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University - My experience and advice
For many of you the next big step in your lives is attending university for the first time. It can be a very stressful time as for many of you it will be your first time away from home and away from the comfort zone of your friends. I hope that by sharing my experience it will help to relax your nerves and give you an insight into what happens. Just remember, everyone is in the same situation as you. Moving in.
My first day at Cardiff University consisted of moving in. I had chosen to live in university halls and that morning my parents had helped me to pack all of my newly bought stuff into the car and we were off. Upon arrival my mum and I left my Dad attempting to find a parking space, and followed the instructions on my letter to head to the reception to get my room key. A lot of other students were doing exactly the same routine and at that point everyone was too busy to make friends and we all walked around in a kind of daze.
A funny story at this point is that as we were walking to the reception, my mum tripped over the uneven pavement and in almost slow motion fell straight over. I stood frozen in horror, as my mum lay face down on the pavement, instead of helping her, I willed her to get up quickly. It seemed like forever but she did get up having cut her arm and leg. All I can say is that you can guarantee that your parents will embarrass you in one way or another.
After a long wait signing forms and registering with a local doctor I was finally given my key. I was in a flat on the top floor, so my stuff has to carted up 3 flights of stairs. There were eleven bedrooms in my flat and a communal kitchen. I was the only one there as not everyone moves in on the same day, as we had 3 days in which to do so. My room was adequate with my own en suite, the walls were painted magnolia and everything was clean. On my desk the cleaning staff has left a Toblerone, which I thought was a nice gesture. My room comprised of a single bed, desk and chair, wardrobe, shelves and a pin board. The en suite was made up of a shower cubicle, toilet, sink and mirror.
As me and my parents were putting everything into its place in my bedroom, setting up my computer and making up my bed, we heard movements in the hallway, my parents urged me to open my door .I pulled it open and introduced myself to another girl and her parents. It was quite scary, but my advice is to just swallow your fears, smile and just say hi. People are just as enthusiastic as you, and have the same anxieties. Before I knew it I had introduced myself to the other eleven girls in my flat, and before long we were all sat in the kitchen gossiping and telling our personal stories, just as I would with my friends at home. It is true that in university that you'll meet people from all sorts of backgrounds. In my flat alone there were two of us from Wales, four from England, one from Canada, one from France, one from Iraq, one from Egypt and one from Greece. You can't get on with everyone but you do have to make an effort to change and accept their views and habits, as I had to a number of times.
My course- Journalism, film and media studies.
Although I now had friends in my flat my main concern was making friends on my course. This is what I found the most nervous part as you have to get used to walking into rooms full of people on your own, such as for course enrolment and introductions. Although some people will be sat with friends, as they are lucky enough to have people on their course and living in their accommodation. You just need to take a deep breath, sit next to people and join in. If you don't make a 'best' friend on your first few days don't panic. You will continually make friends during university as you are pulled into presentation groups with people that you have never met. Even now having finished my second year I still haven't met all of the people on my course.
Workload.
In the first year it seems about the same amount of work load as doing your A levels. I spent less time in university itself than I had attending A level classes, as my time table made a total of 12 hours, although different for different courses and universities. There were not only lectures but a combination of lectures, seminars and screenings. Everyone I have spoken too agreed that the first year is nothing to worry about. They do ease you into university and don't drop you at the deep end with a heavy workload.
A lecture consists of the lecturer giving you basic information and gives almost a skeleton to the information for that lecture, while you make notes. You are then expected to research in more depth, put the meat on the skeleton, by reading books off the course reading list. You must make good notes from books as these are then used as quotations in your assignments. Seminars are more intimate held by the lecturer or a course seminar tutor. They are in groups of about 15 people and are your chance to ask questions if you don't quite understand something. Seminar tutors also expand on points made in the lecture and often you are expected to discuss a certain reading from a book or conduct a group presentation. A screening, in the case of my course, takes form as a film as we analyse such texts as part of our course work.
University life.
Life in university is pretty relaxed, when you haven't got a deadline looming. There often is not much to do in the day when you’re not in lectures. I mostly spend my days in the park, watching day time television, in the library or shopping. The most stressful it gets, apart from university work, is trying to cook for your self and keeping on top of your mess. No matter how tidy you are, you will start collecting dirty glasses and plates in your bedroom, ironing soon becomes a no go task, and hoovering is replaced with a quick run around with the dust pan and brush. One of our daily routines was attending our halls canteen, as we paid extra in our fees to have dinner included, although we soon started referring to it as slop, as we got used to the weird combinations of food. I'll leave the rest up to your imagination. Although I am still convinced that I found a finger nail in my pudding once.
In the night there were plenty of pubs to explore, as well as clubs and bars. If you stick to the student areas then usually there are cheaper drinks and better food prices. In Cardiff, one of our locals sells a pint for £2.30, a glass of wine for £2.40, and drinks offers on doubles and cocktails. Another pub does an all you can eat buffet for around £7.00. In general a pub lunch will only set you back about £5 on average, although this is based on Cardiff prices many student areas have the same sort of deals and prices for students. To fill up your time there are plenty of sports clubs and societies to join, but I was not interested in these myself, but a lot of my friends did become members.
Budget.
It can be quite scary when you see large amounts of money leaving your bank account for bills and general living costs. If you get the full student loan, as I did, then they have taken living costs in to account. Personally I chose to work on the weekends as a waitress and used my wages to spend on food and going out. I found this helped and never had to use my over draft. Friends of mine either scraped through having spent too much at the start of the term and had to set a strict budget for the rest of the term. Others went and got jobs half way through the year. In my opinion if you get a student loan then you can live off that alone if you gave yourself a strict budget from the start of the year. Another way would be to add your savings from a summer job to that amount and you will have a more generous budget.
As I worked 3 shifts a week this meant that I never had any money worries and was able to eat well and go out when I wanted and buy what I wanted. Do be careful though although cheap pub food and alcohol is tempting, remember to watch the calories. The first year is known for creating chubby students and then you'll spend your second year trying to get rid of your love handles. Mid-night snacking on crisps and chocolate should be kept to a minimum, learn from my mistake!
End note.
Well I hope this has helped calm your nerves and I wish you all to have a great time at university. It will be over before you know it. I can't believe that I am entering my third year, as it seems like only yesterday that it was my first day, but it is nearly over and time for me to enter the big wide world.
As a last tip, do grab all opportunities with both hands, attend clubs and societies, as it is a great way to meet people. In my case I took part in work experience as a runner behind the scenes of Gladiators and X Factor auditions in Cardiff and met loads of people also running. It was a great experience and an opportunity that I probably would have had if I was not a student. So as well as learning, enjoy it!
This article was written by Canllaw Online Young Writer, Hayley Mills. Canllaw Online would like to thank Hayley for her fantastic contribution. If you would like to comment on this article or add your own Uni experiences, you can do so in the Shout forum (in ourCREDU).
NOTE: The views and opinions stated in this article belong to Hayley and do not necessarily represent the views and opinions of Canllaw Online Cyf.
by Hayley Mills
