Tips for postgraduate freshers

To an incoming postgraduate student it can feel like Freshers’ week is all about the incoming undergraduate students, but Southampton’s Students’ Union (SUSU) and the University represent ALL students and all of the events that may appear to be for undergraduates are available to everyone. Your department will also be running meet and greet sessions and informational tutorials specific to your degree programme – so there are plenty of ways to meet fellow postgraduate students when you arrive!

So where can you find out the information you need to make the most of your postgraduate Freshers’ experience? The Official SUSU Freshers' Facebook page has all of the information on events for incoming students, and you can also visit the SUSU calendar to find out about all the events that are happening each day, allowing you to pick and choose which ones to visit.

Another key SUSU website to visit is their postgraduate page, which has links to course specific postgraduate societies and social and networking opportunities. This page also details the Students’ Union council members that will be representing you for the coming year, which is always useful to know.

The University also has a great course-specific Welcome Calendar that lists events from the meet-and-greet services, guides for international students and informational events such as advice on what to see and do in Southampton. These course-specific introductory events run from Wednesday 16th September to Friday 18t September.

One event that I personally highly recommend that postgraduate students don’t miss out on is the Bunfight, which is when all University Societies get together in a bit fair and you can find out more about what to get involved in. My partner is a PhD student here and when he started he didn’t hear about the Bunfight or many of the great Freshers’ events that SUSU runs, which is what inspired me to write this post. This year the Bunfight is on the 23rd September – so make sure you try and get there as early as possible to avoid the long queue and make the most of what’s on!

9:30 am and already packed – the Bunfight is always popular and it’s worth getting there early!

The key thing for postgraduate students is to pay attention to your email inbox and go along to the events your department will be running.

Socially, if you don’t fancy going out with a big group, I really recommend finding a small group and booking a table at The Rockstone (a pub in the local Portswood area). A group of us (PhD, Post-doctorate and Master’s students) meet there once a month to catch up and chow down on some amazing food. The friendly and relaxed atmosphere makes for a great evening out with new friends. There are plenty of other great local venues to choose from if you want to try somewhere different too!

The Rockstone is one of our favourite Postgraduate hangout spots, but there are so many places to choose from for social events!

For many of you, September is also Conference month, so to any presenting a talk, paper or poster, good luck! I’m off to BSPS (British Society for Population Studies) in Leeds in a couple of days, and am entirely jealous of my partner who is going to the SCCS Conference in Granada for a week!

So to all incoming postgraduate students, make sure you make the most of everything Freshers’ Week has to offer you! It’s not just for first-time students. I know I can’t wait to experience it all again.

Emma

Saying goodbye

As we’ve all no doubt realised by now, it’s September, so as expected, it’s nearly impossible to shake that back-to-school feeling that seems to be hidden around every corner. Although the return to university may still be a few weeks off yet, the process of preparing for the new academic year and saying goodbye to summer is well underway.

No matter where you’ve been or who you’ve seen, bidding farewell to all that that summer offers can be a little difficult, especially when it means potentially not seeing your nearest and dearest for quite some time.

It is important to remember that saying goodbye doesn’t mean you’ll never see that person - or even that place - again. They don’t disappear in a puff of smoke the second you cross the threshold. I’m not denying that it’s tough. Even heading into my third year, it’s hard to leave my family and friends behind at home, but I get by because I know there’ll always only be a phone-call or a Facebook message away.

Just because you’re not physically close to someone, it doesn’t mean that your relationship with them has to suffer. Think of being apart as adding a new dimension to your friendship, instead of something that simply defines it. Over the past two years of university I’ve actually seen my relationships with some friends grow stronger because, by being apart, it’s meant that we’ve taken more care and put more effort into keeping the friendship alive.

Whether it’s the odd Snapchat or text every now and then about some in-joke you might have or a funny story from your day, any bit of correspondence, no matter how small, shows that you still think about them.

In fact, keeping in touch with friends and family is easier now than it ever has been before. Whether you realise it or not, just by flicking through Facebook or Twitter every now and then, you’re keeping up to date with all the goings-on in each other’s lives.

