Student Life: Lesson 3 - The Graduate



(Me at Graduation)

Well that’s it, I’ve graduated from Oxford Brookes University, I got my BA, I’ve said all my goodbyes, and now... well now... well now what? To be perfectly honest I have no idea, graduating is a strange experience to describe, at first you just feel relief, no more early morning lectures, no more deadlines, no more late nights in the library adding the final touches to essays, and finally you can shout to the heavens “it’s over!” Then comes excitement, you once found yourself looking out the window envious of those in the sunshine but now you’re out there with friends and a cheeky mid-day beer, because it’s always six o’clock somewhere right? Suddenly you have more time than you know what to do with, the world is your oyster and that’s not to mention the seemingly endless stream of parties that follow your final exams, it’s just utterly brilliant. However, this high plateaus and is quickly replaced with worries and insecurities, you begin wonder if you’ll be able to stay in touch with and continue to meet up with all the wonderful friends you’ve made at university? Did you take all the opportunities you could at university? You also begin to feel pressure to find work as soon as possible so as not to be left behind. If you’re reading this as someone who has also recently graduated and this blog’s giving you some serious déjà vu, allow me to share some the experiences I had and lessons I took away from the end of my life as a student.

Friends?

University is so diverse with various sport teams, clubs, societies, and courses that finding people with similar interests and personalities to yourself won’t be hard to do. I myself made some of my closest friends at university during my first year, when I moved into my Clivebooth flat, in one of the various Oxford Brookes University Halls of residence. After unpacking my bags and making my room as homely as possible I decided to take the plunge and go through to the flat kitchen and make a point of getting to know all of my other six flat-mates. One by one, each of my flat-mates walked into the kitchen introducing themselves, one of whom turned out to come from the same town as me, realising that we actually knew a lot of the same people, and had even been to the same house party during the summer, my mind is still completely blown by that coincidence. While all talking a group of people from the flat across came in and invited us to join them for pre-drink before heading out to a nightclub, being freshers’ we of course said “YES!”

Over the following weeks a big group of us from four flats became a tight-knit group of friends, moving into shared houses together over second and third years, working through projects together, introducing other friends to our group, sharing both great drunken nights and terrible next morning hangovers together, at university you’ll make a close group of friends who really do become you’re family away from home, sometimes you’ll want to murder them (looking at you Disun), but you’ll always end up coming back together. But what happens after university? What happens when it’s time for you all to move away? Honestly I did worry about this myself and there’s no way of sugar coating it, you won’t be able to stay in touch with everyone. But after graduating I found myself getting messages from friends at university, asking to meet up, organise things, and invitations to parties. Will things ever be the same? The short answer is no, but you’ll all continue to stay in touch and meet up, and you’ll never lose the bond and experience you had at University.


(Celebrating the end of exams!)

Regrets?

Only you can know if you took every opportunity you possibly could at university, I look back at my time at Brookes with one or two regrets, but those regrets are only things I wish I had done, but for the most part I am extremely happy with all the opportunities, risks, mistakes I had and took during my time at Oxford Brookes. If you’re reading this as someone looking at joining university, my one piece of advice to you would be to join as many societies and teams as you can to meet people, go out and party as much as you can (within reason) to meet more people for a slightly different reason, and try to do as many things with your friends as you can, during my time as a student my friends and I went paintballing, had a day at Ascot, and got to go to Ronnie Scott’s Jazz Club in London. Being sensible and steady is something you’ll have plenty of when you hit 30, so just enjoy it, as the saying goes, we’re young, dumb, and full of... confidence.


(Left: Ascot, Middle: Paintballing, Right: Ronnie Scott's)

Career Time?

After graduating it almost seems natural that now it is time for you to start full time work and get on with your life, after all isn’t that the point of getting degree? Well at least that is what I thought, straight after graduation I started looking and applying for jobs, any job, some of them I had no real interest in pursuing as a career, I even got the interview stage of a job I no real passion for, but persisted out of fear of somehow being left behind, and wanting to prove myself as a success. But please take a long deep breath, there is no race, or anyone’s judgement you should be concerned with, other than your own. If you know what it is that you want to do, then focus on that, it is better to have a job that takes you along a path you want to be on, than one that takes you nowhere, that is the point of a degree. Of course you’re going to have to do work in the meantime, I’m currently doing bar work while trying to pursue a career that drives me, but please don’t rush into anything, if you want to, travelling is still an option, I know plenty of people with brilliant degrees who have taken this time as an opportunity to see the World. 

At university you know what it is your supposed to do, your there to get a degree. But after what it is you should be doing isn’t as clear, but take time and you’ll figure it out, at Oxford Brookes there is a career’s team constantly on hand to help you if you feel truly lost. The close friends you’ve made at university you’ll never lose touch with and will always have the bond of going through university together.

