My experience during my first Assessment Centre

Assessment Centres are tough. They consist of a long day full of exercises to determine whether or not you are fit for the company or organisation that you’re applying to. To top it off, you will be doing these tasks with other candidates applying for the same company. Daunting doesn’t begin to describe the day. Thankfully, the Careers and Employability service at the University offer mock assessment centre workshops and even video tips to help you.

My first Assessment Centre experience was with the Civil Service, with whom I completed an internship last summer. As an employer, I have found that the organisation values teamwork – concessions are much more important than bulldozing others who may not agree with you. Taking some time to understand the values of the company that you are working for is crucial; how you may fit in with the ethos is how assessors decide whether or not to give you the job.

Preparation started off a few days before. I had planned by journey with time to spare, prepared some notes, snacks and my outfit and went over my materials. My materials included notes on how to build rapport during group work, getting my points across without being too assertive, how I would structure a short presentation to a superior and certain points I can make about my work experience in my CV.

The day started off by getting introduced to other candidates. In hindsight this was quite an important part of the day. Building rapport with people you will be working with throughout the day can benefit your group during the exercises.

Group Work

The first exercise was group work. My assessment centre was for the British Civil Service so the aim of the exercise was for everyone in the group, who each represented a government department, to come to a consensus about a specific policy issue. This time our task was to decide which town in the country would be the best to build a hospital in. I was a representative for the Department for Transport and the brief that I was given instructed me to argue for the case of building in a specific town because of its good transport links. However, this was in contention with the others who wanted to build on other towns based on the preference of their respective departments.

The assessor was in the corner writing down their observations so it was important to get involved in the conversation otherwise they would not have anything to give you marks for. Looking up at people; using their names; leaning in from time to time; being aware of time and taking note of those who haven’t said much and including them in the conversation all get you more marks – or so I have been told. If I could have advised myself one to do one thing at the beginning of the exercise, it would have been to set criteria for the group at the beginning of the task: how do the options give value for money; affect public perception; feasible timelines and projected profits for the town and its surrounding area. Questions like these allow the group to have a structure for discussion.

The most important thing here is for the group to come to a decision. Accepting that other’s suggested options might be a better solution than yours is guaranteed to give you a better mark than not acknowledging that at all.

Policy Recommendation Exercise

The second task tested me on my individual ability to write quickly and professionally. I was given the brief of writing a balanced assessment of two policy options that are being considered and then recommend which action should be taken. It took a whole hour for this to be completed so I was very tired afterwards and this was only the second task of the day! The key to the task is to write as early as possible. There was no time for drafting! Since there is only a limited amount of time the assessors don’t expect the highest quality of work, instead they are testing how well you can complete the task in the time you are given. Once again, finishing the task is always the goal so think of the level that a high quality piece of work should have and then halve that!

What I wore during the Assessment Centre. Dress for the position you want, not the one you have!

Leadership Exercise

After a lunch with the other candidates, it was time to for me to be tested on my leadership abilities. The task involved giving a presentation to the assessor about how I will go about leading my team during a project. I was told that giving a structure to the presentation helps not only the assessor understand what is going on but also gets you more marks for clarity and logic.

In hindsight, I should have started with our current accomplishments with the project. This sets the scene for the next point which is where my team and I could improve on in terms of budget and timescale. Next I should have gone through the strengths and weaknesses of my small team and how I shall go about using their assets to the project’s benefit and how I could solve issues that may arise based on their weaknesses.

Finally, I would have summarised how my changes will affect the momentum of the project and whether or not this affects the schedule. The key thing here is to use “I” instead of “we” as you are being tested on your own ability to lead.

Interview

The last part of the day included a one-to-one interview with an assessor. As preparation for this task I went through my CV and used it as a template for my answers to the competency-based questions. Competency-based questions generally ask for you to give examples of times when you have showed your initiative, when you have shown good time management or when you have improved on something. The framework for answering these questions in the S.T.A.R. step:

S: What the situation was,
T: What the task was that needed to be done
A: What your subsequent actions were
R: The results of your overall way of dealing with the situation.

Again, the more detailed you are in your examples, the better. The Careers team have really helped me out with this through their Interview Workshops.

Overall, the day was tough and robust preparation for the day was certainly necessary. If you have an assessment centre coming up, the very best of luck to you. Don’t forget to let us know how it went and give us some tips too!

