Paying a visit

This week sees the arrival of vast multitudes of banners, tents, stalls, signposts and the like, all awash with colours, demonstrations, talks, guides, student ambassadors, members of staff, and, most importantly of all, visitors, as the University hosts its summer Open Days – with all the festivities to be repeated again in September for those who can’t quite make it!

Casting my mind back to when I was considering where to apply, I can remember finding it fairly tricky to distinguish between all the fantastic choices on offer, but I located some student blogs on the Electronics and Computer Science website from which I got a great impression of just what life was like here and, crucially, the sheer homeliness of the University which, being from a significant distance away, was an important factor for me.

I therefore knew it was a place I just had to visit, and I can recall quite clearly the first time I did so: on a September Open Day. With it being my first visit to a University I was relatively petrified when I stepped off the train and, alone and many miles away from home, I had nightmarish visions of being stranded in the city without a clue of where I was supposed to go - or how I was supposed to get there!

So I was relieved to find that, exiting the station, I was greeted by an army of friendly, helpful faces who guided me onto the right bus for where I needed to be, Highfield campus, and chatted to me about what I wanted to get out of the whole occasion. The weather was glorious, and the wonderful sunshine was reflected in the beaming faces of everybody helping out. I can remember being bowled over by just how active, and positive, the campus seemed – the day really inspired me.

I was also enraptured by just how much world-leading research the University produces, the impact of which was apparent in my first year here when I had a lecture on a programming language used worldwide - by a professor who invented that language! Needless to say, it received a glowing review when we were asked, as an aside to the coursework assignment, to “describe our experiences” using it!

But most importantly of all, visiting the University, and all of the other universities I went on to apply to for that matter, gave me a real sense of the ambience and atmosphere of the place and, in the case of Southampton, it was some form of instinct or gut feeling that told me it was going to become my home – despite the considerably lengthy train journey! It’s very difficult to describe, but it was a crucial factor in my decision that I couldn’t have divulged without going along to the day and, a few months later, a follow-up visit day; things just felt right.

Two years later, I’m certainly glad that they did! Even my brother, who had been working in Southampton at the time having already graduated and went along to the visit day, said he wished he could’ve applied – a rare concession in the sibling rivalry stakes!

So I find it quite wondrous that, given how critical open days were in taking me to where I am today, events seem to have come full circle this week, as I’ll be on the other side of the student ambassadorial line. Both Jo and I have had the incredible honour and privilege to be invited to participate in the Pro Vice-Chancellor’s talk on why prospective applicants should choose Southampton, which takes place twice on both days in the Nuffield Theatre (my own favourite venue!) and promises to be a rich demonstration of what makes life here great.

During the course of the talk, we’ll be describing our own personal journeys during our times in Southampton, focusing particularly on how the University has directed, fuelled and assisted our lifelong ambitions (which you can share with the hashtag “#myambition” on Twitter!). Personally, doing the talk alone is enough evidence of this in me – without the skills and confidence I’ve picked up during my time here, I’d have run a country mile rather than take part! But we’re both very keen to get across just how rich life here is as a student, and we’d love to meet you all in person and answer any questions you might have – so if you can make it, it’d be fantastic to see you!

But regardless, if you’re around in Southampton this week, or you’re considering paying us a visit in September, I’d really encourage you to come along, make the most of it, and enjoy your day! There’s no substitute for getting to know the University in person, and what you find might just make your decision easier, as it certainly did with me.

Who knows? It could be the start of something quite special!

Robin