Welcome back to PRISM, the SCISOC newsletter! With midsems and Flexi-Week coming up fast, SCISOC's got you covered with new social events right up until our AGM! For Find Your Future, we interview General Practitioner and Neuroscience major Lena Liu, and delve deep into the origins of the fast-approaching Halloween in the Fun Corner! Let's dive right in!

Events

Extraordinary General Meeting

We will be holding our online EGM (not to be confused with the AGM, coming soon!) on Thursday the 22nd of October from, 7pm - 9pm to discuss proposed constitutional changes and introduce executive positions. All students are welcome to attend however only full members may vote for motions at the EGM. Join us using the following Zoom link: https://unsw.zoom.us/j/87215560343

Writing Competition

Attention all creative writers! This is a reminder that we are holding a SCISOC creative writing competition, with the theme being ‘Time’! You can interpret this however you want, and write in any writing form you want; the freedom is all yours. This is your chance to win a $20 Kinokuniya gift card! Read more about the competition here.

Imposter Wednesdays

🚨EMERGENCY MEETING🚨

Tired of being accused of being the imposter when in reality you’re just bad at telling the truth? It’s finally your time to get revenge for all those unjust moments! Join us on the SCISOC Playground Discord every Wednesday night 8pm-10pm to meet new people and use your skills and game strategies to prove yourself to be a worthy crewmate!

The View

SCISOC’s newest publication, The View, is now available on our website! The SCISOC team has gone through and reviewed practically everything and anything; from food to podcasts to tv shows and more! We covered a wide variety of topics to ensure maximum entertainment value, so we hope you enjoy looking into a new side of SCISOC that we haven't delved into before. Check it out now and stay tuned for future publications!

Annual General Meeting

Despite being a turbulent year, SCISOC has reached many milestones and continued to hold events, engage with the community and keep you up to date with our publications. Now, as the end of the trimester and the year fast approaches, it’s time to see the outgoing 2020 team, with our Annual General Meeting being just around the corner! Come along to support the nominated candidates and choose the incoming 2021 executive team, so SCISOC can continue into a new year. Keep an eye out on your emails for the date and time!

Are you struggling to pick which science major you want to do? Come and find out on this week’s “Find Your Future” to see how Lena Liu, who did a Bachelor of Science (Advanced), majoring in Neuroscience, became a General Practitioner. Learn more about her career journey and her advice to science students.

Q. How did you choose your major? Did you ever consider changing throughout your degree?

Interest in psychology and neuroscience lead to these majors. Yes, I initially thought my major would be molecular biology but was eventually set on psychology then in neuroscience.

Q. What has been your career journey so far?

After finishing my science degree, I did a year of neuroscience research then entered medicine. After 4 years of medicine, I did further hospital training then entered general practice training. Currently am a general practitioner.

Q. How did your major influence the roles that you applied for/currently working in now?

Initially debated in whether to pursue clinical psychology or neuroscience research. I did a year of neuroscience research and found it was not for me hence I entered medicine where there is a good combination of both psychology and biology.

Q. What piece of advice would you give to students who are trying (and often struggling) to find an industry or career path that their major/science degree can lead them to?

Do what interests you, it may not be a straightforward road however I was never fully set on what I wanted to do with my life during my undergraduate degree. Don’t be disappointed if your eventual interest did not turn out to be what you expected/intended.

Read Full Interview Here

Halloween is the once-in-a-year opportunity to either dress in that one absurd outfit stashed away in your wardrobe for the past year, or dishonour your body by spiking your blood sugar until you astral project on your living room floor. But have you looked into the origins and history of this well-loved holiday that has sparked traditions of dressing-up and trick-or-treating?

What we now know as Halloween is an evolution of a Celtic festival called Samhain, where, on the eve of November, the barrier between the dead and the living would reach its thinnest point. This festival involved traditions such as letting one’s hearth burn to nothing and attending a communal bonfire. Druids would light the fire with a giant wheel, and sacrifices would be made to deities to bless the upcoming ‘darker half’ of the year. When the celebration ended, the Celts would take parts of the communal bonfire back to their homes to relight their hearths.

Now where did the tradition of dressing-up originate? The Celts would disguise themselves as monsters or animals, due to the belief that as the barrier between worlds blurred, fairies and sidhs would cross over and attempt to kidnap them, so by disguising themselves they could ward off kidnappings.

How about trick-or-treating? That can be attributed to early Irish traditions called mumming, where, as Samhain inched closer, they would go knocking door-to-door clad in costumes. They would sing songs for the dead on people’s doorsteps, and in return, they would be offered cakes as payment.

And of course, in typical Christian fashion, these Celtic traditions would blend into a festival made to honour Christian saints, which was declared by Pope Gregory III during the eighth century. This amalgamation of traditions became a celebration known as Alholomesse in Middle English, translating to All Saints’ Day. Because of this, the night before All Saints’ Day (the original date of Samhain) would be referred to as All-Hallows Eve, which soon became Halloween!

And how did this become such a mainstay in popular culture? During the early 20s and 30s, Irish immigrants brought their traditions and customs to the United States. The celebration of Halloween soon became popularised there, and later became the global phenomenon of costumes, candy, and all things creepy we love from modern-day Halloween.

UNSW Science Society is proud to announce our continued partnership with GradReady through 2020. GradReady provides GAMSAT Preparation courses for anyone looking to pursue Medicine after they graduate.
This process starts earlier than you think, so if you’re studying medical science or just have that passion, check out what they have to offer!