Being A Student - Experience
May 30, 2016
Hey guys!
So finally I have completed my first year at Liverpool John Moores University studying Early Childhood Studies. From completing the UCAS application to a week before I was suppose to start university I was not sure whether to do an apprenticeship or actually go to university. And I'm glad I went with my gut and did University.
At first I was completely out of it and felt out of place but once I got in there and got familiar with the place I felt right. Me and my best friend of 8 years, Elly, are on the same course in the same university so I felt comfortable as at least I knew someone. But then I realised everyone was going to university not knowing many people. Therefore I made quite a few friends on the day who I am still friends with. Now we have our own clique. We are all quite similar but we do have some differences which we like. One of them, Chloe, I call my partner in crime and my dance partner as it is always us two who go to the clubs (even when we have university in the morning) and we try and persuade the rest to come with us.
My course has 5 modules which is then split into 4 essays, 1 presentation, 1 portfolio, 1 report and 2 exams. Sounds a lot but they are spread out from October to April and then the exams are beginning of May and then that's the course completed. In the first semester (October to December) I had passed my presentation and my 3 essays which made my feel slightly more relieved and less stressed for semester 2 as they were 50% of the overall pass mark. In the second semester (January to May) I had passed my fourth essay and my report which meant out of the 5 modules I had passed 3 and have to wait until June to see if I've passed the other 2 modules. The exams were 3 hours long each and even though it sounded scary it wasn't at all bad as there was 3 questions (2 seen questions, 1 unseen) for one exam and 5 seen questions for the second exam. Therefore, we was prepared and the time was used very wisely. For the first exam I was ill which lead to me falling asleep (don't worry I finished half an hour earlier) and when the invigilator asked if I was finished I caught my ripped jeans on the side of the table which meant I had ripped my jeans further. Embarrassing.
At the start of university, there is a fresher's week, which is where the clubs in the city centre hold different events in order for students to socialise together. On Mondays there is Brooklyn Mixer, Tuesdays there is Bumper or Lost, Wendesdays is Levels, Thursdays is Garlands or Modo, Fridays is Medication or INK and Saturdays and Sundays are a mixture. This was a bad influence on me and my friends as this is where most of our loan ended up. But I don't regret any of it! There was also a 'Student Fest' event which was amazing, even though I did get quite drunk and there was a 'Student Carnage' event which unfortunately I was working nights; therefore I couldn't go. I have now come to realise that I am crap at doing shots as they send me 'west'. One night we went out and me and my friends ended up having an argument with a bunch of way older lads as they started shouting stuff at us and throwing drinks at us and then later on during the night one of the bar staff gave me 8-10 shots thinking I was going to share them out and all of a sudden they were gone as I had took them myself. I cannot remember the night but watching the videos...oh my goodness!
In my opinion, I don't think attendance is all that important for FIRST YEAR. I know you obviously have to attend to make it onto the 2nd year and that we got told that if we didn't attend we would have 'formal meetings' about our attendance. But we were all fine. Obviously you do have to attend otherwise you wont know what your doing for your assignments but if you miss 1 or 2 days a week or every fortnight then your not going to get in trouble. Plus, they put everything online (Blackboard) so you wont miss information (even if it is just the basics that have been put up.)
One thing I do regret not doing is moving into student accommodation. I believed that because I was staying in Liverpool for university that it would be way much cheaper and more beneficial to stay at home. One I would be saving money and two I could help mum and dad with housework and looking after the siblings. However, I do have that feeling that I missed out on going into halls/student accommodation as everyone has shared about it being a 'blast' and they made 'best friends' with the flat mates and neighbours. However; I also believe that I was fortunate as one of my best friends of 5 years, Ella, was flat sharing with my one of my now-best friend Chloe, therefore I was able to stay in their flat whenever I wanted to. Therefore I am fortunate and grateful and was able to make friends with their flat mates and their neighbours.
2 comments
Love this blog post nad, bring on second year!������
ReplyDeleteAww thankyouu Ell, cannot wait! Less partying and more hard work :)
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