After all these years in education, I still can’t shake that inevitable feeling of Back to School excitement when September comes around. I’ve now had a year at University to make my mistakes and (hopefully) I have learnt from them. I’m certainly saving a lot more on food this year. I’ve been forcing myself to eat porridge for breakfast as it’s dirt-cheap and keeps me going until lunchtime. I’ve also been a bit better at managing my time this year, but that may be more to do with location of my house than with learning from past mistakes! For any first years reading this, if living in halls hasn’t quite lived up to your expectations, don’t worry. I didn’t love it as much as I had hoped. But now that I am living in a real house with people I know, I am much happier. I especially like being able to have people over for supper (though trust me I am no Nigella). Being in Clifton is fantastic, too – everything is within a ten-minute walk from us. We live in a quiet, safe place and yet we are five minutes from the clubs on the triangle.
So, having vowed to cut down on my extra-curricular activities this year to focus on my academic work, being close to everything means I am now doing more than ever. This year I have discovered the university Careers Service on Tyndall Avenue and I wish someone had told me about it earlier. The building itself is packed with free employment guides, both general and career-specific, and they host a huge range of career-related events. Everything is free to attend provided you book in advance. Most of the talks are half an hour long so it’s so easy to just guiltlessly pop in between lectures. They cover interview skills, application forms, research techniques and more. I would particularly recommend the CV check appointments. You need to be quick off the mark to get them, but they’re well worth it.
Alice 
Leave a Reply