but in my free time I do a lot of programming and stuff like that. One thing that I started working on it maybe a month after Immerse was my company which is called Catchergames. I didn’t know enough programming to create the whole website but I had this idea for what could be built. So I starting programming with the help of other people I knew and after maybe 2 months we had a full service up and running and started getting our first customers. It wasn’t entirely without problems because we had programmed the system ourselves and had tested the system only using Gmail emails. But the first school that used our service didn’t use Gmail, they only used hotmail and our system couldn’t deliver any emails to them at all. So they couldn’t log in to the service or anything but within two very intense days of programming we managed to solve it anyway.”
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What’s Catchergames about? “It’s a digital system that we built that is made to offer a fun and engaging experience or a game that is played at, among other things, schools, camps and universities. It is similar to some games that are already played in high school and universities in the UK and the US but what we have done is we have automated and improved this system. So normally it’s very difficult to organise these kinds of games, you often have to have thousands of bits of paper and no one knows what’s happen during the game. But with our system you type in the players at the start and everything runs itself. To explain briefly what it is, you could compare it to something from the movie, The Hunger Games but it’s non-violent. So it is played at, for example, a school and only people that want to be part of it they register themselves and then they get an email with a login code so that they can access our website or app. They login and there they can see that each player has been assigned a target which is one other person that has registered at their school or organisation, it might be their best friend or someone they haven’t even heard of before. They now have to find out who this person is through friends or through social media and then they have to find this person in real life and catch them. The catch can be done in different ways 8
depending on the organisation, but one common way is to sneak up on the person, say 5 metres away, scream “catcher” and then grab them before they can run away. The person who’s caught is then out of the game and you register this in the system and the player who caught someone gets a point. You also have to keep yourself safe as you have no idea who has you as a target so there is always somebody else who is trying to find you and this goes on for about 2 weeks often. There are also lots of special functions that activate with our system, so for example, for one day all the dead players come back to life and if they catch someone they come back permanently. Then after about two weeks when there’s only one person left in the game who’s the last survivor, they’re assigned the winner of the game and often get a prize of some sort. So this game is managed so that when you catch your player you register that on the system and that updates the scoreboard and the leaderboard so you can keep track of yourself on the app and compare yourself to all your friends and see whether your friend got caught or if your friend caught someone etc.. There’s also features like a snapchat filter which is very popular where people add this to their snapchat app and take pictures with a face mask inspired by the game or just of themselves having fun.”
How far has your business spread? First we focused on high schools in Sweden that play a similar game but here it’s called Killer Game. The problem with playing the game in its traditional format is that schools have such a hard time organising this with either some weird website that doesn’t work well or some paper notes all over the place but with our website it’s much easier. So now our system is used by the majority of high schools in Sweden that play these kinds of games which is very fun both because it is much easier to organise, it doesn’t take months
of preparation and also because it becomes an entirely new experience with these kinds of special features that activite. For example the leader board that allows you to compete with your friends and special events that happen within the game and the social media integration. We have also begun playing at universities in Sweden so most people probably don’t know much about Swedish universities but Lund and KTH [The Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm] are planning to play it for the next few months. Some of them have played several times already and are planning to play again in the future. We have also had a lot of elementary schools playing actually, even though we haven’t advertised to them but they have heard about the service through word of mouth so we have quite a few elementary schools playing right now actually.
Is there anything else that you’re working on at the moment? Yes there are a few different services that I’m working on. Mainly just Team Together which is a service for school classes and football teams etc. to earn money for going on trips as a group or for fundraising. They do this in unique ways. So here in Sweden it’s quite common to sell cookies or
sell candles to raise this kind of money but on our website we instead have affiliate leads towebsites where you can buy things that you would already buy like food and clothes and christmas presents. You buy this through the links on the website and about 10% of the money that the company receives from your purchase goes to the team instead. So the companies get advertising and the teams get money for their projects. Team Together recently received a partnership with Red Bull called "Red Bull Basement", which will provide us with offices, mentorship and other resources during 2019. Team Together will be released in early 2019 in Sweden and there are plans to later expand internationally as well. It's a very exciting time!"