Rylyn

Doing the ‘touristy’ things: a day trip to Bath

One of the main things that my international friends aim to do in their year here is visit as much of the UK and Europe as possible. For many of them it may well be their only chance to see some of the great historic sites in the UK and when you’re living in Southampton you are not far away from many of them. Of course you are quite far away from some others but hey, that’s an excuse for a road trip! For me it’s a chance to show off my excellent tour guiding skills, for instance “Do you know what that’s called? A flying buttress! Have you even heard of a better named thing?”

Yesterday we went to Bath, which is just a short train journey away from Southampton Central and is a great place to visit for a day out, due to the excellent mix of really good shopping and British history.

I actually hadn’t visited the Roman Baths there since I was a child, and so didn’t really remember much of it at all, and my partner who studied there for four years had never been because when you live in a place, you don’t really do the ‘touristy’ things.

It turns out the Roman Baths were actually really interesting, being essentially part of a huge temple to the goddess Sulis Minerva, who they believed resided within the hot springs. The best part for me was not the ancient religion, but the ancient technology; the Romans actually had under-floor heating, and the systems for transporting the water throughout the baths are really impressive.

The Baths, with the Abbey in the background 

Talk about a hot spring, you can see the steam rising from the water of the sacred pool

After the Baths we visited Bath Abbey, which history dates back to around the 10th century – although it’s been through a lot of changes since then. Even if you are not religious, Abbey’s and Cathedrals across the UK really are something special worth visiting, just because of the sense of awe they inspire through their grand scale and intricate design. I’m not a religious person, but even so I light a candle for family members that I have lost as a way of remembering them. While we were there we were even treated to the choir rehearsing for a performance that evening.

In most Cathedrals and Abbeys you can light a candle – a chance to remember lost loved ones.

It’s a beautiful thing to see. 

Quick stop for ice cream 

One of the best things to see in Bath is the real estate; we walked up to the Royal Circle and decided which house we were going to have. These houses are on the border of a beautiful park which we wandered through for over an hour, because the best touristy things to do are the ones that are free!

It really would be quite nice to live here, though it’s really rather expensive! 

The Easter break is a great chance to get out and about in the UK, weather permitting of course. From Southampton you are so close to some of the major tourist destinations and as a student you will usually be entitled to discounts for the main attractions.

No matter what your plans are for Easter, remember to take some breaks from work and treat yourself to doing something fun, particularly the postgraduates who are only here for the year!

Emma

Realising projects: The University of Southampton Student Film Festival

Some time ago I spoke quite broadly about a project I had been putting together as part of a cross-collaboration between the University’s entertainment magazine, The Edge, and its film making society Wessex Films. Planning started last September and last week the dream was finally realised. The first (hopefully annual) University of Southampton Student Film Festival went off without a hitch, and I couldn’t be happier or more proud!

I won’t go into too much detail about the planning stages, since I’ve touched on them at least a few times in the past, but the actual event - an evening of celebrating the best student films the University has to offer was held last Tuesday 15 March, and it seemed to finally come together wonderfully.

Despite slight worries in the week leading up to the festival, due to the fact that we rather bizarrely ended up with too many submissions (I honestly never thought that would be possible!), all ran smoothly on the night thanks to a carefully-formed shortlist.

In the end, after 25 submissions, 14 films, ranging from comedies and horrors to documentaries and music videos, were chosen and screened in their entirety to much applause and fanfare from the surprisingly large audience. Co-founder Pippa and I had been keeping our hopes relatively modest in terms of attendance numbers, but were totally bowled over when we began noticing the room filling out. Exact numbers are still a little hazy, but it was definitely far more than we had ever anticipated!

 

Our fabulous live audience at the very end of the night!

As one of the hosts for the evening, I tried my best to keep things light. I found myself frequently surprised by not only the quality of the films we showed, but also the audience’s reactions to them. They laughed and cheered along in all the right places, applauded every film as it ended and proved generally supportive of every filmmaker in attendance. It seems silly, but little things like this are what made the event such a success in the end; when everyone is enjoying themselves it makes hosting and organising everything so much easier!

Following the screening, there was a short break for the attendees to mix and network with one another over free wine and food. At the same time, the judging panel disappeared off to a hidden room to discuss who would be walking away with which awards.

Myself and co-founder Pippa - the hosts for the evening.

