Hey everyone my name's Hannah, I'm doing my final year of philosophy and I'm going to bring
you some top tips on starting university. So I remember my first week really well, I was very
anxious to start uni and then when I was there, I was so busy and overwhelmed by all the socialising
and meeting new people and often forgetting names - um but something that really helped
me navigate the first week is making sure that I was saying yes to lots of things,
um and keeping busy and meeting new people all the time - and you know even though you feel
out of your comfort zone, everybody's out of their comfort zone. So doing things and saying
yes to things is really important, and pushing yourself and that is what uni is about. And so
that brings me on to my next thing which is try something new. Whether it be a society or a sport,
really try and get yourself out there and and do something new, because this is
the opportunity in your life where where you really get so much choice. Birmingham has loads
of societies, in first year I tried mixed martial arts which I loved, and I never would have seen
myself doing that in sixth form. So get out there try try a new sport, try a new hobby,
it's a great way to meet new people as well. So for some academic tips, because I found
academic life very different to school. There's no structure, so it's a lot more about
self-motivation and some people are naturally very self-motivated. For me having a structure really,
really helps so one thing I made sure to always do is attend my seminars and have done the reading
before. We're quite lucky with philosophy, our readings are never too long, they're always
feasible. So make sure you do your reading, make sure you go to the seminars whether they're online
whether in whether they're in person, it will really help you meet new people. It's also just
making the most out of your course, you know going to all your content hours so go to your seminars,
and I also really recommend going to campus. So I would try and go to campus as
much as possible. The library and main study spaces were open even through the
lockdowns, so make sure you head on to campus. We're so fortunate to have such a beautiful
campus as well so make the most out of the library and teaching and learning center.
Have study days with friends - those were some of the best times for me, and just it helped so much
more separating where I would work to where I was sleeping, so go to campus everybody.
Another top tip when it comes to like if you want to do some extra reading before you start,
one thing that I've used a fair amount is the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy,
and that's a website so you can look it up and on there you'll find all sorts of
different topics and philosophy. So whether you're interested in feminist philosophy, or
the ethics of killing, beauty ethics, philosophy of time, anything, and the main philosopher
or a philosopher will have written a whole section on that topic and other suggested
other readings you can do if you're interested. So take a look at that resource it's really good.
And another thing to mention as well when it comes to making the most out of content hours is I
found going to office hours. So each lecturer will have their own office hour where you can go
you can discuss things that have come up in the course, or more most importantly you can
go to discuss your essay plan. So I would always discuss my essay plans with the lecturers before,
and I think that's something that's really helped me do well and achieve good grades,
because they're obviously going to help you make your argument better.
So go to office hours, the lecturers are always so friendly and accommodating,
so I would really recommend doing that. But yeah, just don't be stressed about
first year - it really is sort of a year where everybody is caught up to speed and made familiar
with uni life and philosophy. It's a brilliant year, it's a fun year, and I'm sure you're all
going to really enjoy it. If I could redo these three years I really would because I've had the
best time. So yeah, don't worry about it, hope these tips were helpful and yeah enjoy. See you.