First Semester!

Soooooooooooooooo it's the end of the first semester at university. I actually cannot believe how fast these three months have gone. It felt like just yesterday I was leaving home and moving into halls and now first semester has ended, it's the Christmas holidays and I'm back at home for three weeks (might shorten it to two instead). To be honest, I do miss university. One thing I have appreciated is independence. I have definitely changed since I went to uni, trust me being away from home is not as bad as it seems.

In terms of my course, I think I'm enjoying it so far. I will not lie dropping out has crossed my mind but I was seriously over-exaggerating. In my opinion, at the moment the workload isn't as much as I experienced during A- levels. I do have quite a lot of free time during university when I think about it but that doesn't mean it's acceptable to slack. Fair enough first year doesn't count to your degree but it's very important if you want to apply to internships in your second year and in my case, a year in industry.



My first semester consisted mostly of multiple choice tests, one piece of coursework and a debate. In comparison to my friends in terms of workload, I think I got it pretty easy. However, I am now suffering with two pieces of coursework and revision for three exams so maybe not.

In terms of my career progression, during August I applied for the SEO First Year Fast Track Programme and recently I found out that I was successful with my application. The other day I was invited to a networking and training event for SEO candidates at the London headquarters for Ernst & Young (EY). If I impress at this event I have the opportunity to be fast- tracked to their Leadership Academy or Discover EY events. I have registered my interest for the training event so hopefully I will get a place :)

Finally I think I'll end with some general uni advice from my time so far:

• Utilise your free time: First year is your chance to do things that you probably won't have time to do in your second year and final year. Try new sports, join societies, learn a new language. I actually forgot to mention in an earlier post that I have been learning Spanish :) Surrey University offer a Global Graduate Award which allows students to learn a language whilst studying. It doesn't count to your degree but it does appear on your transcript at the end of the year. I do need to utilise my free time even more to be honest. There's so much my friends and I could have done during first semester but didn't unfortunately.
• Work hard: First year results don't count to your overall degree (this might not be true for a few universities so check) but still keep in mind that when you are applying to internships and spring weeks employees want to see your first year results.
• Enjoy yourself: University is a time to enjoy! Have fun but know your limits. You're away from home so this is the time to do things that you couldn't do before but remember to be safe. 
• Socialise: You meet different types of people in university. Make an effort to learn about different cultures.

I'm expecting great things from second semester. First semester has been good but I think second semester will be even better! I am really glad that I attend the University of Surrey. I've met some great people! 

This is my last post of 2013, I really hope that I will have more exciting things to blog about next year and more frequent posts too. I will certainly try my best :)

Have a great Christmas and a Happy New Year!!