First month over...

Hi everyone!

Well this is my last blog post of February! Can't believe its been four weeks already!

I thought I'd talk a bit about internships in this post, so I'll cover where to find them, how they benefit you and how the benefit readers...and whatever else springs to mind!

So, I began blogging for the University back in the first few months of my first year. I got a notification on my 'BREO Shell' which is basically where I get my lecture notes and anything university related is on here. It's an internal site that all members of staff and students use daily to keep track of lectures and assignments and all that good stuff! So I believe the notification was a link to get in touch with the marketing team and arrange an interview. The interview was at the Luton campus however, which is about 50 minutes away from the Bedford campus where I am based, but this didn't put me off because I wanted the experience and realised how interesting it would be to do.

So I am the blogger for Education and Teaching for the University. There are bloggers for the other courses too I believe. I was surprised to find out when I first applied that no one else had snapped the opportunity up and I think this was because we were all new and didn't really know our way around the whole 'BREO' site etc.

This brings me to my first piece of advice; read EVERYTHING. Don't miss out on something really beneficial just because you couldn't be bothered to read an announcement. The University lecturers really do try their best to help you gain experience and have an exciting time at university. I am extremely grateful for my lecturer putting this announcement on BREO back when I was a fresher because now I'm still here and still enjoying blogging about my time spent at university.

Not only is blogging beneficial to the readers, for example possible students trying to get an insight into what the University is really like and whether they would suit a particular course or not, but it is also a really good thing for people like me to do to broaden my skills, have something to stick at, and one of the best things that I cannot wait for is reading back from the very beginning of my blog posts to reflect on university and all the obstacles I've overcome.

In terms of lecturers and seminars this week, not much has been happening. I've been super ill this week but I still managed to make it to all but one lecture, yay! In Comparative ed we watched a documentary on the history of South African education to add to the growing collection of countries we need to know about. It was actually really moving and terrifying to watch how some parts of the world lived. In Lifelong learning we had a lecture on the ICT curriculum. We are currently having lectures on all the subjects to help us decide which two we want to use for our poster presentations we've got later on in the year. Digital age was actually an optional lecture where we got up-to-date on our webfolios, as our next formative deadline is creeping up on us! Research methods was the lecture I missed but it was in qualitative data analysis I believe (I will be catching up on notes soon)!

All in all it's been quite an easy week; just preparing for the next lot of assignments in April/May time. But I thought I'd tell you all a bit more about blogging and internships.

In all seriousness, if you can, go for an internship. They really are great opportunities and if you can manage to bag one that you really enjoy (which I really have) then even better. They also show such commitment to future employers that you were involved in your university and got stuck in. I really would recommend one and good luck to anyone who is interested.

On a side note, if you don't manage to get a blogging internship I'd seriously consider blogging your experience at university anyway... To have all or most of your experiences in writing would be really nice to look back on and treasure. So, have a think about it guys because blogging really is fun!

Hope you all have a great week and I'll speak to you next Friday!

Here's a couple cliché 'Spring time' pictures to brighten up the post and get you all looking forward to the next couple of months!

M

Undergraduate Year 2! First Blog Post(kind of)

Hello Everyone,


I'm Megan and I have been lucky enough to have been given the role of Education and Teaching blogger for the second year running.. YAY!


So I thought it would be best to start with an introductory post for those of you who need refreshing and those who are just starting to read.
A bit about me...


I am half way through my second year at The University of Bedfordshire and I am studying Education Studies. It is a three year long degree, which in my first year began with a huge spread of what Education Studies entails; history of education, inclusion in education, social constructions of education and finally, the young child in education. These units were fine, broad but fine for year one, however moving into year two I have seen a huge difference between being a first year and being a second year.


About my course...
I LOVE my course and I really enjoy studying at the uni, my second year has been so much better than my first for so many reasons.
Some of you may know the situation I was in first year, I didn't get on with my flatmates due to being singled out, I was so poor and just in general homesick. So now in my second year, I have moved back home and I commute to university three days of the week(which is when my lectures/seminars fall), I still socialise at uni as my friends are kind enough to let me crash at theirs for student nights and I am just overall enjoying the experience a whole lot more.


Why I chose Bedford?


I chose Bedfordshire for one main reason, it was close to home and after everything that happened I am so glad I did. I really liked the university itself but I probably wasn't ready to move away and that's why all I had in mind was being close to home.
Now that I'm settled at home I can appreciate the actual university so much more, the campus is great and so nice to study in. We've just had a new building open which is incredible, I can't wait to study in there in my breaks, and Bedfordshire is just a really nice place to study.


What I like most?


The people I've met and am still meeting. I have got a really great bunch of friends, most people chat on my course which is lovely. The choices I made this year. I got to choose two options myself this year and I chose Children and Young People in the Digital Age, which is SO interesting and the lecturers are so interesting. I really enjoy those lectures and am definitely going to take it again next year.
I also chose Lifelong Learning because I read it was the best option if you want to do a PGCE course after your degree finishes. This would have been ideal as that's what I thought I wanted to do but recently I have been researching and I think I've changed my mind(I mean recent, literally last and this week)! I won't reveal anything yet as I still need to meet with the careers team to make sure it's definitely possible. But, if you want to take a PGCE I would definitely recommend this unit.


What I'm looking forward to?


I got an A+ in my last exam which I am SOOOO proud of myself for, I was so over the moon. So as geeky as it sounds I think I'm looking forward to getting more grades back so I can see what I am on track to end the year on... I am also looking forward to a few nights out I have planned as I've had a long time off partying due to illness.


So, yeah there's a good update for you all. The posts will be EVERY Friday until the end of July!


M