If that’s not quite enough, or you really just don’t fancy finally adding your mum or dad on Facebook, there’s nothing stopping you from firing off a quick 20-minute phone or Skype call. You’re never 'uncool' for missing home - everyone does.

The quality may not always be great, but Skype is pretty useful for keeping friendships alive.

Believe it or not, the options for staying in contact don’t stop there. Depending on where your friends or family members happen to be in the world, there is always the option to travel to them too. We’re lucky in Southampton - we have two well-linked train stations, an airport, and our very own coach terminal at the University’s Highfield Campus Interchange, meaning no matter your budget, travelling to and from Southampton is always easy.

In fact, exploring each other’s universities and showing friends and family members around the city can be great fun in itself, and it’s a fantastic way to discover parts of Southampton that you never knew existed. In my second year, I formed a pact with two of my best friends from home and over the course of the year, we travelled up and down the country together and explored each other’s universities. Not only did it allow us to see more of England, but it also brought us closer together as a unit.

Trains are significantly easier to master than you would think. 

On a more serious note, this advice works just as well for couples attempting to take their relationship long-distance too. In my first year, I embarked on a long-distance relationship with my girlfriend from home, and within a few weeks of settling in, we had set up a regular routine of visiting each other on the train and spending time together via FaceTime. Even just spending the odd evening in, and watching a film or TV show at the same time as each other, made the distance between us seem significantly smaller than it was.

Then of course, there’s the holidays. University term times in Southampton leave usually several weeks free around both Christmas and Easter and an even longer stretch over summer, meaning that even if you have to travel abroad to see your family and friends, there is plenty of time to actually do so!

Ultimately, my point is simply that although the time to say goodbye to loved ones feels fast approaching, it is only ever a temporary farewell. The life of a student is as crazy as you make it, and there’s always room for keeping in touch.

Ben

A practical packing list

It’s officially September! Within the next thirty days it’s time to say goodbye to summer and hello to autumn and the new academic year.

I’m obviously excited to start my second year, but compared to how I was last September, I’m a lot more relaxed this year. Going back to Southampton this September will not be as nerve-wracking as it was last September! I’m sure there are a lot of other people out there who are extremely nervous and excited for university to start. In my opinion, that’s exactly how it should be! You should be a bit nervous, a bit anxious, a bit excited – you name it. I don’t believe there are any ‘right’ answers to how you actually should feel.

However, there are right answers to what you should be packing for university!

Being stressed about what to pack and when to start is just adding to the anxiety many people already feel about moving away from home and starting a ‘new’ life at university. Therefore, I hope this list and my experiences from last year may help!

Last year I started packing about a week before I moved, with the last two days being the most intense. The actual planning side of what to bring and what to buy started around this time last year. I made a list of absolutely everything I was bringing and this made the packing process a lot easier and faster.

Since I was flying to the UK I was forced to have everything I was bringing in two suitcases, whilst at least from what I have seen it looks like most British students drive with their parents and hence can fill up a car with everything they want. This isn’t necessarily an advantage, because there’s a higher chance that you’ll bring too many things! Both my dad and I was a bit shocked to see exactly how much stuff some people had brought with them during the moving day last year, so remember this: your room in halls is not that big and storage possibilities are limited.

Distinguish between the things you need to bring and things you can buy when you arrive in Southampton. There is a huge IKEA with very convenient opening hours in the City Centre where you can buy everything you might need for your room.

If you are thinking about bringing those shoes or clothes that you in fact haven’t really used in a long time, my advice would be to leave it at home. No matter how careful you are while packing you are bound to bring things you wont use or use that much, but its always OK to try to limit this as much as you can.

So, what should you bring then? This list consists of stuff I brought last year and found extremely helpful.

A washing bag. 

For a lot of people moving away to University, this will be their first time washing clothes on their own. I am forever grateful that my mum forced me to bring washing bags last year! I’m even confident that this smart invention has saved some of my clothes from being ruined by the washing machine.

This is what they look like if you are curious 

Raincoat, rain boots and an umbrella. 

In all honestly, I didn’t use my rain boots as much as I had expected to, but on those days when it was really heavy rain from morning to evening they were like gold to me. A raincoat is also essential especially with the strong winds that often comes with the rain in Southampton at winter!