You clearly have lots of ideas and you’re already working on other things, what do you think the future holds for you? “Well I can’t be too certain of course but I think that in at least the coming year I will be focusing on startups, especially when I finish high school in a little less than a year. I’ll work on Catchergames and Team Together and, when I can spend more time on it, we are also thinking of going with investors. We’ve met a few at events, which has been really fun. They believe that if we collaborate, it could become a household name. For example, everyone knows if they want to play a game with a child they could play catch but when you’re at university or a high school or summer school then you should think of Catchergames in the same way and make it an international thing. Games like this are popular but not as popular as they could be because they’re difficult to organise and there’s not much variety in the game comparatively.There have also been accidents with those kinds of games. With this service we have established rules and anticheating systems so that it’s very clear that if the players for example interrupt a lesson or if they hurt someone or I’ve heard of some people jumping out of windows, those kinds of problems are also fixed with our service so that it doesn’t create chaos.” 9
thinks this sounds interesting they could go to catchergames.com and they could tell their school, high school, university or student union that this is something that would be really easily done and something that would be a lot of fun.
THIVASHINI MUTHUKUMAR Thivashini has interned with PwC and is studying Economics and Management in Cardiff.
KATHERINE JARVIS Katherine is now in her second year studying Medicine at Oxford.
KATYA STOKES Katya is currently studying Law at Durham University.
What impact has Catchergames had? “We have actually done studies on the thousands of people who have played our games to see what they think of the game and improvements it has brought to their community. And the research has shown that a large majority of the players thought that it actually created a greater sense of community at their organisation and also created more of an engaging environment and more excitement in their everyday life which not everyone gets at their high school but this is basically like a video game but live action and you get to meet new people. If anyone
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ALUMNI UPDATE TO SHARE? We love hearing from our alumni! Get in touch to share your story or just to say hello!
ALUMNI@IMMERSE.EDUCATION
Internet Insecurity
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ast year the average person in the UK spent nearly 6 hours online each day, but are smartphones really damaging our mental health? How much time do you think you spend online? In 2017, the average person in the UK spent nearly 6 hours online each day! It cannot be denied that the release of smartphones 9 years ago has unmistakably changed the way we work, communicate and behave. We all love how easily we can now access social media and other apps, but excessive smartphone usage has been linked to mental health problems. Research focusing on how smartphone use may alter our brains is an important new topic is biology, psychology and psychiatry, partly because mental health problems are one of the main causes of disability and disease burden worldwide. Given that 63 % of the global population owns a smartphone and more than 50 % use the internet, our mental health as a species could be seriously at risk. So, let’s look at the evidence… The never-ending stream of entertainment from apps such as Netflix is often a tempting alternative to a good night’s sleep. Research has shown that smartphone usage before bed alters sleeping patterns, which may contribute to the development of depression and anxiety, particularly during adolescence. Sleep supports growth and development until adulthood, and helps our brains work properly by processing new information throughout our lives.
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The blue light emitted from phones causes a phenomenon known as social jet lag (sleep loss/ disruption) which can change how the biological clock functions. The biological clock is a mechanism in the human body that controls daily physiological activities, such as hormone production and repair to damaged cells. The suprachiasmatic nucleus, a brain region that coordinates the biological clock activities, is dysregulated by social jet lag. Dysregulation of the suprachiasmatic nucleus has a negative effect on important pathways in the brain such as dopamine signalling. Dopamine is an important hormone in the brain’s reward system because it transmits signals between neurons to influence mood. Changes to dopamine signalling can cause feelings of sadness and reduced motivation, resulting in a higher risk of anxiety and depression because our brains are unable to effectively compensate for changes to the reward system. Some anti-depressant drugs work by increasing dopamine levels in the brain to restore balance to the reward system and stabilise mood. Social jet lag caused by prolonged smartphone usage can therefore be harmful to mental health because the brain cannot function properly without a suitable amount of uninterrupted sleep. Excessive smartphone use can also have a negative impact on both concentration and memory. Van Ameringen, a professor of psychiatry and behavioural neurosciences, said, “Netflix, I think, is the curse of students ever achieving anything.” Heavy users are more impulsive, hyperactive, show negative social concern (helping others) and functional impairments. Many of these symptoms are associated with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). A study investigating the ability of problematic smartphones users to process numerical information demonstrated that heavy usage was associated with lower accuracy rates and reduced numerical processing capacity compared to nonusers. Similarly, first-time users using smartphones over a short period had significant reductions in numerical processing capacity and changes in 12
social cognition, such as anxiety regarding social acceptance and approval. These changes are due to reduced activity in the prefrontal cortex, a brain region responsible for functions such as attention, memory, decision making and social behaviour. The reduced activity in the prefrontal cortexoccurs as a result of reduced baseline level glutamatergic excitability, a pattern also seen in ADHD and Alzheimer’s disease. Glutamate, like dopamine, is an important neurotransmitter in the brain. Under normal conditions glutamate signalling between neurons plays a vital role in learning and memory. However, imbalances to glutamate levels in the brain can result in functional impairments, as well as tiredness and anxiety. The good news is that balance to glutamate signalling and other important neurotransmitters can be restored following cognitive behavioural therapy, a common form of talking therapy.