The panel consisted of myself, head of the Film Department Professor Lucy Mazdon and senior lecturer Dr. Mike Hammond, with input coming in from Southampton alumnus Jonny Ramsay, the current Sales Coordinator at Universal Pictures who unfortunately couldn’t make it on the night. It was truly a testament to the quality of the films entered that deciding the lucky few took some time.

Eventually, with the winners’ names tucked away safely in a series of envelopes, the award ceremony could finally begin.

Thanks to some rather lovely sponsorship from other creative societies including Surge Radio, SUSUtv, Union Films and FilmSoc, as well as the Film Department themselves, the awards consisted of not only little trophies and certificates, but also a series of different assorted prizes, ranging from cinema vouchers to DVD bundles and even a vinyl player!

One by one the winners were read out in eight categories: Best Sound/Music; Best Editing; Best Cinematography; Best Screenplay; Best Acting; Best Directing; Best Film and the Audience Award, voted for by the audience themselves during the break. With huge cheers for all the winners, it seemed that the crowd agreed with the judges.

Our incredible, award-winning filmmakers!

Words cannot describe how happy and relieved I was at the end of it all. Six months of planning and stressing had been entirely worthwhile. It shows how these big projects may seem crazy when you first start them up, but with SUSU’s unparallelled backing they came together beautifully. There are too many people to thank and hug, but to anyone who was involved with the Festival in any way, shape or form, from the deepest depths of my heart: thank you.

To anyone who has ever had a cool idea that they thought was too extravagant: give it a shot. You’ll be surprised with how far you can get, trust me.

Now I’m just going to curl up into a ball over here and sleep for the whole of Easter…

Ben

Productivity and the Easter break

The Easter break is the perfect mid-semester break to recharge your batteries and maybe get some work done. A whole month off of my usual timetable is nothing to complain about, and I’ve already gone home to Norway for some much needed time relaxing with my family.

However, since the Easter holiday here in Norway is only until Tuesday next week and most of my friends here have their exams, I’m not going to stay for the whole month. The plan is to get some serious work done in April when I’m back in Southampton, so fingers crossed I will actually follow through.

In the meantime, while most Norwegians have retreated from the cities and up to the mountains, I’m here in sunny Oslo enjoying some gorgeous sunsets

I was lucky enough to get to spend a couple of hours with my best friend before she went back to university in USA!

Now I’m here wondering how I should spend the two next weeks. The thought of not doing any university work is tempting, but not so likely. It’s a strange feeling going into Easter break after such an intense work-period before Easter and now there’s suddenly a month until my next deadline. What’s the best way to keep the motivation up for this month?

Without claiming that I know the best answer to this, I think the best way is to have a proper week off without any work. Did someone say binge-watching Netflix? Yes! The best part about that is, that even with a proper week off there are still three weeks left of the break, which means you can spread the workload.

A good start is to make a plan on what you want to have finished over Easter and what coursework you want to have started. If you make a realistic plan imagine how nice it will be after Easter when you are ahead on the deadlines. To me, the thought of being ahead for the next term is motivation enough to work over Easter.

How to get there is up to you. It could mean working a little bit every day or simply putting aside two or three days per week just for work. It’s also a question of defining work. ‘Work’ could mean catching up on the reading you should have done, starting that essay or coursework or simply just taking notes from the lectures you missed before Easter. Either way, without sounding like your mum – not doing any work over Easter is bad idea no matter how you put it.

Make a plan, but also remember to enjoy the holiday.

Other than that, I hope you have a productive and, most importantly, relaxing and refreshing break!

Alexandra

How to keep your student house safe over the holidays

Wow, is it Easter already?

For the next few weeks we have a whole month of relaxing, studying, and of course spending time with the family. I can almost taste the Easter eggs! Many of us are heading home and this got me thinking about all the preparation needed for the trip back. Of course, packing your things to take back with you is important but so is making sure your house is safe while you are away. After all, we mustn’t take our security for granted!

Students take thousands of pounds worth of valuables with them to university so it is worth putting effort in making sure your house is secure before you leave. There is more to this than simply locking windows and doors. Here are a few things you can do to keep your things and your student house safe:

Don’t make it obvious that no one’s home

You could invest in a timer switch for a lamp so that there is light on in the evening. Leaving your lights on for the whole time while you are away may cost too much. One other thing is to not leave your bin or recycling out in the street – this may send a signal that there is nobody home at the moment.

Fire and electrical safety

Close all of the fire doors and check that your fire alarm is working before you leave the house. Making sure all of your electrics are unplugged will not only save energy from standby functions but it will also protect your appliances from power surges.

