Episode Transcript
[00:00:09] Speaker A: This is the owlcast, the official podcast of ACS Athens.
This is the college edition.
Listen to the exciting story of the american community schools of Athens.
Check out what drives all the members of our international community of learners as we create the education of the future.
Here's John Papadakis.
[00:00:45] Speaker B: Welcome to a special episode of Owlcast College Edition, where we're probing into the world of higher education, career building, and the exciting opportunities that lie ahead for aspiring students. Today, we're happy to host Roberta Geracci, senior recruiting officer from Imperial College London. Whether you're a high school student considering your next steps or someone fascinated by the inner workings of top tier universities, this episode is packed with insights you won't want to miss. Miss Gerazzi came to ACS Athens to visit and meet with our students, some of them being prospective imperial college candidates.
Roberta Gerazzi, joining us today, has a story that I'm sure will resonate with many. From growing up in a small village in Sicily, Italy to navigating life in the bustling metropolis of London, she truly understands the challenges and triumphs that come from big transitions. She shares a deep empathy for students who are moving from smaller towns to larger cities, and she's passionate about showing how uk universities like imperial offered structured support to help new students adjust. From orientation programs to student societies, there are countless ways to make the move smoother, all while gaining valuable life experiences, whether thats through community involvement or balancing part time work. In this episode, we also explore the importance of taking risks and embracing the unfamiliar. Our guest journey from Sicily to London through studies in Rome and Sweden was fueled by grabbing every opportunity, from nonprofit work to evening jobs, all of which built toward her current role at one of the world's top science and technology universities. She emphasizes the importance of personal growth, especially when stepping into uncomfortable situations. College is about so much more than academics. It's a time to stretch, try new things, and build the resilience that will serve you well in the future. Plus, what's the best way to make lasting friendships? Try something completely new with someone you dont even know. Whether its joining a club, attending a social, or just striking up a conversation, those shared experiences often turn into lifelong connections. Roberta Ceracci also talks about the practical side of choosing a university. Rankings are often the go to metric, but our guest points out that they shouldnt be the only factor in your decision. Its about finding a university that matches your values, offers the support you need, and fosters a collaborative, real world working environment in todays evolving landscape. AI is even playing a role in advancing both student experience and staff efficiency. But that raises an interesting question. How do you judge the authenticity and personality of a candidate in an AI enhanced world, especially when it comes to college essays? Its a fascinating challenge we explore in our discussion. Finally, we discuss the wisdom that recent graduates can offer prospective students. What questions should you be asking as you consider your college options and future career? Our guest provides invaluable advice on how to leverage the hindsight of others who have walked this path before, helping you make more informed choices. So whether you're looking to get into Imperial College London or simply seeking advice on navigating the transition to college life, this episode has something for everyone. Grab your headphones, settle in the and listen in a conversation that just might shape your future. Co hosting in the studio today is Anjangelidis from the center for Student Success at ACS Athens.
[00:04:34] Speaker C: Welcome to the ACS Athens Outcast. This is the college edition, the first of the season, and we welcome you to the school. You've come to talk to our student community about your college that is indeed one of the most known and most famous colleges around the world for science and stem and all the research around technology and everything else. So my first question, just to introduce ourselves, what drew you to a career in student recruitment? You're recruiting students. So what drew you to this career, particularly for such a prestigious institution like Imperial College?
[00:05:18] Speaker D: Sure. So first of all, thank you so much for having me today. It was a pleasure to speak with the student and it's definitely like a new experience for me doing this. It's my first ever podcast and what place to do it. The facilities are incredible, so I'm really honored to be doing this for my first time here.
So in terms of my career, what drew me to international student recruitment?
I've always been very passionate about university and education.
I think it was something that was really drilled into me from a very young age.
I come from a very small village in the middle of nowhere in Sicily, and I'm actually the first ever person in my family to go to university.
And I was lucky enough to study in three different countries. So I started with my undergraduate degree, which was in Rome. And during that I had the opportunity to do my erasmus in Sweden at Uppsala University for one year. And that's where I really started to have the international exposure. I started meeting people from all over the world and I got to meet some people that studied in the UK, and this was my first push to kind of uk education.
[00:06:48] Speaker C: What was your degree on?
[00:06:49] Speaker D: The first degree the first degree was in political science and international relations. So I studied at Lewis University in Rome, and then I continued to do my Erasmus at Uppsala University.
And I decided after my three years to go to the UK to do my master's degree. And at the time, I was looking at various different options. So I was looking in London, but I just completed two years plus a year abroad in Rome, which is a beautiful city, but it's also quite big and chaotic. And as a student, I felt a little bit overwhelmed at times and how big it was.
