Contributor Simon Peyda

{credit}Credit: Elina Peyda{/credit}

The World Wide Web celebrated a quarter of a century this year. I am old enough to have witnessed the advent of internet and yet vividly remember 8-bit video games, floppy disks, VHS and cassette tapes. They are memories that those born into the social network and smartphone-centred world of today will not share. As a biomedical alumnus, I believe in Charles Darwin’s “Survival of the fittest” theory. Thus I have wondered; how does my generation survive in a labour market when competing with emerging information technological natives?

In a previous NatureJobs entry, Digital tattoos, Shimi Rii made a crucial observation how “we suffer from a lack of web presence”.  “We”, I assume, excludes the youngest generation.  Thus, we must up our IT skills to avoid extinction. In addition, Get Social… for selfish reasons! hit the nail on the head. I have a real life example of this that I wanted to share.

As an experiment, I documented the journey through my studies at Karolinska Institute’s Master degree programme in Biomedicine all the way to graduation day. It began in March two years ago when I submitted my application papers. At the time, I had questions that could be boiled down to “What is the Karolinska experience like?” If I had uncertainties, as a native student, surely there would be others and even international applicants wondering what awaited them, too? I set out an aim to connect curriculum with actual experience through daily blogging. Continue reading →