Work/Social life balance

Hi everyone, I hope you're all doing well and enjoying your summer holidays/exam leave.

I've just got back from my holiday and I'm off again tomorrow how exciting!!!

Anyway, this post is going to be all about how I juggle my time between work and social life whilst at university and also why it is important to get involved in different activities.

As you all know I commute to university, however this has only been since I started my second year I did live in halls of residence for my first/fresher year. I personally would not commute for my first year of university as I think this really makes it a struggle to meet people and socialise as you'll only be seeing your course mates in lectures. Of course after a while you'll get to know people and establish friends but I think you'll really be distancing yourself if you live too far away to go on those crucial first nights out.
Not only the nights out but you must take time to attend all of the fresher events as this is where you're going to meet some of those lifelong university friends that you will never meet otherwise. People from different courses, all sorts of people. Get yourself involved in every activity going even if you're not that keen you need to be sociable and approachable so that you can have the best chance at meeting some really great people in those first few weeks of moving in.

The balance is difficult, however when you're at university if you want to make sure you can attend every student night all you have to do is make sure you get a weekend job as these always take place during the week and that way you'll never miss out. Although if you are a home person and want to be visiting home at the weekends you'll certainly need to budget you money well in order to be able to not have a part-time job whilst you're at uni. I simply could not afford to live without a part-time job, student finance didn't even cover my rent so I already had to find money for that elsewhere. It was very difficult and I was so thankful for my parents helping me out because otherwise I'd of lived of tins of beans, literally.
The balance between university work and your social life is a lot easier I think because most social events at university happen at night and are mainly nights out. I think as long as you don't overdo it you'll be able to keep on track of work and have a decent social life whilst you're at university.

I don't agree with this image I found, I think as long as everything in your life is balanced you can have a good social life, as well as good grades, time with family and even enough sleep. Just know when other things should come first and don't be silly about it. 

My main piece of advice for this post however, is to put yourself out there when you move to university. Although this may mean you being out of your comfort zone, really that's what uni is all about. Being independent and living by yourself is one of the best things about university as you really find out how difficult it is and everyone grows up when they move away I think.

Thanks for reading, I hope you enjoyed this post.

Until next time,

M

Open Days

Hi everyone, hope you are all well and have had a good week!

This weeks post is going to be all about university open days, the benefits, my experience of open days, tips about where you can find out about selecting a university and all that fun stuff!

Going to as many open days as possible is going to give you the absolute best variety of universities to choose from, I think it is absolutely vital that you visit your potential university before putting it as one of your choices and heading off in September. There would be nothing worse than turning up to a uni that you're going to be living at for 3 to 4 years and finding it's nothing like the pictures because everything is different and pictures can lie, or even realising that it's not everything you wanted in a university you just chose it because you were rushing and didn't visit any open days. There are no negatives to going to several open days, only positives. You need to see your potential university for a number of reasons:

• You have to live there for 3 years
• You are paying a lot of money to attend university 
• It needs to suit all of your needs e.g. close to home/far from home
• It could look completely different to the pictures
• Just because your friends like it doesn't mean you will, do not take someone else's opinion
• You need to work out the halls you want to move into as there are different options. 
• Is there any part time work you could sign up for
• Does it have all the facilities you require for both leisure and studies e.g. a gym for leisure and enough computers for studying 
• Are the lecturers people you could see yourself getting along with
• Does the course offer everything you want it to 

The list is endless really, but there's a few vital things that you need to consider. 

My experience of looking round universities is quite minimal. I was very unsure of what I wanted the one thing I knew was that I wasn't ready to be miles and miles away from home I wanted to be close enough that I could commute for my second year if I wanted but I needed to be far enough away to experience freshers properly and living in halls of residence. I picked Bedfordshire and another university however I didn't actually look around the other one I picked which was why I was so happy when I found out I had got into Bedford. I was so unsure of the other university as I had seen Bedford and it fitted every one of my needs and I didn't want to go to an unknown university and have regretted my decision. I think this is why I believe open days are absolutely necessary I should have visited the other university to make sure it was right to put down as one of my options but I didn't which was a mistake because I'd have been so nervous if I hadn't gotten into Bedfordshire.

Tips on where you can find out more about university selection and open are available on UCAS or even the universities websites themselves. My advice would be to scour these websites and find the ones that seems like they would suit you the best, then apply for some open days and get a real feel for the universities, your choices could change dramatically when you actually visit the universities themselves. 

Just please do not apply for anything before seeing and looking round it. Make sure everything suits you before making any drastic decisions. 