One of the many rainbows spotted throughout the year from my room at Mayflower Halls. 

Bathrobe. 

This is probably the thing I have been most happy about bringing from the day I moved in to the day I moved out. From early mornings in the kitchen to late nights making food my bathrobe followed me. If you by any chance are living at Mayflower Halls I promise you the staff in the shop downstairs won’t be surprised when students walk down there in a bathrobe and slippers!

Adapter.

If you are an international student, remember to bring an UK adapter. Furthermore, I would advise all international students, especially the ones from outside EU/EEA, to visit the University’s International Office webpage and take a look at what you need to bring for border control inspection, visa etc.
 
Last but not at least, bear in mind that most of you are not packing for a whole year. Many people go home for Christmas, so pack clothes suitable for September, October, November months and when you go home in December you can bring the clothes you don’t need for the months before Easter holiday, and if you go home for Easter you can again swap clothes!

Before you move into University accommodation make sure you read all the paperwork like hall regulations and make yourself familiar with what you can have in your room and what’s prohibited. At some point during the year you will have a room inspection, so to save you from any surprises you should be aware of these things – for example, candles are prohibited from halls!

Probably my most exciting birthday yet was last year moving into Mayflower Halls!

Remember to find the Official SUSU Facebook pages for Freshers 2015/2016 and the different halls. They’re great if you have any questions or want to see what questions other people have.

Happy packing!

Alexandra

Top tips: Summer internships

Ah summer time; the time of year of freedom from alarm clocks, holidays, BBQs… and summer internships.

It wasn’t until second year that I became seriously active at searching out some internship or work placement opportunities. I had worked in retail before and have done some volunteering during my gap year, but never had I done any office work. 

Getting that experience

As soon as second year hit, I was applying for internships roughly two or three times a week. I regularly went to employability workshops hosted by the Career’s Team. I highly recommend people to go – they are free and incredibly useful. Some argue that this may have been too early but the cathartic party me of year one was over and it is never too early to apply! The new term commences this September so now is a great time to start looking. You hear horror stories of students missing out because they did not know about application deadlines. Some worry about their statement’s quality looking rushed because they left it last minute. Don’t let your chances of finding the right career become subject to lack of preparation!

A leaflet from one of Southampton’s graduate fairs last semester. These are held a few times a year and are not just for final years – click on the link to find out when the next one is!

It is a good idea to apply for as many opportunities as possible. As well as going for mainstream companies and organisations, I also applied to a few of Southampton’s Excel work experience programmes and the Study Abroad programme. Spending a semester or so abroad is an excellent way of getting a well rounded university experience. I was set to head off to the University of Adelaide in Australia but chose to stay in England instead as I managed to secure myself an internship with the Civil Service.

I have heard good things about the British Civil Service and their graduate programmes even before applying. Applications are a few clicks away online which made the whole process incredibly accessible. And after a challenging selection process, I’m now having the pleasure of completing a two month internship with the Civil Service at the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) in Westminster. 

Outside of the office

What am I doing here?

It most certainly is not making coffee and filing all day.

As well as shadowing my colleagues and coming to meetings, my project here looks at supporting mental and physical health for people at work. This is as opposed to just giving up on health and letting go of valuable staff. For me, the ethical nature of this project has kept my interest in it so far.

Working 9 to 5 does have its tests for someone who’s used to getting up for breakfast at 6 pm and having dinner at 6 am*. But, in terms of knowledge acquisition, working such hours have become incredibly rewarding. The DWP’s work inevitably affects you and me at one point in our lifetime and I am especially grateful for working in an organisation that deals with issues at the top of the political agenda.

What have I found so far?

Whether it’s when you’re waiting for data to be gathered or when you’ve finished your tasks for the day, it is true that some projects experience quiet moments. But I actually think that this is the point of an internship – in fact, I think it is one of the best things about it. This blank space in your schedule is prime time for you to go ahead and find out about what your colleagues actually do. The first advice I got from my line manager when I first started is to never be afraid to join people for lunch or to invite them for a coffee. Not only does this come across as enthusiastic but once you know more about them you may find that you’re actually really interested in their work. If you do, you could ask to shadow them for a day or sit in at one of their meetings, if they didn’t mind. Chances are they won’t. People love talking about what they do and it is a fun and practical way for you to figure out what you want in your career!