[00:07:39] Speaker C: So you have empathy for students who are coming to London to study?
[00:07:43] Speaker D: Oh, absolutely. Absolutely.
[00:07:44] Speaker C: Coming from small cities or all the world.
[00:07:46] Speaker D: Absolutely.
Students. It's quite funny.
As an international student myself, and coming from a very small village, I've always wanted to go overseas, go away and experience everything that the big cities had. And then, you know, starting gets hard, the washing starts piling up, and the weather might not be as nice as you think it was going to be. The food you're missing, your mom's hood, and your friends are not there, and all of this sudden, you're like, okay, this isn't great.
But, yeah. So what I found, for example, very different at UK university. It was the level of support that I received, which, again, not to say there are other universities, other places don't have it, but I feel UK universities really have that structure into place.
But, yeah, I eventually ended up doing my master's at reading university.
It was in international relations and diplomacy. It was a very small class, about 15 people, but only two people that graduated from their degree. So it was a wonderful experience. Really interesting. And then, as I was still writing my dissertation, so those six months in the summer, I was also at a part time job to kind of like, you know, get some extra cash to do all of the fun things to do in London, but also started doing an internship in a charity. It was a youth development charity. And I was doing nine to five at internship, unpaid. And then I remember I would go to my five time job at five to nine.
It was quite a stressful period, as well as writing my dissertation, but I say they gave me the experience and knowledge to then apply for the job that I applied for, which was a role in marketing at the university.
And at first, I was in charge of one of the schools, the business school, the finance school. I was doing social media, I was doing copywriting, everything. Marketing was the time, which was exciting.
But one time I was asked to cover for a trip for a colleague, and they asked me, do you want to go to Thailand to represent the university? I was like, yes, absolutely. We wouldn't take the opportunity. So I did the first trip. I thought it was great. It was just chatting to students, sharing my experience, telling them about my experience, but also getting to know them and kind of like helping them and guiding them through what they needed to do to get into the program. And because I had the experience myself, and as an international student, I could really empathize, and I felt like I could share quite a lot and I could relate.
And then, yeah, I started covering another trip, actually was one in athens, and then I went to Indonesia issue and so on, and eventually ended up applying for the role within the business school.
[00:10:59] Speaker C: Excellent. Excellent. And I think this is a good example of how a student coming from a whole different environment can fit in and create a career out of this kind of approach. Taking internships, looking for the opportunities, talking to people, and seek these kind of once in life opportunities when it presents to you. Well, today, again, we are joined by Ana Galidis, who's in the center of student services, and she has seen your presentation. She was there. I just stopped by a little bit because then I was gonna have the opportunity to talk to you like we do right now. So, Annie, tell us a little bit about what you saw in Roberta's presentation. What stood out for you?
[00:11:48] Speaker E: The first thing? Well, what really stood out for me, and you just spoke about that, was how you related with the students.
You were very connected with them by telling them that I was once where you are now and preparing to apply to an international university.
And I see that in many students who are considering studying abroad, they're very excited about it. They're very excited about the opportunity.
There's a hindrance. There's a kind of hesitation about leaving home and being in a foreign environment.
So I'm glad that you addressed that. And I wanted to ask you, I mean, you did speak a lot about it, but what was the most challenging thing for you as an international student, and how did you, you know, how did you deal with it? How did you overcome it?
[00:12:41] Speaker C: And this is one of the most common questions that come not only from the students, but also the parents.
[00:12:46] Speaker E: The parents, yes.
[00:12:48] Speaker D: That's a great question, because a lot of people focus on how exciting it can be going away. But there's such a level of uncomfortability that you have to put yourself through. But we do know that we grow the most when we put ourselves in uncomfortable position. And if we just stick to what we know, then there isn't any growth. And I'm not gonna lie, I made tons of mistakes and I keep doing mistakes, like challenges.
What you learn from mistakes, you learn from the mistakes.
[00:13:24] Speaker C: It's called growing pains.
[00:13:27] Speaker D: And it's wonderful because it really enables you to become sort of like the best version of yourself every time.
So one of the challenges that I think could be quite a big one is especially if you're going away on your own and you don't have, like, you think you don't have any friends. But firstly, you got to remember that everyone coming to university in the first year is in the same situation as you. So most people would have left all of your friends or taken different paths from their friends.
[00:14:06] Speaker C: Same insecurities.
[00:14:08] Speaker D: Same insecurities. Everyone is truly there to connect with someone else and you just have to break through the shyness or even connect on the fact that like, look, we're all in the same situation. I don't know anyone. I don't know anyone. I'm really shy. I don't know how to do this because we got to make friendship from scratch.