The University of Bedfordshire offers open days throughout the year and this is what they include on the day: 

An open day includes the following activities

• Welcome talk and introduction to the University of Bedfordshire
• Course session with academics from the course you're interested in
• Tours of our campus facilities and student accommodation
• Talks on topics including: student finance, application and personal statements and student life
• Opportunities to speak to academics, support services and current students

Thanks for reading, I hope this was helpful. 

Until next time, 

M

How is Education Studies taught?

Hi everyone, hope you all had a great week!

In this post I'm going to try my best to talk you all through the different teaching aspects of my course, 'Education Studies' so I hope this will tell you all a little bit more about the way the course is set out and hopefully give those of you looking to start this course a little more insight into it rather than feeling like you're going in blind as that can seem extremely scary!

First things first this course is mainly about lectures and seminars, in your second year there is one unit which requires you to go out and find a placement however other than that you can either do a placement as well as your university studies but you will have to find this yourself. There are careers advisors who you can talk to who will be able to put you in the right direction of a placement so you're not entirely alone on this part. However, I would suggest if you think this would be for you to write a letter and/or a generic email and send it to several different schools in the area or wherever you can travel to asking if they would take you for some voluntary work experience and I'm sure some will get back to you.

So, the course is split up into three years and I thought I'd explain year by year:

• Year 1: This consists of four units all of which are core which I know some have changed since I was a first year but basically this year will be entirely lecture based with assignments dotted about in each term. For most units you will have two to three assignments, so around I'd say between 8 and 12 for your first year. This year is not difficult and no it does not count towards your final university grade, however you do need to put effort in because if you don't pass your first year you will not be allowed into second year which you obviously need if you want a degree. The assignments will most probably be mainly essays, but also presentations too. 
• Year 2: This year also consists of four units, two of which are core and two are optional. So, you do get to choose two out of your four units this year. The two core units for me this year were 'Comparative Education' which was all about different countries education and history of education and 'Research Methods' which is a unit dedicated to preparing you for your dissertations. There were several options to choose from including 'SEND' which is special educational needs teaching, 'Understanding the Workplace' which is the one that requires you to find a placement, and the two that I picked are 'Lifelong curriculum' which supports this wanting to go straight into a PGCE or some kind of teacher training, its basically all about the curriculum, 'Children and young people in the Digital Age' which is all about technologies influences on children and young people. This particular unit assesses you through a web folio which you work on throughout the whole unit and the final deadline is at the end of your second year, I really enjoyed this assignment. 
• Year 3: Now I can't tell you much about year 3 in detail as I haven't actually started it yet however as you all will know this year consists of your dissertation and a few other assignments within your units. The main thing this year though is the 8,000 word dissertation. 

There is a lot of use of facilities throughout the degree, the library is used a lot and particularly for m in second year there was a lot of computer suite use for my digital age unit as the web folio assignment is all online there's no paper submission for this assignment. 

If you go onto the universities website and search for 'Education Studies BA Hons this is the overview it gives you: 

Choose Education Studies BA (Hons) degree at Bedfordshire and:

• Learn about the workplace and choose optional themes depending on your own interests
• 
  
• Study inclusion, disability and special needs education, education and technology, sociology of childhood and education, philosophy and psychology of education
• 
  
• Develop your employability skills through work placements, volunteering and a research project
• 
  
• Gain a qualification that allows you to progress to a teacher training course such as postgraduate certificate in education (PGCE) or graduate teacher programme (GTP)
• 
  
• Benefit from studying with staff with extensive experience in teacher training and education, with teaching informed by the Education Research Institute
• 
  

- See more at: http://www.beds.ac.uk/howtoapply/courses/undergraduate/education-studies#sthash.dwysHULF.dpuf 

I hope this post has given you a bit more information about how this course is taught. 

Until next time, 

M

My most memorable moment of second year..

Hi everyone, hope you're all doing well.

This post is going to be all about my single most memorable moment of second year. Now this is extremely hard to pin point as there's been so many memorable moments, however the one that stands out the most to me for some reason is when I achieved my first A+ in one of my assignments. I can't remember if I've told you about this already or not but it is by far the best moment I can remember. I never was and probably never will be a straight A student, I always tried really hard to achieve pretty average grades of B's and C's, and I knew if I didn't try at all those grades would be E's and F's. So for me to achieve my best grade yet in possibly one of the most unlikely assignments was an unreal feeling.

The assignment was some phase tests which were carried out on Microsoft Excel, it involved inputting data correctly. I was never good at Maths at school, in fact it was my worst subject throughout Primary and Secondary school, I despised it and I know this was because I was no good at it, or thought I wasn't. This was very much an academic assignment and not only that, the tests were carried out the day after I had some devastating news in the family, it's safe to say I thought I would fail horrendously. My mind was elsewhere, for obvious reasons, I didn't think I would understand the questions, it was an all round bad experience... until I got that grade back at least!

