As promised earlier this month, I’m here to write to you about other facilities in our University, starting with the Kick-Start Scheme, as I want to illustrate everything you can do with that. In my first year, I didn’t know about these things as the lockdown limited the activities.
The first thing, of course, is that you can buy your uniform and the items for your course. But there are many things on the website, from books to vacuum cleaners to the first things you need in the student accommodation (like plates, pots, cutlery and so on). I suggest you check on your own because there is a good variety. Personally, I am still deciding if I should buy a bike, an electric scooter or a new smartwatch. But the Kick-Start funding is not limited to the shop because you can buy food in the cafés of the University (Summer Row, McIntyre House and Moss House) and the bakery.
If you’re thinking of putting on muscles, losing weight or just keeping fit, you can use the funding for the gym in Moss House. It is cheap, you can have a locker included, and you can use it between the lessons and shower if necessary. This year, I will join the gym even if I am already doing sport in another gym (climbing).
If that is not enough, you can see what you can pay with your funding here.
As I mentioned in my previous post, I am a student ambassador, and I’ve had the opportunity to see many rooms that are not dedicated to my course. As we have many buildings, I will describe them one by one, starting from…
The rooms I discovered there and found interesting even if I am not interested in the subject are… phew, I don’t know where to start!
I have seen the reproduction of an aeroplane, it’s really cool, and I was tempted to be childish and pretend to be a member of the cabin crew… but I think that the visitors would have thought that I am insane (with good reason!). We have an incredible number of kitchens. I don’t know how many because I lost count. Still, they are all different, and used for several subjects: for our restaurant, for bakery, for the cooking courses, competition kitchens (from time to time I saw there was some competition)… we even have a mixology room.
I saw the rooms for Hair and Media Make-up, and I could see three tutorials that were made for young students. One was about deleting an eyebrow as a base for drag queen make-up, the second for glamour make-up, but the one that interested me more was the third: reproduction of a fake scar. It’s more complicated than I thought, and the results were realistic. By the way, you can book an appointment to cut your hair (and no scars, I promise!).
It’s even possible to book a treatment to Aspire Aesthetics – a clinic that offers treatments for the face and body – for yourself, or even if you want to treat your mum because it’s open to the public.
Another place that is open to the public is the restaurant on the ground floor. As a food enthusiast, and because it is an award-winning restaurant, I can’t wait for it to be open again, I am curious! I am sure you will notice the bakery for two main reasons: It’s on the ground floor, and when it is open you can smell yummy bread!
There is another cafè on the 5th floor where you can have lunch or even bring food from home as there are microwave ovens.
This is a building that won an award. Here you can find a lot of classrooms and space to study, you can book laptops, and there is a café with Starbucks coffee, while there is even a lovely terrace on the top floor where I imagine myself chilling on sunny days.
There is a coffee shop and eating space on the ground floor where you can have pizza (I still haven’t tried it), as well as the Student Union and the hired@UCB team. On the third floor, there is the gym and, this year, we’ll have the Scottish Team as guests for the Commonwealth Games 2022. But there is something that made me laugh: the health hub. It’s the simulation of an actual ward and, because of the manikins with funny facial expressions, it’s a bit creepy! Not everybody has access, but you can still see them when you’re walking close to the exterior wall of the building.
The most important room for your studies here is the Library, where you can borrow books and book laptops, but there is also the Wellbeing and Mentoring team, plus the main offices.
I hope this article will be helpful for freshers, but even for students who, like me, started University during the lockdown and could not make the most of our University’s potential.
In case you missed the first part of this post, click here.