Whether you're moving country, city, or even if you're staying at home during
your studies the experience of starting university can be daunting. We're joined
by some current students so that they can share their experiences with you. So
guys would you like to introduce yourselves to our wonderful viewers?
Thank you hi my name is Nigel and I'm in the first year of my achelor's degree
story in Physical Activity, Nutrition and Health and with a view to starting my
second year this coming academic term. Hi everyone my name is Sam and I'm
studying my first year undergraduate degree in Business Management and
Geology. So tell us about your journey to university, do you live at home, do you
live at uni, where did you move from? So I currently live at home at the moment
during my studies so, I also live locally in Derby so the journey into
university is only about a half an hour walk from my house. So I'm actually in
halls, Princess Alice to be exact. I'm an international student from Zimbabwe
originally so it's been quite a long walk coming here to England [I bet] {laughter}
You couldn't quite live at home. No I couldn't quite live at home, let's put it like that
I am really enjoying it as an international student. Yeah great. So did you have a any
concerns about settling in at uni? So yeah before starting uni I was a little
bit apprehensive because one of the questions I asked myself was how can I
possibly settle into a university style academics when all so far all I'm
familiar with is college diplomas but I managed to overcome this concern by not
only doing plenty of research into my subject area but also making the effort
to arrange meetings with my course leader and then just to unravel a bit
and share my concerns and just to receive some reassurance
also that I won't be thrown in the deep end so to speak and there's help
every turn. So this kind of helped me to feel
confident and encourage me and prepared me really for a successful first year
Ah yes it has been quite a daunting experience settling in, coming in the
first year I mean the only this was my first time away from home let alone
going to another country so it was really quite a daunting experience but
it's really just stepping out of your comfort zone and approaching the
experience as it is and I really enjoyed here and special shout out to the
International Student Centre who've been absolutely amazing
just like catering for international students making sure that they're
settled they're fine and that they are settling into their academics aswell so yeah
it's really good Oh great so how have you found your experience so far like
overall kind of what have you got involved in? How do you feel like
Derby has been made the best for you? Okay so as a student studying in Derby
my progression through university life has been both challenging but also very
rewarding. Been challenging in the sense that I'm coming from as I say college
diplomas and that's the only sort of a field that I've had as far as a academic
study was concerned before starting studying at university but also not only
meeting new friends and getting involved in group activities but the work
placements that our brilliant lecturers and make sure that the students are
aware of have taken opportunity to get involved in those [mm-hmm] and I just know
that I'm being equipped for to pursue a rewarding career that will eventually
see me into playing a vital role in contributing to the health and
well-being of individuals within the community. That's great. I think for me
it's been joining societies of many kinds like for me I'm part of the
Christian Union and I've met lots of amazing really great people there and
even just being a part of like the university
employment scheme. You know how we got the marketing reps - you're all marketing
reps? Yeah. And that really puts you out there as well to meet amazing people,
people free diverse backgrounds, people of different cultures and it's really
just a melting pot which is really meeting amazing people, sharing stories.
Yeah it's great because with things like that you can meet so many
different people from different backgrounds different walks of life
people that you might not talk to normally you still all have that common
interest and that common kind of enjoyment for doing things and getting
involved with the university. That's really good. So tell me if I'm wrong but from
everything that you guys have been saying it does feel like you feel at
home in Derby and if you do what do you think is the main thing that
contributed to that? I'd say just getting to know people both on my course and out
there in the wider community because I'm not just studying this course that
I'm on at university but also I've had opportunity to get involved in
volunteering I'm currently with the steps for the future who work in
partnership with the Live Well Derby so I'm also getting to know people
outside of the classroom as well and getting involved in activities are quite
close to my heart at the moment and well one of the things that I'm doing which
is really does boost my self-esteem and my sense of purpose in the community is
helping those with the mental disadvantages for example, with Steps for
the Future, to engage in social activities and arts and crafts while at
the same time teaching them fundamental principles about health and well-being
Oh great that sounds really good you are obviously very passionate about. Yeah so how
about you Sam? I think for me it's just been the whole experience of just
putting myself out there being open to meeting new people I will say you never
know how much is simple hello can just translate into a really great
friendship and yeah I think just putting myself out there, stepping out of my
comfort zone yeah. So do you have any tips for students who are looking to
come to university or current students who might be struggling to settle in for
example? Okay so one of my tips is just never be afraid to ask questions
if there is anything that you're unsure about, always even if you feel like the
question may be a little bit awkward, our academics especially here at the
University of Derby they're brilliant and they're professional, they are always
open to giving advice in regards to any particular concerns that you have and
there's a lot more help available to you than you might perhaps think there is
If you don't make that first step and even if the person you ask doesn't
know the answer to the question there's 9 times out of 10 they know somebody who
does who can point you in the right direction
And even if it's not the academics, for example, if you're looking for help with
something outside this you know Student Well-being service, the International
Student Centre, as you mentioned there's so many people for any problem you could
imagine here so definitely just reach out like you said and ask questions. Absolutely. Yeah I
think Nigel actually touched on a lot of that and I think just be open-minded
about the people interact with, I mean I guess this is the only time that you're
going to be meet people of such a diverse background, so you might as well
just be open just having new experiences and have new conversations
with people. Definitely you get to meet so many different people. So many new friends. So thank you so much guys for sitting with us and answering all our
questions I'm sure our viewers are really happy and loved hearing about
your experiences.