I've certainly enjoyed the assignments more this year. They've been much more challenging but it's been great to see hard work paying off in terms of grades. My grades have been much better this year and I'm not surprised really, my circumstances are much nicer with living at home and I'm just in an all round better situation with university. I think things would be a lot different if I were still living in that first flat and not looking forward to finishing my lectures and going home.

In terms of challenges, I think the most challenging thing this year has been when I had to be given extensions in January. I have already spoke about the reasons behind this so for this post I'll just explain why it was challenging. The main reason being because I vowed not to fall behind this year, although I didn't last year I did seem to leave everything till the last minute which made me so much more stressed in general and I just wanted to keep on top of everything this year. However, it was out of my control. I couldn't have stopped either of the two things that cause the extensions happening and I just had to deal with the fact that I needed them in order to pass the assignments. Obviously, not everything goes to plan but I still managed to stay calm throughout this period of university and because of the extensions on my assignments I wasn't stressed either.
I think the hardest part was accepting that I needed extra help to get me through this tough time in my life and that had to be the way. No one can plan for everything and I made it through the year so YAY!

I think it is so important to reflect on your time in education and also listen to other people's stories as you never know you could well relate to others that you never would of known otherwise. Its a great way to express how you felt throughout a particular time in your education and also makes you feel great about completing certain aspects for example, A-Levels. I hope you all enjoyed this post.

Until next time,

M

Picking The Right University

Hi everyone, hope you've all had a great week!



I know you'll appreciate this post as you're all going through exam period at the moment and are probably stressed about everything education related. Everyone gets so worried about whether they're picking the right university for some reason (me included), but really is there a right university?
Your choice should be right for you, this won't necessarily be the right choice for your friends. I've made a list of all the things I think everyone should consider when they're choosing their potential universities:

1. Does it have the course you want? This is THE most crucial thing, for me anyway. If the course isn't right, then nothing else will be. You need to realise that you're going to university, you're paying all this money to study a degree and eventually graduate. You cannot pick a university because of where it is and skimp on the course itself. At the end of the day you're there for three-five years on average, you need to enjoy what you're studying more than anything else because essentially this is what you're expecting to get a job in one day.
2. Does it have the facilities you require? Look around the town/city you're visiting, don't just scour the uni, you need to know you can feel comfortable living in its surroundings. 
3. Does it make you excited to start university? There would be nothing worse than turning up at your university choice in September/October and feeling glum. Make sure the university gives you that buzz and happy feeling.
4. Are your potential lecturers friendly and welcoming? Get to know the tutors, find out more about them, ask current students maybe. Just get as much inside information as you possibly can, you're going to want to know the truth.
5. Is the location right for you? Is it close to home or far from home, this is obviously your personal preference, not your parents or partner. Choose what's right for you. 
6. Accommodation. Is it going to be comfortable to live in? Can you spend a year there before moving into a house with your friends, it's a long time to spend somewhere you can't stand. 
7. Money. Can you afford to live in the area? This shouldn't matter too much if you've got the right course as I'm sure if the course is that important you'll work your bum off over summer to pay for a room. BUT, if you don't think you can save money or afford it then simply, rethink. 

My main reasons for picking Bedfordshire were first and foremost, the course. I knew this was the course I wanted to study and luckily for me it is a course that most universities offer. Location was second, I wanted to be close to home, I just wasn't ready to live 100 miles away from my family. This was 100% the right decision for me, I didn't hesitate at all and that's mainly because I gave myself the opportunity by studying close enough to home to commute but far enough to live there at the same time. I lived there for my first year, loved it and then moved home for my last two years. I still have my friends, I still go out on student nights, I'm not missing out at all. In fact I much prefer the way I'm doing university right now. 

However, I will say that I think if I hadn't lived in for the first year I'd probably be lonely. Purely because everyone would have had the time to socialize on student nights and I wouldn't have. I still think I would have friends but I do think I'd miss out on the nights out.

Hope this post gives you some inspiration! 

Until next time,

M

Completing Second Year..

Hi everyone,

So this weeks post is going to be exactly as it states in the title, all about how it feels to have completed another year of university, plans for what's to come (i.e. dissertation thoughts) and placements.

I'll start with my thoughts and feelings on finishing the year....

