Hey everyone, it’s Abi, your friendly neighborhood senior team member. It has recently come to my attention that UMPO has a blog, a previously forgotten realm of communication. Given that I am a STEM student with no experience in writing, I decided that through sheer audacity I would be able to bring back blogging as a form of media single-handedly. So here we are, writing the first entry in 2 years. 

I felt like for blog numero uno for the academic year, it would be nice to do a little ‘get to know UMPO’ and what we do. UMPO, or University of Manchester Physics Outreach, is a volunteer society that aims to bring physics to the wider world in a fun and engaging way. Whether it’s going to markets with gadgets and gizmos to show how physics can make seemingly impossible things happen, or going to local schools to provide workshops for students, we do it all. Just kidding, we only do the specific things I mentioned prior. This is not to sell us short, of course. When you’re volunteering you never know how much of an impact you can have on the people you’re delivering a workshop or demo to. Everyone you meet while volunteering is different. Some are kids who don’t even know what physics is, and some have PhDs in it. This is one of the best parts of the job in my opinion. As a volunteer at a busking event, you could help someone change their mind on physics. ‘Physics just wasn’t for me’ or ‘I was never any good at it’ are common phrases you hear while busking but I can guarantee that after seeing a demo, they are instantly curious and wish to know more.

I think if I had to describe what we do in one sentence it would be that we encourage people to be curious.

It’s brief, but I tried to keep ‘short and sweet’ in mind for our intro post. I hope it was a good read nonetheless.

Till next time,

Abi