{"id":4327,"date":"2023-01-06T12:02:14","date_gmt":"2023-01-06T12:02:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sites.manchester.ac.uk\/humanities-blog\/?p=4327"},"modified":"2023-01-06T12:02:14","modified_gmt":"2023-01-06T12:02:14","slug":"what-i-wish-i-knew-before-coming-to-university","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sites.manchester.ac.uk\/humanities-blog\/2023\/01\/06\/what-i-wish-i-knew-before-coming-to-university\/","title":{"rendered":"What I wish I knew before coming to University"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Hi, I\u2019m Emily and I\u2019m a second year student doing a Geography BA degree with a year in placement at the University of Manchester and I\u2019m from Birmingham. I live in fallowfield with five of my coursemates that I met in week one of university, on the geography field trip. <\/p>\n

Things I didn\u2019t know but you probably should know about before coming to uni:
1)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 You pay for clubs and societies, so if you fancy joining one or more then try to work it into your budget for the year. There is support if you are struggling to pay so also don’t be scared to ask for help!<\/p>\n

\"Emily

Emily with friends at the Christmas Market<\/p><\/div>\n

2)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 That it is nearly \u00a3300 for a bus pass, this one really hit every fresher’s bank account in the first week BUT it’s so worthwhile and anyone who doesnt get one and is living in fallowfield is just going to spend a fortune getting to and from nights out and obviously lectures.
3)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 You may not get on with your flat, fortunately I was lucky to get on with most of my flat in first year and I\u2019m going on to live with half of them next year. BUT one of my housemates this year got given quite an isolating flat and still is such a social butterfly. Joining societies, getting involved with course related events and just meeting people around and about may seem daunting but will definitely help you find your people.<\/p>\n

4)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Looking after yourself can be hard, before I came to university I thought I\u2019d be fine because I can cook (I can make pesto pasta and I make a pretty good sandwich) but what’s totally looked past is all the looking after you have to do for yourself. There’s no one forcing you out of bed to get to your 9ams, no one telling you to tidy your room or get some fresh air. However, everyone around you is the exact same, and soon you find yourself doing it all on your own, with a little help from your new friends apart from the 9 ams\u2026
5)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 First year doesn’t count but it kinda does, not to scare everyone off but whilst first year doesn’t count towards your degree in most cases if you apply for a year abroad or placement years you are often asked to achieve a 2.1 or above in first year. It\u2019s not a big deal but possibly just something to keep in mind if you do want to look into doing those courses. <\/p>\n

\"Emily

Emily with friends at the stadium<\/p><\/div>\n

6)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Take every opportunity to enjoy first year, literally everyone from home told me this and as a gap \u2018yearer\u2019 I had A LOT of advice thrown at me right before I left. This piece of info I didn\u2019t really take in, until I\u2019d done what felt like a few weeks in Manchester and suddenly I was back for Christmas. So romanticise every shopping trip to Lidl and all those nights in 256 because before you know it its second year and time to maybe potentially think about life after uni. <\/p>\n

Aside from student life and onto geography as a degree, despite all the colouring in jokes I\u2019m so happy I decided to go for this course. I\u2019m a human geographer and in second year all my optional units reflect that. The things I\u2019ve had a strongest interest in has been getting an insight into feminist geography. This branch of geography I didn’t realise existed until coming to university, but it fundamentally revolves around taking a feminist approach to social matters. This has led me to attending feminist society alongside some of my housemates, which gives an opportunity for many unspoken issues to be addressed, plus its a great way to meet like minded people. Lectures surrounding feminist geographies have looked at the role the home plays in ingraining or challenging gender norms, as well as how the discipline has grown over the years. What\u2019s so different about university compared to school is just how niche topics can be, and the crazy amount of information on topics that you couldn’t imagine people would have researched before. Probably the best thing about my degree is the opportunity to explore every different aspect of the various topics surrounding geography, which goes way beyond oxbow lakes and rocks. I\u2019ve had lectures on men who dressed up as mermen, how mcdonalds adapts to different cultures and the gender binaries in Rusholme which should give you an idea of just how rogue but interesting the degree really is.<\/p>\n

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+44 (0) 161 306 6000<\/p>\n

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The University of Manchester
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M13 9PL
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