.... and in a nutshell, that picture sums up how it feels.
I didn't really pay much attention to the fact that I have in fact completed my second year of my three year degree, I am over halfway through my degree, I have one year left before I go out into the big wide world of work and I honestly don't know if I'm ready for it all. One thing I do know is how proud I am of myself for actually making it through this past year, it's been difficult and I had a very big knock back in January when I lost someone extremely close to me and had a heart operation, I ended up needing extensions on my assignments etc, which I never thought I'd have to do. I did feel behind at one point but as soon as I was through the worst of it I picked myself with the help of friends, family and my understanding lecturers and got back on track. You can never plan for things like those to happen and it was my luck that I had a double whammy all in the same week, but it's all down to motivation (self and from peers) to get back into the swing of things and I was and still am so determined to do well at university that nothing will stop me. Sorry, I know this went off on a tangent but basically what I'm trying to say it that despite having those hiccups, I made it through the year and I couldn't be happier with how far I've come since starting this university journey.

Now onto plans, now none of these are set in stone, I haven't completely decided on my dissertation title but I do know that I want it to be something to do with university level education, disability and technology. That's about as far as I've got with dissertation planning, I have done a research proposal already for my final Research methods assignment but I'm not completely happy with it. I may end up using it and tweaking it to make sure its suitable and better quality but who knows! There are SO many options for it and it's quite overwhelming, I do know that I will have decided on a title by July, I'll seek approval from my personal tutor and then I'll make sure I've done at least 1,000 words of my dissertation by the time I start my third year (watch this space). I do not want to be going back to uni with no clue of how I'm going to do my biggest assignment of my university career, I want to and will be planned ahead and feeling ready to tackle it. So, yeah that's what next for me education wise.

Placements are at the top of my mind at the moment, I am currently attending one on Friday's with years 5 and 6 and I love it, however because I'm only doing Friday's I'll have only had a weeks worth of experience with this age before I go away in June and I'd like to have more.So, I'll hopefully be able to return to the school in September and rack up a good couple more weeks there before starting back at uni in October. I already have key stage 1 and 2, but it would be nice to have more when it comes to applying for teacher training. I enjoy placement so much, I know all the kids really well considering I only go one day a week. I can truly see myself working in a key stage 1 or 2 environment one day, I guess that's when you know you've picked the right career path!

Well, that's it for this week!

Until next time,

M

Third Year Expectations...

Hi everyone, hope you're all well.

Seeing as I've finished uni and am not quite sure what sort of things you'll be interested in I thought I'd write a bit of an expectations post. So, what I think third year is going to be like and how it will pan out from listening to peers who have gone through it, my own judgement and what my lecturers have been saying...

My first and probably biggest expectation is that it's going to get very real and very serious. I have heard a lot of people say before that first and sometimes second year are complete walks in the park compared to the final year of university and this seems to be a recurring theme no matter what course you're studying. I personally don't think anyone is ever fully prepared for what to expect for the whole dissertation aspect of final year. Me included, I think it's definitely a huge shock to our systems from what I've heard and I wish I could know what to expect fully but obviously I never will because it's definitely one of those things that if you don't ever experience it, you'll never really understand what it's like. So, yeah dissertation is most probably going to shock me into wanting to be a complete uni nerd and do everything by the book, having said that I don't think anyone ever does every little thing we're supposed to.

I thought this image represented expectations brilliantly. 

Secondly, I definitely think the social side of uni will die down completely, especially in those crucial 'diss' months. This is another reason I know third years going to be the biggest struggle of my uni career, because third year students are barely out on student nights throughout those key dissertation writing months and then all of a sudden they all start appearing again when they've submitted and finished them. I don't think this will affect me as much as others because I'm commuting again and that means less nights out anyway because the thought of a home cooked meal and a bath often outweighs the thought of going out in the freezing cold and waking up feeling horrendous, this makes me sound like I don't like going out, I DO! I have just learnt over the years I have been going out that it doesn't need to be every night because I found myself getting bored of the same old thing every week.

Another big change I think I'll notice is my personal time spent in the library. I thought this year I'd spend more time in the library but I actually barely did, apart from when I had a massive three hour break between lectures. I find it so hard to concentrate in there but I know it will be essential for dissertation work next year so I think I'll be forcing myself to spend many hours in there. I work so well from home, I have my own office and everything gets done so much quicker, eBooks are literally my savior. Although, I much prefer having a book in print as I find it so much easier to find what I'm looking for, so library books are going to have to be my new thing.

Other than these three main things, I don't think much else will change. I mean obviously my lecturers, timetable and all of those things will but the way second year has gone, I really want to keep the approach to uni I have as it's very positive at the moment and just get through this final year of my degree.

It's so weird to think I'm so close to graduating and that massive step closer to my dream job. University was honestly the best decision I ever made. I think my current placement has made me realise how much teaching will suit me and I know I'll be good at it. I have had cold feet about teaching as my career path but my love for it has been restored, all I needed was to get into a setting and remember everything I love about it!

Graduation can't come quick enough! 

Until next time,

M.