How’s it going, guys?
Am I totally sad being excited for classes finally starting next week? I had my induction on Monday for second year, where I was able to catch up with my lovely friends, some who I hadn’t seen for four months! Summer flew by crazy-fast. The main reason to go to induction was to get my new timetable. I also got to meet my new year manager too, who went through a few pointers, including changes to some of the areas around campus and information relevant to my course. It’s safe to say everyone in class was extremely disheartened to learn of a 9am start on a Monday (at least we get to sleep in late on a Tuesday). How was your induction? Are you excited for any classes on your timetable?
Being the eager beaver I am, I did look during the summer at what modules I have this year, but it was great finally being able to see what classes I’ll be doing specifically during this semester (may regret saying that in a few weeks, with assignment stress). The main reason I was happy to receive my timetable is because I wanted to see what days I had free in order to do a language. This is one of the many awesome things about studying at UCB – you have the opportunity to learn a modern language alongside your course for free!! You can study:
-
French
-
German
-
Spanish
-
Mandarin
-
Italian
Italian last year
Last year during 1st semester, I enrolled for Italian (beautiful language) and, because of this, I was able to put to use these skills when I was in Italy this summer. The languages department offer different levels regardless of your capability, whether you are an absolute beginner or advanced speaker. I ummed and ahhed for a little while, trying to decide what to pick – Spanish or Mandarin? Eventually I decided to choose Spanish, as the most I’ve experience I’ve had with the lingo is watching Dora the Explorer with my nephew. Hola Señora! If you are interested in studying a language, head to the UCB portal, click on the navigation point at the top right hand corner, then select additional language classes. If you can’t access it from there, click here as it will take you to the contact page for the language lecturers. Then you can email the lecturer for the language you want to study and see if you can secure a place. They tend to fill up quick, so it’s best to get in there ASAP!
I have a few pre lecture/module tips I found helpful and wanted to share with you guys:
- UCB portal timetable: This is a cute little addition to the portal, you can check your timetable weekly online, providing you with a heads-up on any room changes.
- Record lectures: I think this is incredibly helpful as sometimes when I have jotted down notes, but have no idea what they mean later on. Listening to something being explained out loud makes it a lot easier to understand those notes (obviously check with the lecturer if this is OK beforehand).
- Group work: Love it or hate it, you will have to do it and deal with it. For it to be effective and work well, make sure everyone in the group has an equal role to play and is equally pulling their weight. Set goals for the group, always have some form of contact so that everyone can communicate outside of uni, (Whatsapp, Skype, Facebook etc) and use time management wisely! I will do a blog about this soon.
- Don’t be afraid to ask for help: I stress this so much: don’t be nervous about asking for advice, or speaking to someone about if you are struggling. I completely understand how overwhelming it can feel at uni, especially if you don’t understand certain things. Email your tutor, arrange a personal tutorial, visit the academic skills centre or speak to a subject librarian – they are all there to help!
- Get enough sleep: Easier said than done, right? Partying, staying up late to watch a whole TV series or worrying is not a good when you’ve got to write a 2,000 word report by the end of the week. Get enough beauty sleep and I promise you will concentrate a lot better.
- Set goals: Time management is essential to achieve things as procrastination is a defiantly a major downfall for us. Set little goals each week, so that you don’t feel clogged and under pressure. Something I did in second semester was to jot down on my calendar when an assignment was due, then work backwards and set goals. For example: 5 weeks from hand in date – write introduction, 4-3 weeks from hand in – write main body. etc.
Just wanted to shout out an extra big high five to everybody graduating on Monday and huge congratulations! I’ve also had some amazing uni-related news this week, too. I received a letter in the post explaining that I’ve won the prize for ‘Highest Achievement’ in First Year Undergraduate Study at UCB!! I’m completely shocked, very thankful and so, so happy. I have honestly never felt prouder of any of my own achievements than this.
Next week on the blog I’ll be posting a tourism review of Dismaland, after having a weird but fascinating day out this week with my boyfriend Tom. Hope you all enjoy the first official week of uni. If you see me around come and say hi, I’ll probably be stuffing my face in the EatSpace at McIntyre House!
D x