Easy peasy lemon squeezy

Lock your room

This is such a simple and easy mistake to make before going away. Even I find myself doing it. Sometimes we assume that because the main doors and windows are locked it won’t matter as much if we do not lock our room doors. It is best to lock it anyway – in case something does happen. It will make it harder for someone to gain access to the valuables inside your own space.

 Let your landlord know

Let your landlord know the dates the house will be empty and request they check up on it. Additionally, once you’ve checked your doors and windows for weak spots you can also let your landlord know about them so that they may be able see to it before the house is empty. Alternatively, you could ask a trusted friend or neighbour to keep an eye on the property while you’re away.

Take valuables home

Laptops, tablets, TVs, expensive clothes and bikes are safer with you. If you can’t take your valuables with you during the break you could arrange for them to be held by a friend or in a secure storage. You could also use an ultraviolet pen to mark your stuff with your University name and student ID number. These pens are usually cheap and you could easily buy them online.

Don’t show it off

It may seem obvious but we may sometimes forget to keep our TVs, computers and other valuables away from windows where they are in full view. Keep them out of sight and out of reach, especially keys! Speaking of keys, burglars know where spare keys are hidden in properties so it is best not to leave one lying around.

Other (equally important) things to remember…

1. Your mail: if you will be gone for the whole month you could even redirect your post. Royal Mail operates a mail redirection service which you could access view their website.

2. Uni work at home: Did you know you view your university desktop on your laptop at home? Simply go to the University’s Southampton Virtual Environment to access all files and software as if you were using a computer in the library. There’s no need to download anything, simply click and log in!

3. For those staying on campus: It might be helpful to know the opening times for the University libraries, so check their websites for information.

Finally, make sure you put out your rubbish, clear out your fridge of anything that will go off, and generally tidy the house- there's nothing worse than coming back after the holidays to a messy house and sour milk!

Not the face anybody wants to make when coming back to their student house. 

Have a lovely Easter break!

Rylyn

Battling the mid-semester blues

While looking for inspiration for what to write this week I read through the previous blog posts written by my fellow writers, hoping that something would inspire me. All I achieved, in fact, was being extremely jealous of Ben’s visit to Playzone!

The reason why I was battling to find something to write about is that I am now two-thirds of the way through the formal taught part of my Masters, which means in this week run up to Easter I am buried under presentation preparation, reading and coursework prep. I think that I feel like I have no time to do anything interesting worth writing about!

I have always been this way; during the first semester I’m full of enthusiasm and energy, but by the second semester I’m feeling pretty drained because of all the demands on my time. Mid-semester blues are something that pretty much all my course mates are feeling right now, and the only remedy is to find little things that you can do to try and cheer yourselves up. Which, thinking about it, is something worth writing about!

Last Friday, at the end of a one-week intensive module, our poor little brains exhausted to the point of potential explosion, we went to the dry ski slope in Southampton which is only an eight-minute drive away from campus and you can ski for free with your sports and wellbeing membership! I did not know this before and it’s probably the best news I’ve had in weeks.

I love skiing but since I am perpetually broke, real snow will continue to evade me for the foreseeable future. The dry slope is the closest I’m likely to get, but that’s okay because it’s a really great place and for the first hour we had the whole slope to ourselves! Afterwards we picked up a bunch of pizzas and garlic bread and chilled out at mine – a perfect start to the weekend.

 

It's not quite Austria, but just as fun

 

We even had great weather for it! 

My second activity to cheer myself up was to start looking at booking a summer holiday. Since I have to write my dissertation over the summer, my partner and I are only going to take a little over a week, so we are trying to plan the best week ever. Comparing flight prices and looking at hotels is infinitely entertaining, motivating and a fab break from work!

Finally, something a bit random. Every Monday I have a five hour lecture block at Southampton General Hospital, and normally I would take the bus there and back. This week, since the weather was so lovely, a few of us decided to walk back which was really nice. The Common in the sunshine is so pretty and walking is so much more inspiring than sitting on a bus trying not to fall asleep!

A nice way to end a Monday

Everyone has their own little ways of fighting back against the mid-semester blues, and instead of feeling guilty about taking time off work, we should feel great about it. There’s only so much time you can spend studying before you need a break.