People with smartphone addiction have significantly more anxiety and depression symptoms than the general population. So what causes countless people to become hooked to their smartphones? Smartphones provide us with three main shortterm rewards (in the form of dopamine release): new experiences, validation and social connection. Notifications from different apps and updates from friends give us new experiences that make us feel good, similar to trying a new food or visiting a new place. Social media also offers us with a way of measuring our “social approval” level. We can constantly check whether people have agreed with us or liked what we have posted, which also makes us feel like we are an accepted part of a larger group. Smartphones have been designed to take advantage of our brain’s reward system, which makes it very easy for excessive smartphone use to become a habit for so many people. Paradoxically it may be possible to use smartphones to help certain people with mental help issues. It could be that some people suffering with mental health issues may benefit from anonymous online services or self-help apps. For example, people with depression or social anxiety do not seek help from others as often as the general population. This may be due embarrassment, confusion, preferring to only rely on themselves or other factors. It cannot be denied that smartphones are an important part of modern life. They make ourdaily lives easier and allow us to connect with friends around the world. For this reason, it is unlikely that we will ever get rid of such technology but perhaps we need to strike a balance between smartphone usage and other ways of filling our time. Your future and your health are in your hands, not your smartphone.
DO YOU WANT TO WRITE AN ARTICLE FOR US, OR HAVE AN IDEA YOU WANT TO SHARE FOR FUTURE ARTICLES? GET IN TOUCH!
ALUMNI@IMMERSE.EDUCATION
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Melting Mug Cake This is a great warming sweet treat for winter (if you’re in the northern hemisphere) and a good way to use up your Christmas chocolate...assuming you have any left!
Makes: 1 cake
Serves: 1
Time: 5 minutes
INGREDIENTS:
METHOD:
2 tbsp sunflower oil 1 medium egg 2 tbsp plain flour 1 tbsp cocoa powder Dash of vanilla extract (optional) 1 tbsp boiling water 1 chocolate truffle of your choice (we used Lindt Lindor) Ice cream or cream to serve (optional)
1) In your largest mug, mix together all the ingredients except for the truffle and ice cream/ cream until combined 2) Push the chocolate truffle into the centre of the cake better. 3) Microwave the mug cake on the highest setting for 45 seconds 4) Serve with ice cream or cream if you wish. Enjoy! Recipe and image from BBC GoodFood
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Difficulty: Easy
WIN AN INSTAX MINI 90
Simply share your favourite photo from your time with Immerse on Instagram. Use #Immersedphotocomp to enter
Terms and Conditions: Only one entry per person, applicants must be alumni of Immerse programmes, entrants under the age of 18 should see parental permission before entering, prize cannot be exchanged for cash. Entrants unable to submit their photo on Instagram should email their entry to the Immerse team. Competition deadline is 23:59 GMT on 28th February 2019. Entries submitted after this time will not be judged.
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Mentor Insights and Political Sciences (HSPS). I stayed on another year because there were topics within my degree that I wanted to study in greater depth. I particularly enjoyed The Sociology of Race and Gender, which I studied briefly in my third year. The focus of my masters degree is The Sociology of Marginality and Exclusion. Q: What encouraged you to study HSPS at your university and what other courses/universities did you apply to?
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ali Chinula caught up with Nathalie Holloway, former Immerse Education Mentor and Gonville & Caius College JCR President, to chat about her academic experiences and involvement with Immerse. Nathalie offers some great insight, including what studying at a top university is like and advice on how students can make the most of summer programmes like Immerse. She also shares anecdotes, secrets, and things she wishes she knew when she was 16!
