Hi everyone, I’m Fiona and I’m an MSc Human Resource Management and Organisation
student at the University of Nottingham. This is my fifth year at the University. I also
did my undergraduate degree in German at Nottingham and that was four years. So today I’m going
to be talking about my five favourite things about living and studying at Nottingham.
The first thing that attracted me to the University of Nottingham was the beautiful campus. So
back in 2013 I came to look around the campus when I was in Year 13 and I just remember
walking onto the campus, seeing the lake, all of the different buildings, particularly
the Portland Building where on the top floor you have the Chinese takeaway restaurant – that
really sold me. Then also going around the rest of the campus, seeing the lake that you
could go rowing in the summer. It’s a really nice atmosphere when you’re with all of
your friends and you can do some lovely walks around campus as well if family and friends
come to visit from other universities.
My second favourite thing about living at Nottingham is the accommodation. So there
are plenty of accommodation options based upon your personal preferences, so either
catered or self-catered. For me, in my first year I wanted to choose a catered option because
it gave me a lot of flexibility. During my time in Nottingham, I’ve actually lived
in three different halls, so in my first year I was in Lenton and Wortley, then in my second
and fourth year of my undergraduate degree I was in Florence Boot and then coming back
this year to do my Master’s, I’ve actually been a Resident Tutor in Derby Hall so that
forms part of the Pastoral care team for the undergraduate students. So we’re there to
check in the evenings and make sure there’s not too much noise so that's also another really
nice thing about Nottingham, you do have older students living in the halls with undergraduate
students and that gives some people some peace of mind that somebody will be there to make
sure it’s not too noisy in the evenings. Another thing that I’ve really enjoyed about
the accommodation is the summer ball. So this tends to round of the summer term so after
you’ve completed all of your first year exams and again, it’s a really nice occasion
to get dressed up with your friends and have a final party before everybody goes back off
home or wherever for the summer.
So now onto sports and societies. Nottingham has a great range of sports and societies
really for every interest. The two that I’ve participated in throughout my time at University
are the Tennis Club and also the French and German Society, also known as FAG Soc. So
as part of the tennis club, I’d have training on Monday, Tuesday and Friday mornings so
that’s been really fun and that’s also given me the opportunity to play BUCS matches
which is the university league on Wednesdays. So that’s really nice, you travel to the
matches with your team and you form a really close bond with your team mates and there
are also socials on Wednesday evenings for the sports teams which are organised by the
club social secretaries. It’s been a really good way for me to get to know people, especially
in my first year, the other team members really took me under their wing and helped me settle
into life at university which was really important for me. And as part of the French and German
Society, so that linked in with my undergraduate German studies degree, we also did some fun
events. One that particularly comes to mind is a trip to the German Christmas markets
at Birmingham. It’s just great that you have the opportunities with these clubs and
societies to find something that fits your interest and meet a really nice group of people
all with that same interest as you.
Another really great thing about Nottingham is the teaching and other opportunities presented
to you, so for me, I was able to go on a year abroad as part of my German Studies degree
and during that time I worked in a school as an English Language Assistant and I made
some great friends during that time and I’m really grateful for having that opportunity
to live in a different country for a year. The university does also offer semesters abroad
to partner universities and also we have the two universities in China and Malaysia so
that’s also another great opportunity if it’s something you were thinking about doing
to look into.
Number five has to be the location of the University at Nottingham. We’re very lucky,
we have Wollaton Park which is just a short walk away from some of the halls on University
Park and you can go there with your friends, with family and there are deer on the park
so that’s a really nice area just to go for a walk and take in the scenery. Also,
another really great thing about Nottingham is the transport links, so you can use the
busses that come onto campus. There’s the 34 which has stops throughout Lenton, which
is the area that most second and third years tend to move into to rent houses. Also, the
same bus takes you into the city centre. Another thing that you also have is the tram link
so you can go down by the lakeside and there’s a tram stop there. Another great thing about
Nottingham is that it caters for such a wide range of interests, so within the city centre
if you like going out at night you’ve got student club nights, so it caters for people
who like to go out and have a good time. But then also there are other options, you can
go shopping during the day, you’ve got plenty of lovely restaurants and bars to go to. There
really are so many different opportunities for everybody within the city.
Thank you very much for watching my five favourite things about living and studying in Nottingham.
I do hope that if you decide to come to Nottingham you really enjoy the campus, city, teaching
and all of the other things that I’ve mentioned.