Having lunch with the colleagues

Ultimately, there are plenty of opportunities out there for you to get some experience. It is just the case of proactively searching for them, so go out there and have fun while you’re at it! Good luck!

Rylyn

*NB: Author is particularly guilty of this.

Decorating on a budget

The time is fast approaching for moving into Halls of Residence for freshers and for moving into new houses or flats for second, third years and postgraduate students.

Moving home is exciting, a new place, possibly with new people and for many first years, the first time living away from your parents. But whether you’re a first year undergraduate or a mature postgraduate, everyone thinks about decorating their new space. When moving into rented accommodation the first thing I want to do is put my own stamp on the place, I need to make the space available (however small or big) feel like mine, and balance that with renting guidelines and budget.

Particularly for those of you moving into unfurnished or part-furnished flats and houses, finding the right furniture on a budget is a difficult task. However Southampton offers hundreds of practical solutions.

Firstly there is, obviously, Ikea. Home to cheap and ingenious flat-pack furniture Ikea is the natural destination for students looking for bookcases, sheets, side tables, lamps etc. However, while Ikea can be good value for money, there is better out there if you are willing to look. For instance Portswood is full of charity shops like Sue Ryder, which stock huge amounts of furniture, and will deliver it to your new place for a small fee. Additionally there is the often forgotten about British Heart Foundation store by Debenhams in the centre of town, not only will they deliver new furniture, but they will remove things you want to get rid of for free (something to consider when moving out).

The problem I have found however, is that often it is difficult to find furniture to match my favourite colours or the other pieces I already have. For instance anything in Ikea that isn’t the classic clinical white is often infinitely more expensive. Second hand furniture suffers from the same problem, it may be an outdated style or in need of some fixing up. However, we are students, disposable income is to be saved for nights out, and most importantly, food, so buying the furniture that already matches what you want is not an option, nor is it sensible.

That’s where decorating comes in. Go for the cheapest pieces and then fix them up yourselves. For this, I rely heavily on Pinterest for inspiration. There are hundreds of tutorials on how to breathe life into dying furniture. My favourite place to go for paint and decorating ideas is Olive and Ted’s interior decorating store, right at the bottom of Gordon Avenue in Portswood. They stock a range of paints designed to emulate French buttermilk paint used in the 1800’s, the best bit being that you can put it on anything and it will go on no problem. 

The grey paint replaced the unattractive orange wood of this old bedside table rescued from my garage at home – I am gradually finding replacement drawer handles, two down, four to go! 

The image above is from my new privately rented flat, which is full of old furniture from my parents garage, second hand pieces and some new things from Ikea. When moving into a new place (particularly if you are a postgraduate moving into an unfurnished flat) don’t be afraid to beg borrow or steal from family and friends.  

We covered these bookshelves in fabric from Ikea, breaking up the otherwise overly clinical white. 

I like grey, it goes with everything, and with a little patience a £10 bookcase can look however you want.

My previous flat wasn’t spared from my erratic decorating tendencies…

A mobile made from old records, fabric, playing cards and fake flowers. While not to everyone’s taste, I loved the colour it brought to an otherwise entirely cream room. 

If decorating a rented room with posters or art, stay away from sellotape and blu-tack! They are horrible to remove and often take the paint off the wall or leave a greasy mark which needs to be washed off. Instead opt for double sided craft tape or glu-dots which are less likely to damage a wall. If you want to create a photo-wall, buy one large clip frame (Ikea sells them for not much money at all) and then use craft tape to stick a collage of photos inside. Then you need only use one small picture nail to hang the finished piece, rather than lots of pieces of blu-tack. Picture nails are easy to remove and the tiny holes they leave are pretty unnoticeable, and can very easily be covered with a tiny dab of paint. 

The start of my picture wall, bringing together holiday and graduation photos with minimal wall damage and tiny cost (the photo frame on the left is from Poundland and the clip frame from Amazon was only £10).