Q: Hi Nathalie! Thanks for agreeing to this interview. What have you been up to since graduating from Cambridge and working at Immerse this summer? A: No problem! I am currently a masters student in Sociology at Gonville & Caius College, where I also got my undergraduate degree in Human, Social, 16
A: I was looking for a broad course because I enjoyed both humanities and sciences at school. I also wanted a course that investigated how the world works and how certain ideas of power structures, for example gender, are perpetuated. I found all of this in HSPS at Cambridge as well as courses that combined politics, international relations, and social anthropology at SOAS, St Andrews. Edinburgh, and Birmingham. I chose my universities largely based on various open days and course-specific events I attended. For examples, I decided to apply to Cambridge after going to an outreach workshop organised by Gonville & Caius College. Here, I attended interesting lectures on politics in China and interpretation. But the most important part of the day for me was getting to meet HSPS students who I could relate to and who seemed to love the course. Q: What are your favourite things about HSPS and your postgraduate degree so far? A: The best part of HSPS for me was studying Sociology. I think it is such an exciting subject because it relates to everything - you can understand anything from housing crises to the politics of hair from a sociological angle!
My favourite thing about my masters is that it gives me the chance to delve deeper into a field I enjoy by writing a dissertation. I had the option of writing a dissertation in my final year of HSPS but chose not to because of time constraints- I thought it would be difficult for me to balance a dissertation with my other undergraduate papers. But in postgraduate study, I have the time and autonomy for a long piece of work. Q: Sounds exciting! What exactly is your dissertation about? A: I am looking at the experiences of Black/White mixed-race students at Oxbridge to understand the relationship between students and whiteness and how that’s affected by different identities like gender, class, regionality, and sexuality. Q: What do you think is the most difficult thing about studying at a top university? A: Initially the workload and keeping your cool when it all feels a bit much. But I get through this by remembering that I got in for a reason and I have the tools I need to do my work.
Q: How did you come to hear of Immerse and what encouraged you to get involved with the programme? A: I heard about Immerse through a friend who was previously a Mentor. She told me about all the great experiences she had, emphasising how fun both the programme itself and its participants were. The fact that she got paid to have so much fun was the cherry on top of a pretty sweet cake! It was this glowing review from someone I knew personally that encouraged me to apply for a Mentor role at Immerse. Q: How many Immerse sessions have you been a part of and what did your role as a Mentor involve? A: I’ve done three sessions: the first was last summer after my second year at university and the last two were this summer after my graduation. My standard mentor tasks centred around looking after a ‘mentee family’ of students and helping with activities, running consultations etc. But there are extra responsibilities that mentors can sign up for as well, a sort of main job on the side. Mine was ‘Talent Show Coordinator’. I volunteered to take on this extra task in my first two sessions and it involved coordinating talent show schedules and rehearsals, organising a mentor act, borrowing instruments etc. 17
Q: What are some of the highlights from your time with Immerse? A: Definitely bonding with the mentors - I made some really good friends while at Immerse. It was also nice to see some mentees who hadn’t previously thought that they could fit in at leading universities really get into their lessons and start seeing these institutions as something which they could aim for. Taking part in Cake ‘n’ Canvas was another highlight for me. It was my favourite activity because it’s really relaxed and features some great music. When the weather was nice this summer, Cake ‘n’ Canvas was held outside in the warm sun and this made it especially relaxing. Q: What do you think is the best part about the courses offered at Immerse? A: What’s good about them is that they challenge students and take them to perhaps a slightly higher level than what they are studying at school. They also really show why a subject is important or why participants should study it at university. They give students a flavour of what university might be like. A few of the students I had personal statement consultations with said that the courses really opened their eyes. I think that also applies to some of the expert talks run during Immerse - these are
very good at making students realise why they want to study a certain subject. Q: Any funny anecdotes from Immerse? A: A few mentors fell into the River Cam during a kayaking activity this summer and it was hilarious! They were trying to help some students who had fallen in the water and ended up falling in themselves. Q: What are some of your fondest memories of Immerse? A: I have lovely memories of mentees saying things like ‘thank you so much, you changed my mind about top universities’ or ‘I made loads of friends and usually I’m quite quiet’. I also think it’s very rewarding when mentees later tell me they’ve got an interview at their firstchoice university. It shows that Immerse changed their opinion and they did something which they weren’t sure about doing before (i.e. applying to top universities). For example, a mentee I had consultations with this summer who won a Cambridge ACS Immerse scholarship but was unsure about fitting in at Cambridge has been offered a HSPS interview. Q: Any secrets you feel it’s time to share? A: Well, mentors were sometimes a bit late doing their night rounds and sometimes napped during
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mentees’ lessons. During my last session this summer, I napped twice a day on most days! Q: How do you think students and mentors can make the most of their time at Immerse? A: By making sure that they talk to everyone and keep an open mind about participating in activities. There are so many fantastic people that you meet from all over the world and you can make some really special friendships during the two-week sessions at Immerse.
