Sharing some big news

You might have seen mention in the past This Week of Mine posts such as here, here and here of several uni interviews I have attended. Bournemouth was my last one and I have now received all offers and rejections.

In September I shall be attending either Huddersfield or Bournemouth University. Both have offered me a place subject to the passing of the sociology course I am currently undertaking. 

It's a difficult decision, one is in the north and one the south. Huddersfield is much closer to me than Bournemouth and will be a LOT cheaper to live in. But I did quite like the course and cohort size at Bournemouth. Decisions will have to be made next month but if any of you guys have opinions on this, I would love to hear from you.

Now you may have read my post discussing University - The right thing? I still stand by that entirely. I already hold a history degree and I love studying it, however it has not led to anything. The jobs I have held in the 7 years since graduation have had nothing to do with the subject. The degree I shall be studying for in September is one that leads to a professional qualification that will allow me to get a job straight away in that field. I'm not posting the course here as i'm rather paranoid about someone searching for the specific uni and the course and ending up here. I would hate to have to sensor things because someone on the course or uni finds this! If you want to know though send me a tweet or email.

I'll leave you with a photo taken at Bangor University, from the pier looking onto the Menai Straits. I didn't have a huge selection of Bangor photos to choose from as I lost a lot of them when I changed computers.

As I said before if you have any comments regarding Bournemouth or Huddersfield I would love to hear them, if not then you know I love comments anyway!

Uni tips from experience

Seeing as my sister is starting in a couple of days I am going to share three tips I have already told her. These are not just new students but also those returning to university this September. I didn't want to simply write a long list of the standard tips you will find everywhere but rather a few I think are really important and that I wish I had thought of when I started uni 9 years ago (!!).

1. Be prepared to lose all of your cutlery

Either spend a bit more and buy something that is distinctive or buy cheap items and be prepared to replace them. No matter how hard you try things will go walkies. Whether you put away in your drawer or leave on the sideboard for five minutes . . . it will disappear. At least if you have something with distinct markings on you can win the argument when claiming back your stuff!

2. Join a club or society

I really do think this is important. I knew some people whose social group was the people they lived with and I knew some people whose friends were from the club they were in. You don't know who you are going to live with. Although you may get on with everyone during the first couple of weeks things can change once everyone is settled in. Joining a club gives you a hobby, something to do outside of work/drinking and friends. I was in the surf club but I wasn't dedicated to it as I sometimes found the social side of it hard. I did try other clubs (from Irish dancing to wake-boarding and volunteering) but never really stuck at anything. It would have helped me have a wider circle of friends had I been more involved.

3. Be open and unjudging

I don't think unjudging is a word but i'm going to go with it. You will meet so many people from all walks of life during your first few weeks and will end up having that drunk toilet 'what are you studying, where do you live?' conversation a thousand times. Do not dismiss anyone. (Though i'm not really talking about your sudden toilet best friend that night. I really don't think either of you will recognize each other the next day)
You think the people you stick to in freshers week are all you need and will be friends for life? Not necessarily. I don't think it's really until the second term of uni that you start to establish friendship groups. Not quite sure how to phrase this but be open to people and experiences that are different or what you are used to. If someone is too loud and brash for you, it's probably just a front and they are just as scared as you.

I hope these few pieces of advise are useful to some of you, please let me know if you are starting uni or if you have any tips. Please share with anyone you think would find it useful. :)

As a last piece of advise. Don't relent and do your housemates washing up. They won't learn.

University - The Right Thing?

I just wanted to write a few thoughts on university and the pressures of going. I have done no research and have no figures or anything this is just based on my experience and what I have witnessed.

When I started university in 2005 fees were lower than they are now. I think a lot of people now are put off by this but you can still get a loan to cover this. I think though it has made people think is it really for them? Is it worth getting into that much debt just to go to university on a whim or just to study something they are interested in but have no idea where it would lead them after?

I studied history because it was my favourite subject and it had always been in my family. We used to be involved in medieval re-enactment when I was a child and always visited castles as part of our holidays. I didn't know what I would do with this after university, but you get three years to work this out don't you? Well I knew by my third year I was going to fulfill my ambition to spend a year in Australia after university so I didn't spend time researching graduate jobs or any other options. I'd figure it out in Oz wouldn't I? I'd be seeing new places, new people and doing all different jobs. It would just come to me what my path was in life.

Yeah right.

Nothing 'came' to me. I have spent the few years since I came back doing various different work. Yes some has enabled me to travel but at the end of the day I graduated six years and I am still working a minimum wage job with no direction of where I am heading.

The point of that story is that university it not the be all and end all. It doesn't guarantee you a well paid position like it perhaps might have 15, 20 years ago. Experience counts for A LOT more nowadays. I have a friend who didn't go to university. She is at the same job she started at 18 and now earns a decent wage enabling her to buy her own house. There are so many apprenticeships at the moment and although these are low-paid I don't believe you would be be any worse off financially than going to university.

I'm not saying either option is the right one. Some people just know what they want to be in life and going to university enables them to fulfill that dream. Some like me go just because they enjoy the subject and some don't go at all. If you don't plan on going, you don't get in or you end up dropping out it might work out for the best. You may have your parents on your back asking why and what is your plan though, so do a bit of research and at least give your parents something to stop them worrying for your future.

You can always go in the future when you have grown up a little and are more ready and know what you want to do. Although sometimes this may be more difficult as you will likely have other commitments such as your partner, your house and your children. It is still do-able though and you will be more dedicated and motivated that you would be had you gone at 18. (Or was that just me?)

This is an all over the place post opinion wise I understand but I just want to get it out there that university isn't the only option and I think at least some graduates would question whether it was the right thing to do. I don't regret going to university, I think I just regret being so relaxed about my direction in the years since. It has come to the point where I realise the penny just isn't going to drop and my career path open out in front of me. I've got to choose the most suitable and do something about it.

I hope I haven't put a dampener on anyone going away to university this September. University can be the best times of your life and is a practice for living in the real world. Make the most of it but remember: it isn't the be all and end all.