My next project is to paper-mache the shelves of another bookcase (I have six bookcases in my flat) with newspaper. I guess my feeling is that even though we are students living in short-term rented flats and houses, there is no reason not to make it feel like home and putting your own stamp on furniture is a great way to do that.

P.S. It is also an awesome way to procrastinate. 

Emma

Jumping into the year ahead

Somehow - and I still don’t quite know when or how this happened - I woke up and it was late August. Whether you’re a third year at university or a third year in secondary school, you’ll recognise such a date to be the universal sign for summer basically being over.

No matter how you fight it, it always seems to just creep up out of nowhere, but I guess at least in realising it this time around I can start to put things in place for the new semester. Doing so is - surprisingly enough - actually pretty exciting when it comes round to it!

Maybe I’m just the kind of person that has a weird fondness for making to-do lists and generally getting myself organised, but even if you’re not, the thought of a complete change of pace from your home/work life must surely be enticing.

The new year at university always seems to offer so much adventure in such a small space of time, whether you’re a veteran like myself or totally new to the whole experience (that means you, incoming Freshers; congratulations and welcome to one of the greatest places on planet Earth!).

So anyway, I guess the question from here became: how does one get themselves ‘organised’ exactly? Well, with moving in still a long way off thanks to that significantly shorter housing contract I just had to have, thoughts became more focused on the academic side to things; preparing for my upcoming modules and making sure everything was in place mentally for the start of that first semester.

For those not yet aware, in a standard semester at Southampton your course is split into a series of what they call ‘modules’ - units of study, all about differing subjects within your main field. As far as my Film course goes for example, in the past I’ve delved into the delights of world cinema, women in film, and documentary, whilst other courses will obviously vary. English may have a module on Dickens and another on Shakespeare and Maths will probably have something on big numbers and… I don’t know, shapes or something. Maths was never my strong suit. My point is, you choose which modules interest you, and build your course through them.

 I think I find making to-do lists a little too fun...

The best way to prepare academically is to look forward at what modules you’ll be tackling first and doing some reading (or in my case, watching) around the subject. In fact, in some cases you might even have access to a module outline or reading list, meaning you can get a jump start on the actual things you’ll be studying. Otherwise, like me, it’s all about getting creative and reading around the topic. For example, ahead of my Music in Film module I’ve listened to so many film scores and arrangements that every ambient noise has just started to sound like a trumpet. Curse you, Hans Zimmer!

Then there’s the elephant in the room. Above all else academically speaking, third year means dissertation time - that gigantic essay I have the whole year to do but feel a bit weird going near since overall it’s actually pretty daunting. But this week I took the first proper leap and, believe it or not, I actually thoroughly enjoyed myself!

The dissertation may seem like a rather gargantuan undertaking, but it is ultimately about a subject of your choosing, meaning it’s, in reality, pretty easy to find interesting. This is what university is ultimately about after all - finding what you love and exploring it further. Gone are the days where work was just work: something you suffered through to reach an end-goal. Now it’s… well, fun!

With the first big step towards reconfiguring my brain now taken, it feels almost as if the new academic year couldn’t come soon enough.

Next on the list - a stationary run to Southampton’s finest on-campus bookshop John Smith’s, soon after which I will no doubt be drowning in post-it notes and funky marker pens. Now it’s begun, the excitement never stops.

Enjoy the final whispers of your summer and if you’re joining us in September for the first time, don’t be afraid to say hey! It all starts here - after all, to paraphrase a formerly popular and now extinct mobile service provider: the future is indeed bright.

Ben

Mark your calendar: September Open Days

September will soon be upon us, which means there are loads of exciting things coming up. Hopefully a lot of people reading this blog are excited because they have been accepted to Southampton and will be joining us in September. Or maybe you’re thinking of visiting on the Open Day and starting to apply to universities for next year!

The September Open Days for the University of Southampton are coming up very soon. Two weeks from tomorrow to be precise!

I personally did not visit on an Open Day and I honestly can’t say that I regret it tremendously. However, after being a student ambassador at a recent Open Day it struck me what a great opportunity an Open Day actually is. I know I learned a thing or two about the University and the campus that I didn’t know before, even though the Open Day was 5/6 months after I started uni!