A: Yes, I wish I’d known not to stress too much about the future and to just do my best in school. It doesn’t matter if what you want to do changes dramatically over time. I went through phases of wanting to study different subjects at university including Law, Economics, and English - none of which I studied in the end! I would get stressed out by this uncertainty because I thought it meant I was a mess and somehow destined for failure. But now I would tell my younger self not to be worried about this because it just shows curiosity and intrigue at how the world works!
Q: So, would you do it all again? A: I would love to take part in Immerse again if I had the time in summer - so get involved while you can! Q: Finally, is there anything you know now that you wish you’d known when you were 16?
DO YOU HAVE A QUESTION FOR ONE OF OUR AMAZING MEMBERS OF STAFF? Get in touch with our team at ALUMNI@IMMERSE.EDUCATION
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7 Tips for Effective Studying
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tudying and revision techniques are different for different people with different courses and subjects that one is studying, for example, students studying mathematics would mostly practice past papers seventy per cent of their revision time whereas, history students would hammer dates of the series of events, music students would practice their instruments depending on whether they have a recital or a written exam. When people describe their individual setting preferences for effective studying, it is not the same for everyone and is more of a subjective view. One may find sticking flash cards all over the walls effective and one may not read it at all, one may prefer jotting down notes to learn better and one may simply remember it reading them verbally or using flow charts for a better visual understanding. Instead of going through the personal preferences of studying techniques such as needing a green or white room to study in to focus better, having a large table space to study comfortably, taking caffeine to sharpen concentration, the following core tips are more for prepping the general state of mind for studying. It is often not the content that students find it hard to learn but the highly varied requirementof knowledge for the subject and the vastness of the subject itself.
1. Sleep on it – They say “sleep on it”. A study has shown that when you sleep (yes, sleep!) or nap or even a brief rest after learning new skills, you retain the information for a week. A whole night’s rest energises your mind and makes you even more creative which is the ultimate goal of any learner, to progress. 2. Mornings are the best time to revise – There is no time like a fresh start. A study shows that when you revise the things that you have previously learned, it is retained in the brain for months. The dots of the information that has been wired in the brain makes more sense easily without having to try hard. This is known as semantic processing or deep processing. 3. Have an open mind – To have an open mind is not only the best attribute to learning but also one of the essential life skills. Critical thinking and reasoning skills are acquired once you have an open mind. To have an open mind means to adapt to new experiences – only when you adopt does it make you not only think and acquire the new skills but also reason fairly, comprehend the new information and have an elaborate understanding. 20
4. Structured Learning – Structuring the way you revise has shown the most effective results of revision for exams. Reorganising the fashion of your revision in the order of how you have memorised the content earlier sequentially is called the ‘depth of processing’. It is directly related to your level of processing and acts as the function of memory recall of the stimuli. 5. Practising in the last minute – You may have had enough practice on how to write exam answers, paraphrasing or commentary for your English exams earlier but left polishing your skills to the last minute. This greatly affects your quality of work and your overall grade. The hard work you have put in earlier just ends up in smoke. Leaving practice or polishing what you have learnt for the eleventh hour is obviously a bad idea but on days when the time is not your friend, you can memorise the format by heart and apply it to the questions in the exam, reconstruct it if needed. 6. The Brain Food – Snack on foods that feed the brain rather than the cravings of your hunger pangs but at the same time, not to starve yourself. Brain foods release a slow energy throughout and stimulate and strengthen brain cells. Remember they improve your mental focus, not your IQ level. Brain foods such as salmon, tuna, turmeric, pumpkin seeds keep your brain in their peak working condition. 7. Be realistic on your planning – Being realistic leads to effectiveness. When you plan your study or your exam day, be realistic whilst flexible at the same time. Use your study time judiciously - whether you plan a group study with friends or to study alone, consider which contents of the materials of a subject are necessary for a group study and which are not. Observe the effectiveness of your organisation and make changes accordingly, short and sweet changes at a time nothing too strenuous. Most importantly, execute the plan! DO YOU HAVE YOUR OWN TIPS FOR EFFECTIVE STUDYING? LET US KNOW!
Fancy writing your own article? Get in touch! ALUMNI@IMMERSE.EDUCATION 21
Immerse News
2019
is set to be an exciting year for Immerse as we offer more programmes, more dates, more ages and more locations!