I hope that this blog has given you a helpful insight into life after university, and as always have an awesome day!       


 (Me saying goodbye to Oxford Brookes University)

Student Life: Lesson 2 - How to Stay fit at University


Student life can perhaps be best described as a delicate balancing act between your academic and social life, both need attention and care if you wish to excel in your studies as well as leave University with a bank of memories that’ll last a lifetime. However, whilst traversing between your books and friends it can be easy for your health to take a back seat, indeed staying on top of my fitness was a problem I encountered during my first year at University. However, since then I have discovered that not only is it possible to stay fit as a student but actually incredibly easy! Now at this point you may be worried that in this blog I will advise that you exercise everyday like you’re a young Arnold Schwarzenegger, stick to a diet of gruel, and look in the mirror every morning so that you can hate yourself into staying fit. Let me put any anxieties you may have to rest, I like all students am guilty of digging into a large 2 am pizza from Dominos or having a cheeky mid-afternoon Chicken Cottage, but what I have learned from my time at Oxford Brookes, is that all aspects of student life require balance if you are to truly get the best possible University experience. So in the following I’ll answer two questions I had myself when I was looking to stay on top of my fitness; ‘"Where can I go to exercise?’ and 'How can I stay on top of my diet at Uni?’

Where can I go to exercise? 


Back in school you may have found it easy to get your exercise in, what with various sports teams, school gyms, and regimented P.E. classes, which when put all together can make you feel as if you’ve just been condemned to a labour camp in Soviet Russia. However, at University there is no despotic sports teacher to force you to exercise, it’s all up to you, something that I’m sure will come as a missive relief to many of you. So what exercising options are available to you? Well during Fresher’s Fair, you’ll find amongst all the societies, clubs, and other excuses to drink, a wide verity of sports teams, from football to ultimate frisbee, all looking for new players to sign up, weather you are looking to take part competitively or just take part for fun.


I for example joined up for 5-a-side football with a group of friends, just looking for a fun kick about on a Sunday afternoon. I would definitely recommend joining a sports team as it is not only great ways to learn a new sport or continue taking part in one that you already enjoy, but it is also a great way to expand your university social life. Indeed this year I joined the Oxford Brookes Squash team, where I found a great weekly workout running around the court as well as a really great group of people, who I also join for squash team nights out. Exercise is almost never fun, but it is a lot easier to pull yourself away from your Netflix marathon and get up to do some sport when your friends will be joining you.

(Oxford Brookes Women's Hockey Team)
If sport isn’t your thing, there are plenty of other options open to you as well, when I was looking to get on top of my fitness during my second year I joined the Brookes gym, located at the Headington campus, there I found a large array of gym equipment for both cardio exercises and weights. I must admit I was somewhat anxious going to the gym at first, partly because I was fearful of stepping into a douche bags paradise, full of weight machines, flatcaps on backwards, and an endless barrage of tank tops. Instead I found a mixture of people looking to exercise once a week and those there everyday. The Brookes gym also has a really friendly atmosphere, as I found guys and girls coming up to me, to give friendly advice on how best to do certain exercises and suggestion on exercises to incorporate that they themselves had found useful. The gym also runs classes, from yoga to cycling if you’re looking to take on something a little more structured. I myself opted to just go along to the gym a few days a week and built my own routine.

(Oxford Brookes Gym)

It is important to note that most sports teams will charge a joining fee, the fee will vary from team to team as some will require to buy equipment to take part. The Oxford Brookes gym also charges a membership fee, which ranges from £12.99 per month for the bronze membership which gives you access to the gym, most facilities, and some classes (which is what I have), up to £24.00 per month for the gold membership which gives you access to all classes and facilities.

(End of year Squash Tournament - Disney costume optional)



















How can I stay on top of my diet at University?


 At University you can quite often feel like a kid in a candy shop, there is what appears to be an endless source of junk food and no one other than your bank statement to tell you no. There seems to be no escape from the bombardment of offers and deals on pizza’s, Chinese food, curries, fried chicken, and burgers... are you getting hungry yet? Student life gives you unparalleled independence and power to pick and choose as you wish, but unfortunately as the ill fated Uncle Ben once said; “with great power, comes great responsibility”. The responsibility is yours to balance your diet, to go to the shops during your weekly food shop and put down the 6 pack sausages and instead pick fish, to not buy the huge packet of crisps and instead pick up a packet of baby carrots. At the University I found that the Brookes deli and food court offered healthy alternatives with salads and meals that give you the nutritional balance you need. I found balancing my diet at University particularly hard, but with healthy options available at Brookes and steadily making healthy food choices at the supermarket I saw real improvement. I’m not going to sugar coat it, eating healthy sucks, come on we’d all much rather dig into ice cream or chips and [insert type of fried food here], but by eating healthy food in reasonable amounts, whilst treating yourself to something a little more enjoyable once or twice a week, you’ll find that your diet isn’t something that you need to focus on, and eventually it’ll just become part of your weekly routine and be second nature to you.