Emma

On being an 'adult in training'

One of the joys of being a student is the strange limbo it puts you in; somewhere in-between being an adult, and the deep recesses of your childhood. Sure, you’re out in the big wide world, possibly far away from home, most likely fending for yourself like some sort of regular, fully-grown human being…but at the same time you’re also not quite past the point of total responsibility. An ‘adult in training’ almost.

This may not be true of everyone, but it’s certainly something I’ve noticed recently, specifically in third year, now that I’m on the very cusp of giving up education altogether. The thought of being a full-blown adult, without any “I’m a student”-style excuses, is at times, sort of a scary one. It’s also deeply exciting too, but the desire to cling on to childhood wherever possible is certainly a trend that’s quite noticeable in a large number of students.

After all, there’s nothing to be ashamed of. If you’re about to see your childhood off for good, you might as well see it off right; ease in to your adult future in the best way possible. Celebrate your former existence as a child one last time.

The large majority of this year has been spent trying to find a way to do this effectively, and last week a few friends and I stumbled across something which certainly set us on our way to total grown-up acceptance: Playzone.

Playzone is a children’s play area and activity centre located somewhere between Southampton and Portsmouth. It’s also, however, one of few places of its kind in the country to open its doors to students.

Some friends and I making the most of the Playzone slushies!

Yes, on select days of the week for a certain amount of hours in the evening, students can pay a sensationally reasonable fee and tackle the ball-pits and vertical drop-slides of their childhood once again. There are even slushies on sale, for that full sugar-rush experience. Few times before have I managed to find such an accurate recreation of childhood: everything from the painful burn of the rope ladders to the terrifying heights of the plastic slides was intact. And you know what? It actually taught me a pretty valuable lesson.

It feels like a major part of being a student is clinging on to the past and the freedom of childhood, but the second you find it again (here, at Playzone, somehow in its purest form), you realise just how much more fun being an adult is. Sure, you get to run around and be totally carefree as a kid, but you never really get to do anything hugely meaningful.

Embracing childhood is fun but slides aren’t the secret to everything!

Since starting here, I feel like I’ve clocked up a whole bunch of thoughtful and worthwhile experiences which have really built my character. Running around Playzone was certainly a laugh, but if I had been doing exactly that for the past three years, I wouldn’t have had anywhere near as much fun overall.

The most positive moments of my life as a student have come from the times where I feel like I’ve really grown as a person; when I’ve felt myself actually growing up.

So although most students might just feel like some in-betweener, only half-way to adulthood, that’s ultimately the best part. It’s the one time in your life you have the freedom of a child but the intent of an adult, making for quite possibly the most exciting three years imaginable.

Ben

Exploring Southampton: what to do when you have visitors

Last weekend I had what I must call the privilege of having one of my best friends from Norway over for a whole three days. Not only have I had a lovely weekend with one of my dearest friends, but I have also been able to go sightseeing around Southampton and beyond. If you’re not from around here, having friends coming over means that you want and need to show them the city you live in!

I have put together what we managed to do over the weekend if you need any inspiration for your future visits.

SeaCity Museum

I’m a self-proclaimed Titanic fanatic, who knows all the lines from the movie by heart. However, not only is the true story about Titanic extremely fascinating, but it’s also quite close, since as probably everyone knows Titanic sailed from Southampton. The Titanic exhibition at the SeaCity Museum down by the Civic Centre was thus a natural place for us to go. I’ve been there about four times now and I still find it very interesting, so it’s worth a visit. Even if you aren’t a Titanic fanatic you can learn loads of new things about Southampton as a city, as the museum is not solely based on Titanic, but also shows the history of Southampton.

One of the rooms in the SeaCity museum. Each dot shows where the victims of the Titanic used to live in Southampton

West Quay

Someone once told me West Quay is one of the largest shopping centres on the whole of the South Coast of England, so save the money from travelling into London and go West Quay instead. Obviously, as anyone would know having been in West Quay on a Saturday, it can get very, very busy!

Oxford Street and Ocean Village

We walked a lot over the weekend, but I believe that is the best way of experiencing any city. For example, a walk from Bedford Place to Ocean Village is about 20-30 minutes and you get to see a lot of the town centre on the way. By walking, I got to show Aurora Mayflower Halls, where I lived last year, Guildhall Square, the High Street, Oxford Street and finally Ocean Village.