And that's why I always encourage students to take advantage of the student union activities because whether it's an activity that you're already doing, I actually advise students do one that you never tried before, it's again, trying something new with someone that you don't know is the best way to make friendship because you both be terrible at it and laugh about it or it could be a life bonding experience.
So yeah, there are all of these kind of tools in UK university that are there in place to make sure that you're never on your own, that you got the support that you need. So whether it is a cultural society or whether it's a new sport that you're going to try, go for it. But perhaps before trying bench jumping or something like that, maybe do it enough to tell your parents because otherwise you're going to give them a heart attack.
[00:15:27] Speaker C: Going back to the idea that you have gone to different countries, you're representing the school and so on. I mean, Imperial College London has a strong reputation in science and stem and so on. What are some unique programs or initiatives that make it stand out in the global scene in the international environment of students?
[00:15:49] Speaker D: Again, as I mentioned in the presentation earlier on to students, there's so many different wonderful languages. Universities all over the world, the 40 way to just in London, it can be overwhelming for students to kind of like decide which one to go to. And some students use only, afghan students use only certain criteria to choose the university, and we know which one I'm referring to, hope is like rankings. So students come to imperial just because of the rankings. But while rankings can be really good criteria for students choosing a university or maybe start their research from it, it shouldn't be the only one. They should be really looking at what the university has to offer, they should be looking at the community that the university has. So I mentioned in my presentation, again, the imperial is a medium sized university and they could work for some students, but some students might prefer a much wider student network, a much bigger university where there's also art students to get with social science students.
[00:16:56] Speaker C: What's the number of the students?
[00:16:58] Speaker D: Right now, 23,000 students, almost equal split at undergraduate and postgraduate level, and there's over 150 different nationalities represented. But because we are a STEM university, specialist university means that it's a very scientific community.
You find people from all over the world that are passionate in physics, science, mathematics. But then something else that I always highlight is the entrepreneurial flair, the timper students, because, yes, they have a scientific background, but they all have an idea or a prototype or something that they really want to create.
And, yeah, that's what imperial enables you to do with the amazing facilities that we have on campus. I think finding out about the art spaces, even for me, I was like, wow, this is incredible.
[00:17:50] Speaker E: Very impressive.
[00:17:50] Speaker D: So the art spaces are free to use for all students and staff as well.
So we have laser cutters for cutters, 3d printers.
There's all sorts of different equipment that students have access to and if you don't know how to use it, there's also stuff there that will show you how to use it. So it's like you have an idea, you can actually put it into physical reality. When are you at university?
That's the wonderful thing about imperial. And then I think the collaborative approach.
Again, students do compete quite a lot from a school. There's always top of the class and you need to get certain grades to get in and so on. But once they get.
[00:18:38] Speaker E: Prepares you for life, that's life.
[00:18:40] Speaker D: But actually, I would argue actually, in life we work better in teams and collaborative and when you come to imperial, that's what they try to replicate. So each student will specialize in one area and you'll be really good at what you do, but you don't need to know everything because all of the other activities, all of the competition, everything that you're doing, then you will do it with someone else. You're never on your own. So I love the whole collaborative approach behind that. And the way that this academic described it to me is imagine a Formula one team. Everyone is very good what they're doing, but you all work together to complete the race. It's not just a one person's job.
[00:19:28] Speaker C: Which is what you said before, Annie. This is something that you use in your life. I mean, if you don't know how to collaborate life skills and to communicate with the next person to you, you know it's not gonna work.
[00:19:43] Speaker A: You are listening to the owlcast, the official podcast of ACS Athens.
[00:19:58] Speaker C: You're talking about Stem. You're talking about all the, you know, the different scientific and technology that is being taught in imperial. Well, it's also known that university is also known for its strong research focus and the stem is equal to research, if nothing else.
Could you share an example? Do you know of an example of a project that it's either groundbreaking or innovative that is currently happening in the university? I mean, I am a new student trying to come in, and I'm passionate about STEm, about physics. Is there something that you can share?
[00:20:37] Speaker D: Yeah, absolutely. And that's the other wonderful thing. I don't come from a scientific background, but I just find all of the research happening in peer so incredibly fascinating. And there's so many different examples from the stuff that they're doing around the research that they're conducting around sustainability, to, for example, reduce the greenhouse emissions, using AI, to trying to deliver vaccine to the most vulnerable areas in the world in a cost effective way.