Therefore, I have some advice and tips for the upcoming Open Day that I want to share with you.

During the Open Day you will be able to meet some prospective lecturers, attend taster sessions, go on campus and accommodation tours, meet with current students (student ambassadors), sometimes even alumni ambassadors show up and you can meet the staff who work within the admission team.

In other words, it’s a great opportunity to really get the feel of what the University of Southampton has to offer.

The first bit of this post is slightly obvious. I advise you to ask ALL of the different questions you have, no matter what! Stop a student ambassador and ask them about the course; what does he/she like about the course? What has been the biggest adjustment at university? You can ask about halls, nightlife, Freshers’ Week, optional modules, sporting facilities, societies, the library…anything! Make sure you also ask the lecturers and other staff about course content, readings, assessments, academic tutors, workshops, tutorials and optional modules.

Bringing a small notebook where you can write down your questions in advance or to take notes from the information provided on the open day is a good idea.

The whole purpose of the Open Day is for you to decide if Southampton is the university for you, so remember that there are absolutely no ‘stupid’ questions and you can never ask too many!

This brings me on to the next part, which I think is very important to remember, regardless of whether you are a prospective student or parent.

It’s important that you distinguish between the student ambassadors and the staff. As mentioned, you should ask all the questions you might have, but in order to get the best response, make sure you ask the ‘right’ person. For example, if you are curious about internships you can ask your student ambassador if they have had any internships or what they know about internship opportunities. But, to get the best response, you should also ask the staff/lectures. They have (probably) been around longer than the student ambassadors and they are connected to all the students regardless of what year they are in. This means that they can tell you about the current internships opportunities, but also what current AND previous students have been doing.

The same applies to questions about admission and conditional offers. If you are worried you might not meet your conditional offer, maybe something in your personal statement will secure your place. It might be a good idea to ask staff about personal statements, but bear in mind that all applications are different and no one at the Open Day can tell you if your application will be accepted!

Highfield Campus

Going on a Campus Tour is a standard part of the open day. So, when you first arrive, go on the campus tour! Touring around the main Highfield Campus is a good way familiarise yourself with the ‘heart’ of the University.

Depending on your course, the majority of your lectures may be at another campus. For example, Ocean and Earth Science students will study at both Highfield Campus and the Waterfront Campus. Humanities students will be at Avenue Campus a lot, whilst Medicine students will be at Southampton General Hospital. Highfield Campus, despite this, is still extremely relevant for all students, because Highfield is more than just lecture halls. It’s where you find the Hartley Library, which is the largest of all the University libraries, as well as the connection point for all the Uni-link buses, and the location for the University Health Service and the Students’ Union (SUSU).

In other words, Highfield will always be relevant for you and it is, in my opinion, one of the nicest places in Southampton! A little ‘botanical garden’ within the city, as I like to call it.

One of my favourite buildings on campus – The Hartley Library 

The same advice goes for the accommodation tour, but I recommend that you visit the University’s accommodation pages and read about the different types of accommodation offered before you go. The University offers all types of accommodation within the different halls, but unfortunately you can’t view all of them on the Open Day. If the accommodation you see on the tour isn’t ideal for you, fear not! I guarantee you will find a hall that fits your needs.

You should ask your student ambassador about accommodation, because almost all of us will have lived in halls at least for our first year. For example, if you have seen a specific hall you like, but this is not the hall shown on the accommodation tour, ask your student ambassador about it! Chances are that the student ambassador has lived there or will know someone who has.

Some other questions you might like to ask yourself when looking at accommodation include;

• How far away from Highfield Campus will you want to live?
• Do you have a budget?
• Should I opt for catered or non-catered halls?

If you are unsure what the best choice is, ask the student ambassadors what they preferred and hopefully this will help you!

My last piece of advice would be to eat all the food offered at the Open Day! There is usually some really good food, with lots of refreshments available on campus - or you could visit the street food and general market down in the City Centre when you are done! There are plenty of place to eat when you visit.

The view from Mayflower Park in the City Centre

I hope those who are attending the Open day finds this helpful and that you enjoy your visit!

Alexandra