Oxford Street 

Ocean Village

Winchester

We spent our Sunday in Winchester, which is only 15 minutes by train. I’ve never been to Winchester properly, so it was nice to finally get to see the town. It’s a really short walk from the train station into the centre and in the centre they had a lovely market. We also went to see Winchester Cathedral, which is quite jaw-dropping and alone worth a visit to Winchester. Apart from that, Winchester was full of lovely cafés for lunch and it was in general a very nice place to spend our Sunday. Highly recommended.

Winchester Cathedral

We also had a couple of hours together on Monday before Aurora had to head to the airport. We spent it on campus and I got to show her all the places I love so much here on Highfield Campus.

Thank you for a lovely weekend, Aurora – can’t wait to have you over again.

Have fun exploring Southampton!

Alexandra

Change Your World and International Women’s Week

March is inspirational month here at the University of Southampton. The University is currently celebrating International Women’s Week (IWW) 2016. IWW will see programmes rejoicing the contributions of women across the world. In addition to this, SUSU is hosting ‘Change your World Week’ ; a week jam packed with events to inspire personal sustainability and social progress.

All of these events have made me deeply consider what “progressive” means and how this whole idea materialises in real life. Yesterday was International Women’s Day, the whole point of which is to cast off the taboo of feminism. It sheds light on things that are standing in the way of true equality. It’s about fostering recognition for the incredible contributions and achievements women have championed despite social, cultural and economic barriers. That’s the difference between misandry and feminism and the difference between social stagnancy and what is progressive.

A few days ago I had the pleasure of attending a panel event called ‘Inspiring Women’.

‘Inspiring Women’ is an annual event held by SUSU which features a line-up of successful women who are in leadership positions across varying fields. The night consisted of a panel telling us about what they have learnt on their career journey to reaching the top. The aim was to encourage you to accomplish your ambitions. I cannot stress how valuable the night truly was for everyone who attended, both men and women alike.

Before the event started. Smiling from the complementary canapés!

Challenge your perceptions

 

One of the women who spoke was Lynne Parker who owns a comedy company called Funny Women. They run comedy workshops for workplaces to aspiring female comedians from Edinburgh to Brighton. Lynne set up the company when someone told her the reason why only a few women are in comedy is because women simply aren’t funny. Nearing her 60th birthday, Lynne asked the audience to challenge their perception of older women – just because someone tells you that you may not look the part, doesn’t mean they are right!

Just get over yourself!

 

With over 10 years of experience working in film and television, Emma Smithwick was the youngest in the panel. It was surprising when Emma said she actually did French and Law at university and even worked in the law industry in France before she decided to get into creative media.

With effort and perseverance she found herself in the BBC working on Saturdays and Sundays on other people’s productions for free just to get experience. She even had a part in the creation of one of my favourite films, Little Miss Sunshine, by being the first to see the potential in its script. A few years later she found herself working on set of the popular Channel 4 show Hollyoaks, and was offered the position of executive producer. She turned it down a couple of times, thinking that they must have been mad to have even thought about offering it to her.

Then Emma told us about a networking event where a lady spotted her in the corner, hiding away from the rest of the crowd. The lady apparently approached her for friendly chat. After mentioning her fear of networking the lady, in all of her well-meaning, said “No one in this room is singling you out and thinking ‘we don’t want to talk to her’… we’re all strangers here so take this fear and just get over yourself!”

Sometimes you are the only barrier to your own success and sometimes you just need to get over yourself! Emma took the job with Hollyoaks in the end.

All were welcome to attend; it was nice to see daughters coming to the event as well. 

Some of the lessons I learnt from the panel are things I will take away with me for a long time. Younger people can especially benefit from them.

You’re not an imposter

Paula Claisse, a regional head in the South for KPMG, was the last of the panellist and she gave what is quite possibly the best advice about confidence. She pointed out that you may sometimes dismiss your success through luck or timing or as a result of deceiving others into thinking you’re good enough. In actual fact, you are good enough. This inability to accept accomplishments is actually quite common among high-achieving women and men, and has been coined as Impostor Syndrome.

It helps knowing others experience it too. Now that I know this is a problem, I am going to find more time to look at things from a wider perspective so I can better accept what I have done well and where I can do better.

The women in the panel were TV producers, company ownders and more. However, they were also mothers and sisters. They were different ages, and different shapes and sizes. What the event has really highlighted was that reaching the top does not necessarily equate to money, but can mean doing what you enjoy or doing what you’re great at.

Look out for the event again next year and I guarantee you that you won’t be disappointed.