To all of the experiments doing around physics, there was one which really caught my attention because this was actually run, it was an idea by a group of female students. So we have a competition every year called we innovate, where 25 female students compete for 30,000 pounds price and business coaching, it's like for six months. And one of the winners, one of the teams, the one they were using AI, they developed this software through AI to recognize early stages of endometriosis.
So again, a bunch of, like, very young female students doing this type of research, which, again, doesn't really get much attention outside the private sector or outside. I thought it was really wonderful.
[00:22:10] Speaker C: Well, I was not going to put it now in the discussion, but you mentioned the aih, and it's, you know, the buzzword of the next. I don't know how many years is going to be in front of us. I've had experience with college professors that are asking about the role of AI in teaching, about the research that is needed to make AI useful or meaningful. Or valuable to both teachers and ethical. And ethical. So it's a big, big, big discussion that's going to be held within the next few years until we at least have some idea on a more broad basis.
Could you share something about how imperial college either approaches studies in AI or how they understand the role of AI in higher education?
[00:23:02] Speaker D: So AI is definitely one of our biggest areas of research. And the approach, like everything else in period, is how can we make a positive impact and how can we use science to serve humanity. And the same is with AI. A lot of people are focusing on the negatives, but rather than if we keep focusing on the negative, then something actually bad will happen. Right.
[00:23:28] Speaker C: And we're missing some really positive stuff.
[00:23:31] Speaker D: Yeah. Let's focus on how we can use it in favor to actually help humanity to make things easier for everyone. And that's where the research imperial is going. And funnily enough, I just signed up yesterday for a, they're doing a training course for staff and how to use, we call like AI sort of GDP tool that they made available called copilot. And they're gonna do training session on how we can use it in the workplace. So it's not something that we're saying, oh, we should like, you should never use it. It's like with everything how you use it. And I think they are trying to, to do that. And we'll see some amazing innovation things coming out of the research imperial.
[00:24:21] Speaker C: Do you personally use AI in your capacity?
[00:24:24] Speaker D: I've started using this copilot tool a little bit, yeah, it's sometimes you can really, like, if you go idea like ARP structure things. I have to say, I tried it like once. I think I was putting together like the itinerary for like travel, and it didn't quite work out. I'm not gonna ask any time soon for maybe food recipes or anything, although.
[00:24:49] Speaker C: It'S one of the widest uses. I mean, I have this amount of ingredients. Annie, since you like cooking, you have so many ingredients, what can I make with them?
[00:25:01] Speaker D: I mean, that's a good idea.
[00:25:02] Speaker C: It gives you ideas like that.
[00:25:03] Speaker E: Well, I find it so amusing.
[00:25:06] Speaker C: Absolutely.
[00:25:08] Speaker E: I put all kinds of things out there, and the responses I get, okay, some are really wacky, but some are also very creative.
[00:25:16] Speaker C: And this is going to be also useful to new students who are going away to college. I mean, you could actually use it in your discussions. If you have these ingredients, you know, what are you going to make when you don't have nothing at home or anything like that?
[00:25:31] Speaker E: You can do that with writing as well with characters. I have this kind of a character, I have that kind of. What kind of situation do they get involved in?
It's endless.
[00:25:40] Speaker C: It's endless.
[00:25:41] Speaker E: But you also mentioned, and I find this very interesting for the personal statement and the essays mentioning not to use AI and chat GPT because you see.
[00:25:54] Speaker C: Mentioned in the presentation you mean?
[00:25:55] Speaker E: Yes, because you have software that recognizes it and you want, well, Imperial wants to see the authentic idea and personality behind the student.
Do you find that a lot of students use AI in their personal statements now?
[00:26:17] Speaker D: I think a lot of students are tempted to do it. And again I feel it perhaps comes from an insecurity or thinking oh, I'm not good enough, or maybe I'm not the right student, but there isn't a right student for imperial. And again, the personal statement is called personal because it should be about the student.
Students should be afraid to be authentic, the most authentic self, because that's what's gonna make you stand out from the crowd. You don't wanna do what everyone else has been doing. It's the uniqueness that a thing that only you are passionate about really what mission tutors are looking for. And unfortunately AI is not gonna give you that. If you wanna use it to help you with kinda like structure the person's statement, check for mistakes. But we all know it's very lightworldly and lengthy and the tone of voice and language isn't quite like, isn't quite right. It will show that it's not you. And you probably find at least a few other students that they've used it as well. Obviously we don't just make our decision on the person's statement, although it's like extremely important for our programs. That's why we also use interviews for most of the programs. And if you've written something in the past statement using GDP or AI and it doesn't sound like you, then they will really. It's going to show, it's going to.