(Me at the end of 1st year)

By the end of my first year I found myself overweight, out of shape, and in terms of confidence, at a real low point. Lost in the freedom that goes hand in hand with student life, I didn’t exercise, thinking that it would be impossible to incorporate it to my studies and social life. Furthermore I made really poor diet decisions, opting for the unhealthy option almost every time I was at the supermarket. It took me almost the entirety of my second year as a student to get myself back on track. Now I am in the best shape of my life, I have discovered a new confidence I didn’t know existed, and for me this was an extremely important lesson, but one that I learned the hard way and I do not wish to see others to have to learn as I did. Student life is all about balance, you find yourself for the first in your life with the training wheels taken off, and if you lean too far on either side, you’ll fall off.

(Me today)
I hope this blog has given you a helpful insight into how to stay fit at university, and as always have an awesome day!    

Student Life: Lesson 1 - Studying at University


Today we’ll get dug in with one of the most important questions you’ll face when coming to university (or at least technically), “How will I be able to study?” To some this may seem like a rather demeaning question, to which they could quite rightly respond; “Well obviously I’ll be able to study, I passed my A-levels didn’t I?” But as anyone who has been to university will tell you, student life is so much more than just studying. The balancing act you did at school between social and academic suddenly becomes more complicated with far more distractions – Alcohol, unlimited freedom, house parties, club events, sports, and (let’s be honest) sex – thrown into the mix. Furthermore, the escape from social life you found at home is no longer an available luxury, it truly is up to you to find the time & space in which to work.

“Will I have time study?”

To say “Fresher’s Week’ is a bit hectic” would be like saying “Wayne Rooney can kick a ball” – in short, a massive understatement. Fresher’s Week is crazy 7 days of mainly (though not exclusively); orientation meetings, lots of socialising, heavy drinking, more socialising, registration, Jager bombs, and sleep – usually in that order. However, Fresher’s actually takes place one week before term and classes usually start, giving you time to get ‘most’ of the craziness out of the way before you begin your studies.


In the weeks that follow, the time during Fresher’s devoted to partying and socializing, quickly opens up into large chunks of free time during the week. Though it is extremely tempting – believe me – to use this free time as an opportunity to socialise, play FIFA, go out, and try to complete Netflix, I would strongly recommend you capitalise on this free time to stay on top of any assignments you have upcoming.



There will still be plenty of absolutely ‘EPIC’; Student Union, Society, Club events throughout the semester, but please balance your time, otherwise it’ll result in unnecessary pressure and you staying up into the early hours of the morning, in order to submit below par work. I made such a mistake in my first semester at university, it was an important lesson for me and one I would not wish anyone else to have to learn the hard way. 


If you find yourself in such an unfortunate situation, organizing a meeting with your teachers or even academic adviser (Oxford Brookes University will provide you with one) can be immensely helpful, as they can help you divide up your time, so that you can find the time for all your work as well as all the fun stuff you want to do!

“Where can I work?”

As for working space, there are a number of different options, so you can find the one that suits you best. I spent my first year as a Student at Oxford Brookes in Halls (Clivebooth), there I was provided with a desk and fast internet assess on the university ‘eduroam’ system, allowing me to get my various coursework’s, readings, and revision done. In Halls it was not always easy to escape noise or distractions of nightlife, as I found myself sometimes unable to concentrate with the sounds of drunken pre-drinks from the flat above… which I would then end up joining – naturally. Nevertheless, in halls you can find a bubble that is all yours, with all the tools necessary for you to stay on top of your work.

If you are moving into a shared house, no worries, most rooms in student housing come with a desk or equivalent working space, but internet is something you may well have to arrange with your Landlord and fellow tenants. In my second year I moved into a shared house with five friends, all of our rooms had a desk and in the weeks prior to moving in we set up the internet – we were also given the option of continuing the internet contract the previous tenants had with another provider. In a house you have the luxury of not being distracted by the sounds of distant party goers, however, house parties can make it impossible to work! Therefore, I would recommend that you plan your work round any social events your housemates may have planned. If you still find yourself unable to work, then the library is the place for you. Personally I found studying in Hall s was no different to a house, but I am one of those people who are easily distracted, and found the place I thrived best was the library – case & point, this blog was written at the library – but I know plenty of people who would give very different answers, so clearly it’s a matter of opinion as to where is best to work.

Student life is a busy, hectic and unbelievably fun time. There will be experiences that you’ll never forget – I can vouch for that! – But in all the craziness you’ll be expected to work. Think of it as just one of the many lessons we all have to go through when leaving the nest that is home. I hope this has been a helpful insight into student life and as always have an awesome day.            
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