Friday, 9 March 2012

First Year at the University of Derby


As a first year undergraduate student the idea of starting university was nerve racking but the most exciting experience of my life so far! I never thought that I would make friends as quickly as I did, but here I am six months and still stuck with the people I met on the very first day!!

But when you have started university what do you do to make it the most memorable years of your life; Drink and party six days of the week? That just is not me at all. So I stood to become History Rep for my year. Standing in front of a hundred people you hardly know encouraging them to vote for you is terrifying, especially in a lecture theatre room!! But here I am; a proud elected peer of History.

As an elected member of my peerage, I have voting rights during Student Union Council meetings, which means I get to vote what happens within the University for those who do not participate. It is an interesting meeting to be a part of, and I am really glad I had the courage to stand up to be elected. However, it makes me sad that not many people actually know what is going off within their own Union. There are posters all over the place but do people really pay attention with what is happening? I think it will have to be my mission to get more people involved within the University, not just the people who are political or passionate about the rest of the student mass.

As well as the lovely Student Union Council meetings I attend, I also have meetings with the lectures that teach us. I can change how teaching happens, and inform lecturers about issues without the rest of my class even knowing that I am improving their education by mentioning the need of ten minute breaks, or that as first years we do not understand what happens during the three weeks we have off around Easter. It is the changes like these that make me proud of being a rep as I really have a positive influence on what can happen inside the classroom.

My first six months at university have been jam packed with activities such as this but I intend to keep it like this for the rest of my three years at University. But why would I want to change this influence I have? Plus it looks nice on a CV, which is why I encourage everyone to get involved and improve the university you will be with for three or more years. I hope this has inspired many of you, or if not, it has still been an interesting read!

E. Rowe, 2012

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