[00:27:47] Speaker C: Show, well this is a big, big discussion that we're going to be holding for the next few years, at least.
[00:27:55] Speaker E: For the rest of our lives.
[00:27:56] Speaker C: For the rest of our lives. But at least, you know, it's like computers, you know, the first generation using computers, they were like out of their waters right now. It's an everyday situation.
But I want to take it a little bit more personal with you in a sense of your studies and a sense of what you see right now in college life and the requirements of higher education. If you knew when you started your college life, what you see now as what's happening in higher education, would you have made a different choice, a different path?
What I want to say is for students who are now trying to figure out what they want to do and they have this insecurity, do I make the right decision?
What makes sense to them? What do they have to know inside them to feel a little bit less insecure and a little bit more confident?
[00:28:49] Speaker D: That's a wonderful question and I've been asking myself a lot, would I have studied something different? So obviously I went down the path of studying politics and international relations because I wanted to understand the reality around me. I come from Sicily and I saw a love corruption through the mafia happening and I just wanted to get a graphic understanding of why that was happening. And that's kind of what led me down that path.
I also didn't have, I guess, the benefit of having someone coming to chat to me about what the different options were, what could have studied. Perhaps the scientific side is not as strongly pushed to students or maybe there isn't like an explanation of what you could do. So maybe like I would have done something, maybe slightly different, but I know that I did something that at the time made sense for me because I wanted to understand certain things.
I found a lot of students are pushing to some courses because a certain job, career, and the reality is their job or career might not be there by the time that you finish your studies. So if you are going to university specifically because you want to become that specific thing, there's probably something that you need to reevaluate. I think a university should be more about developing certain skills. And even though you are doing that degree, it doesn't mean that you never going to be able to do something else because the skills that you're learning, hopefully you'll be able to apply them and they'll be transferable or the other way around.
[00:30:33] Speaker C: You might not do professionally what you actually studied.
[00:30:37] Speaker D: And it happens all the time.
[00:30:38] Speaker C: It's absolutely okay all the time.
[00:30:41] Speaker D: And this idea that you finish your university degree and that's it, you finish with education. No, we need to, we never finish learning. I think we need to think more in terms of like, I've studied this at this age and now I can go back and study something else and keep continue learning and not be afraid of like, I studied this and now I want to switch completely to something else.
The beauty of life. But I think we've just been indoctrinated to think, okay, it finishes with university, but actually it really doesn't be open to different opportunities. If something comes along and you never done it, try it. I mean, this is wonderful, what you have here on campus for the students. Some students might not really be the kind of creative type, but just give it a go. Where have you got to lose? And when you have these amazing equipment.
[00:31:34] Speaker C: That'S what we tell them. I mean, it's not that everybody who steps in here are gonna go to media production, but just the fact that they have the opportunity to develop presentation skills, speaking skills, things that maybe and maybe not gonna be in their skill set, in their professional life, but in their personal life, you need to be able to present yourself somehow. So what you're saying is very, very important for everybody to understand, especially those that are planning to apply for a school like imperial.
And I don't know about you, Annie, I only have one more question.
[00:32:11] Speaker E: No, I'm good.
[00:32:12] Speaker C: The only question I have for you is you've been in this position in this capacity for some time now. Not long, but it's enough for you to get some ideas and some interactions with students. Is it something that stands out to you from your interaction with students in these years as they come to you, as they approach you, something that comes up and you say, hmm, I remember this student, or I remember this school, or I remember this discussion. Is there something that stands out to you?
[00:32:45] Speaker D: There's quite a few students.
I'm very lucky in the times of students that are interested in applying to imperial.
I find that so inspiring. Even as young as 1617, they are so driven and they already know, know what they want to do and how they're going to do. And I've had students coming after me. I don't need to know anything. I've already done all of my research, but imperial is my dream university and this is where I'm going to study. But I just found that with all imperial students, just like this passion for what they're going to be studying and also this genuine interest in making a positive impact on humanity and use the knowledge to make a big change, that's what I found with imperial students. What really stands out every time.
[00:33:38] Speaker C: Excellent. Excellent. Well, Roberta Geraci, senior international students recruiter coming from Imperial College London. And thank you, Annie Anne Gelidis from the center of Student Success. Thank you for being here and hopefully we're going to see a lot more students coming to your school in the near future.
[00:33:56] Speaker D: Thank you. Thank you so much, both of you.
[00:34:01] Speaker A: You are listening to the Owl, the official podcast of ACS Athens make sure you subscribe to the Allcast on Google Podcast, Spotify and Apple Podcasts. This has been a production of the ACS Athens Media studio.