This summer we will be running programmes for 1115 year olds specifically focused around technology. The digital world is part of our everyday lives and it therefore seems natural that so many young people are interested in finding out more about the tech that they’re using, and the exciting career options available. Hosted at the Royal Hospital School near Ipswich, young participants will be able to learn about visual effects, programming, digital photography, and 3D design to name but a few of the options. We hope that these programmes will inspire the next generation to further their passion for exploring the things that interest them, and provide them with a foundation of key skills that they can build on in the future. As ever, our team of mentors and tutors will bring enthusiasm, energy and fun to each programme, ensuring participants leave with lifelong memories and friends around the world. Meanwhile in Cambridge, our academic programmes are becoming increasingly popular. This year we will be offering the biggest range of programmes ever as we now offer 9 different programmes for 13-15 year olds. Our programmes are available on 7 different dates to make sure as many people can attend as possible. Better still, this year we are also offering more scholarship places than ever to ensure that our programmes are accessible to everyone, no matter what their background. I can’t wait to welcome the participants who will be travelling from all around the world to furthertheir passion for learning with Immerse in 2019! 22
Alumni Event!
Join us in London for our first ever Immersed event! On Friday 22nd February the Immerse team will be in London for an afternoon of ‘catch ups’ and cake. This is a great opportunity to network with mentors and fellow participants and find out what they’ve been doing since their Immerse programme.
To register for this free event, please email alumni@immerse.education by 31st January 2019. Please note that spaces at this event are limited and available on a first-come firstserved basis so don’t delay!
Global Education
As a percentage of GDP, the UK spends more on education than any other country
In Haiti, less than 30% of children receive an education beyond the age of 12
In Ghana, one in four children do not receive primary education 24
In Cameroon there are an average of 13 children per mathematics textbook for children aged 6
In Finland, children do not attend school until they are 7 years old
Russia has the world’s highest literacy rate
In 2018, South Korea was ranked as having the world’s best education system in the world
Statistically, Japan’s education system has seen the greatest improvement in that past 13 years The largest school in the world, in terms of pupil enrolment, is City Montessori School in Lucknow, India. The school teaches over 32,000 students on a daily basis
In Malawi, there are an average of 130 students aged 5 for every available classroom
Approximately 1.75 million children in Syria are not receiving primary school education
In Iraq, almost 30% of girls aged 12 cannot read, that’s more than double the illiteracy rate for boys 25
Spotlight On: London
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s a young student, the world is your oyster and it’s a great time to go and explore. In this issue we’re taking a look at the best things to see and do in London without breaking the bank!
1. MUSEUMS In their hundreds! From the stiff upper lip of the National Portrait Gallery to more unusual Anaesthesia Museum, there are by far too many free museums in London to list here. For those often afflicted with museum fatigue*, museums are often home to excellent cafes as well.
2. OBSERVE THE LAW IN ACTION Members of the public can sit in on Supreme Court trials. A fascinating experience for law students and the nosey. Just check ahead to see if a trial is on.
3. RESTORE YOUR FAITH IN HUMANITY Visit the Postman’s Park, a memorial garden to commemorate the self-sacrifice of everyday heroes.
4. HAVE A LAUGH Visit the (not so) Top Secret Comedy Club for free on weekday evenings. Previous performers include Eddie Izzard, Sara Pascoe and Russell Howard.
5. GO CLASSICAL You can hear top quality classical music performances for free every lunchtime at St Martin-in-the-Fields church. 26
6. SEE THE CITY LIGHTS If you’re visiting London in mid-January, you might be able to catch the Lumiere Festival, the UK’s largest light festival with installations across the capital.
7. GO BIRD WATCHING
8. TAKE PHOTOS There are hundreds of great spots for photos in London. For a classic city skyline head to the Sky Garden. It’s free, but be sure to book your spot in advance.
9. GET YOUR SKATES ON The Sunday Stroll is run by LNFS and offers a free roller skating session for skaters with basic skating ability.
10. INTELLECTUALISE Gresham College runs an incredible range of free lectures from world-leading academics. First-come first-served and an incredible opportunity to hear from intellectual giants.
IN OUR NEXT ISSUE, WE’LL BE SHINING OUT SPOTLIGHT ON BARCELONA. HAVE YOU GOT SOME TIPS TO SHARE? Get in touch! ALUMNI@IMMERSE.EDUCATION
*a genuine condition first recognised in 1916: B. G. Ives, ‘Museum Fatigue’ The Scientific Monthly , Vol.2 No. 1, (Jan, 1916), pp. 62-74
If you fancy a stroll, head for St James’s Park where the pelicans, yes pelicans, are fed every day at 14:30.
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