Guest Speaker

This week during one of my lectures we had a guest speaker come in and chat to us about his line of work which is to do with working with people with disabilities.

It was an absolutely brilliant presentation and speech, he came in and was so open about his own life choices and that really moved everyone in the room. It made me feel a whole different level of respect for him.

One of the many things university offers is the opportunity to attend different presentations, guest speakers etc even if it's not solely to do with your particular subject. It doesn't necessarily matter if it doesn't entirely match the degree your studying it's all about giving students the option to hear other people's stories and learn things that you may have never even heard about.

I enjoy hearing and learning about things I have never come across before so this is the type of thing I would enjoy and it doesn't matter if it's not of interest to you I'm just giving you as much information as I know and can think of about what being a part of the University of Bedfordshire is like. That involves benefits, negatives, all kinds of things.

One thing I would like to clear up if any of you think like this, is that when you go to university it's not at all in any way, shape or form like being at school. It's a whole different ball game, it's a gigantic step in a persons life. Everyone grows up in different ways and whether you decide to wait and go travelling or go straight into university after school, it's your choice but university will still allow you to mature the same way other university students do. It's like you're almost teaching yourself sometimes, lecturers don't call your parents if you miss one lecture, however if it becomes an excessive amount they will consider your place on the course. You don't have to write down everything your lecturers says and it does not have to be word for word, its however you learn best.

It's so hard to explain how different university is compared to school but I hope my blog is able to give those who aren't at university a good insight into what it's like to an extent.
Basically, you're going to have to grow up when you start university, you're going to have to motivate yourself and then you will achieve but until you realise you've got to put hard work in, it's not going to be an easy ride.

This saying is so so fitting to university.

Decisions, Decisions...It's too difficult!

I had a think about what I should write a blog post about this week and I decided a post about how I made my early decisions about university and what spurred me on to make the choices I did. I hope this post interests you all and gives you an idea of the reasons I chose the University of Bedfordshire.

One of the hardest decisions before I even knew if I had got into uni was what universities to put down as my firm and insurance choices.I picked both the University of Bedfordshire and another university just as close to where I live as Bedford is(about 40 minutes). I made this decision because at the time I did not feel ready to leave home, I am still unsure on whether this was the right choice for me but it's the one I chose so I've got to live with it. I'm still unsure because I don't know whether living here and paying as much money as I am to live here is actually more beneficial for me than if I were living at home..to be honest I would probably be much better off if I was still living at home. However, I'm not and I am very glad I decided to take the plunge and move away from home because now I've learnt that it's not for me for the full three years and it has helped me realise that I would actually thoroughly prefer to live at home for the remainder of my studies. I am not slating moving away from home at all, I just think that I've 'got the t-shirt' and in my opinion it's not worth missing home as much as I do. I am so glad I've had the experience though and I wouldn't change my decision of moving here, I would just change the people I was put with in the first place.

If I were choosing a university again I wouldn't change the University of Bedfordshire as a uni as it is fantastic and I love studying here. I might perhaps consider changing the location to somewhere a bit more lively, so a city uni, however this would be such a tossing and turning decision because I don't know if I would be ready to move to a big city on my own. I think my home sickness would kick in and I could feel worse than I did just 40 minutes down the road..
Thinking about it, I have definitely made the right decision for me in allowing myself to live the university lifestyle for a year, finding out it's not entirely for me and having the option to move back home and still carry on my studies. I think if you're like me and are not sure about staying close to home or moving away you should consider universities that will allow you the opportunity to start off living there for your first year and then if it's right for you carry on living wherever that may be or if not, move home and commute to university whenever you have lectures or seminars.At the end of the day most universities cut contact time even further as you progress through your course so you may not even have to travel to uni everyday which would be a bonus for anyone who decides to live at home.

Think carefully and for yourself. Don't pick a university just because someone else is, do what's right for you.