Emanuela Lorusso MSc Instrumental Analytical Chemistry, 2016

I have always loved science and I have always been interested in chemistry. It is a way of understanding how our world works, what the hazards of some substances are and many of the principles can be applied to improve people’s quality of life.

My experience at the University of Southampton and in particular my summer project definitely added value to my career and therefore allowed me to be considered for several positions.

I sent the application to several universities and I received offers from all of them. In the end I chose University of Southampton because of its great reputation and because it has high teaching standards.

Highfield is a great campus. It has all the facilities a student might need. Therefore being located at Highfield was great and I really enjoyed my time there. I was really impressed by the relationship between staff and students. I realised the staff were incredibly kind and available for questions, further meetings or workshops. Moreover, at the University of Southampton there are a lot of international students. This made me feel at home somehow and I was less scared of being regarded as an outsider.

My experience at the University of Southampton and in particular my summer project definitely added value to my career and therefore allowed me to be considered for several positions. I strongly think that my summer project helped me to strengthen my knowledge and clarify what I wanted to do in the future. Working in the lab with professionals and contributing to a scientific project also made me increase my passion in that field.

I am proud that I went to study abroad. In Italy, students like me usually decide to continue their career there, but I had an experience as an intern in Switzerland and I really enjoyed it. I thought: ‘’why not to start a masters abroad?’’ and I did. I had no fear and I wanted to change my life. I knew it would be a great experience and it really was.

To new students, I would suggest taking advantage of all the opportunities the University offers. There are a lot of fairs where students can meet their future employers and have a chat to start designing their future. I found this very helpful. All you need is to believe in what you are doing. Being a scientist might be frustrating sometimes, but patience and determination are the keys to achieve any goal.