Masuda Khanom

How long have you been in the Faculty of Brain Sciences and what is your current role?

I have been working in the Faculty of Brain Sciences for the past three years as Senior Teaching Administrator in the UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology Education Team. Prior to this I was at UCL Institute if Education. Writing this short biography has made me realise that it’s been 10 years since I joined UCL!

What aspect of your work most excites you and why?

Although the Autumn term is probably the busiest time for teaching staff, it is also an exciting time. It comes around quickly every year but it always feels like a fresh start, and an opportunity to do things a bit differently having learnt from the previous year. Now that we are back to on-campus teaching it’s great to be able to meet with students again and be a part of their journey from enrolment all the way to graduation. The autumn term comes with its challenges but that’s what I enjoy the most. Trying to find an inventive way to solve an issue you thought wasn’t possible.

What working achievements are you most proud of?

More recently I would say I am most proud of adapting and changing the teaching and learning of courses during the Covid-19 pandemic. I started at UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology a few weeks before the country went into lockdown for the first time and was only just learning the new role and being part of a new team. I’m proud of the way I learnt quickly and adapted to the situation and was able to put forward ideas for change to make online learning a success in our department. In particular I am proud of helping to organise and run our first four day online induction! The best and fun part of the induction was creating and organising an online quiz for our new students, my first (and probably last!) time playing quiz host.  

Although this is about a previous role in social work and child protection I am very proud about the work I did with children and families, working alongside social workers to bring about change for children from difficult family settings.

Tell us something interesting about yourself that people might not know

Like many people, I am a pet lover but in particular I love pet birds! I used to own two Zebra Finches (native Australian) and I bought them during lockdown as a way to keep my house busy. They were wonderful and would chirp away whenever I used to have MS Teams meeting so my colleagues could hear. Within three months of having them they had two babies! It was amazing to see them grow and learn how to fly. I ended up with five birds within one year!

What’s the best advice you would give your younger self?

No one has it figured it, so take your time and don’t overthink!