Rylyn

Heading home for Mother's Day

When I chose to go to university in Southampton, one aspect that I didn’t really consider was how far away from home I would be. I was excited to get away, so factors like transport costs didn’t really occur to me. Having been here for four years, I wouldn’t change my decision, but getting home is still a rare treat because of the distance.

Fortunately there are a number of travel options from Southampton, with coaches regularly leaving from Highfield Campus and student railcards making fares cheaper for students.

I've even flown to Leeds from Southampton Airport which was cheaper than the train and only took an hour!

The result of living quite far from home? I really don’t get to go home as often as I would like to. As well as this, my parents decided to turn our garden into a miniature farm which means that they can’t leave for longer than a day before various animals demand to be fed!

However, Mother’s Day seemed like the perfect excuse to go and visit my family, particularly since deadlines and work mean that I won’t be able to visit them over Easter.

Every time I go back I am tempted never to leave. Growing up is great until you realise that bathrooms don’t stay that clean magically and food doesn’t just appear in the fridge and dinner doesn’t cook itself. Of course, to our parents we will always be children, no matter how old we get they still see us as babies who are always trying to stick crayons up our noses…or maybe that’s just my family? Anyway, it’s kind of wonderful that that’s how my mum sees me, because whenever my sister and I go home we get treated to absolute luxury.

Our Mother’s Day roast dinner – I would like to say that I helped cook but actually mum did all the cooking!

That’s not even the best bit about home – the best bit is messing around in the mud helping my dad build a barn, and looking after the pigs, geese, ducks and chickens that make up our backyard menagerie. I know that’s not a usual thing to enjoy, but it’s so nice to go and do something so completely removed from what I do here in Southampton. It’s a chance to completely de-stress and live a totally different life – even if it’s only for a couple of days.

Who knew that pigs liked having their belly rubbed? 

We bought them basketballs to play with 

Okay so the geese I could live without – Mack hates me 

Family is the one thing that I really miss and although it’s gotten easier over the years that I’ve been here, I still get homesick and miss my mum more than I care to admit!

I hope that everyone who did get the chance to go home for Mother’s Day weekend had a fabulous time – and that those that didn’t get to make up for it over the Easter break!

Emma

Catching some culture in Southampton

A super important part of being a student is learning. You could even say that that's exactly what makes a student a student. However, that doesn't necessarily mean we have to be hitting the books every five seconds; there are plenty of other ways to learn. For example, taking in the arts.

This week, as something of a reward to myself for finally finishing off the first draft of my dissertation (at long last!), I decided to take in some of Southampton's culture and headed off to a show at the city's biggest theatre, The Mayflower; a towering behemoth that up to this point, I had, for some bizarre unknown reason, entirely ignored. It's very easy to just assume that all the biggest and brightest shows only go on in London, and that every other city simply pales in comparison, but this week I was proven incredibly wrong.

First of all, The Mayflower is actually pretty huge. It's semi-hidden behind the train station and part of the newly opened Mayflower Halls, but when you get inside - much like a TARDIS - it opens up very impressively. In fact, it's the biggest theatre on the South Coast!

My girlfriend and I all dressed up ready for Rocky Horror!

My girlfriend and I were lucky enough to catch one of the touring performances of The Rocky Horror Show, which has been doing the rounds around the country for over forty years now, and yet Southampton's taste of it all still felt just as spectacular as one put on in the capital. Everything from the set designs to the sound system proved worthy of even the biggest of shows.

The whole experience reminded me of just how lucky I am to be living in a city like Southampton - one large enough to boast impressive culture like the Mayflower, yet still small enough to navigate through quickly, cheaply and easily.

Few other students will likely find themselves living walking distance from a theatre housing such major productions, and with the slightly smaller, though still thoroughly incredible Nuffield Theatre buried in the heart of Highfield Campus too, it only strengthens the pulling power of Southampton's culture.

As I said at the beginning of this post, learning is just as much about experiencing new things as it is about reading and writing essays, especially when art is concerned. Surely a city that offers this much opportunity to get involved with such experiences, is a city worth learning in?

Southampton, I think I love you. Far less soppy posts next week, I promise.

Ben

World Book Day 2016 - our favourite books

As part of World Book Day 2016, three of our Life at Southampton bloggers are sharing their favourite books and stories.

Alexandra - 'A Thousand Splendid Suns' by Khaled Hosseini

I’ve read so many good books over the years which I have enjoyed and  have left me inspired and touched. However, A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini was something different. I think I re-read the last page about three or four times, because I didn’t want it to end and because I didn’t want it to end the way it did. I have not met one person who has read this book and didn’t thoroughly enjoy it, and if I have any friends who need a book to read over a holiday I always recommend this one.

Although it is fiction, it touches upon so many real issues as it is based on a true event. For those who have not heard about it at all, it takes place in Afghanistan and it portrays a beautiful friendship between two ladies, who both have their different stories. The turning point is when the Taliban takes over and the book does such an incredible job at telling a story which easily could have been a true one. The feelings, fears and emotions described are so real and that is what really captured me.

I had the pleasure of driving with an Afghan taxi driver a couple of months ago, and when he told me he was from Afghanistan I immediately had to mention the book. I can guarantee you that’s not the first time he has heard someone mention that book, because all I had to say was “I read this amazing book by an Afghan author” and he asked “Was it The Kite Runner or A Thousand Splendid Suns?”. I’ve read both of them, and I’ll say the same as the Washington Post did; ‘In case you’re wondering whether A Thousand Splendid Suns is as good as The Kite Runner, here is the answer: No. It’s better’.

Happy reading!

Alexandra

Ben - 'Completely Unexpected Tales' by Roald Dahl

Narrowing down my favourite novel is hard-work - especially since a lot of the time I play them out as little films in my head. One author that I’ve constantly gone back to time and time again though, ever since childhood, is oddly enough Roald Dahl.

His silly names and inventive set-ups certainly excited my tiny mind as a young boy, but even after I had grown out of all the ‘frobscottles’ and ‘whizzpopping’, his short story collection, Completely Unexpected Tales, always had me hooked every single time I picked it up. It still remains a staple of any travel kit I ever put together, and even now, nearly eight years after first delving between its pages, I still haven’t managed to conquer every story (although I have recently narrowed it down to the final two!).

The stories themselves, as fantastically twisted (and often adult-themed) as they are, are still always written so elegantly, and crafted with that classic world-building vision that Dahl mastered so many times over his expansive career.

Ever since cracking open the book’s spine for the first time, I’ve always promised myself that if one day I get to the position where I can confidently make films, I’d love to adapt at least one of these stories. Or maybe all of them. Don’t make me choose.

Ben

Emma - 'Anything by Neil Gaiman'

Choosing my favourite book is not an easy thing to do – there are around 200 books in my flat and those are just the ones that made it with me to university, not counting the extra 80 or so I have on my iPad. What criteria are we supposed to use to choose our ‘favourite’ book?

There are books that I have picked up time and time again and I consider the characters old friends, books that I have had for so long that the characters have changed as I’ve grown older. Books that have generated huge TV shows (The Walking Dead, Game of Thrones) that I adore because I can see the characters that I imagined come to life in a whole new way. There are books that have influenced me in a great way – like Watchmen, the first graphic novel I ever read and that sparked an obsession that’s cost me in excess of £400. There are countless stories and adventures that all became part of my life – how am I supposed to choose just one?

Just one of the seven bookcases in my flat I have thought about it for a while and decided that I can at least settle on a favourite author – Neil Gaiman (who only just beat Scott Lynch, Terry Pratchett, Douglas Adams and Stephen King for top spot). Neil Gaiman writes beautiful and beguiling stories that are impossible to put down, and his collections of short stories are never far from reach.

However, my favourite character from any book is Locke Lamora from The Lies of Locke Lamora by Scott Lynch. I can’t quite explain what attracts me so much to the world Lynch has created, and the characters that exist within it, but it is one of the few books that’s made me laugh and swear and cry in equal measure. If anyone asks me to recommend a book, then that’s the one I suggest. Everyone has heard of Pratchett and Gaiman, but Lynch gives them a run for their money while remaining unfortunately relatively unknown.

I would also like to add a small postscript to this piece, a fond remembrance of a wonderful man named Brian, who ran a second hand bookstore in Portswood. He created a place where people came to relax and enjoy great books and friendship. Sadly, Brian passed away unexpectedly from lung cancer last year, and the shop that he ran had to close.

Peter Rhodes Bookshop

Since this piece is in celebration of World Book Day, I would like to use it to celebrate the life of a man for whom books were his obsession and livelihood and who is missed sorely by those who knew him.

Emma

Do you share a favourite book with Alexandra, Ben or Emma, or do you have one of your own? Let us know in the comments below.