Starting to get really nervous about uni :(

tijuana taxi said:
Seems like you at least have a plan, going to be a lot of competition with so many degree educated people about
I work for BT and they have just announced they are stopping their graduate programme, think that might be the case with a few big firms as costs are cut
Joined them as an apprentice in 1975 and still there, even then needed the obligatory 5 O levels and still had to sit entrance tests, not much like that about these days

My daughter is doing an Optometry degree, hopefully should be able to find work as an Optometrist when qualified, always going to need eyes tested

Good luck with your studies and hope it all goes to plan, sure you will soon settle in
If you don't there is a life apart from uni and if its not for you don't give into peer pressure and have a miserable life.
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Thanks for the words of wisdom :)
I love all things media, and since the media industry is huge I don't think it will be too difficult finding something I enjoy.
I always have photography to fall back on!
 
tijuana taxi said:
Always told my daughter to go and study something that might give her a chance of a proper job otherwise don't bother getting a second rate degree in something useless and obscure
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My parents said exactly the opposite, do whatever you enjoy most. I studied Fine Art knowing full well that I would be unlikely to get a job in that field, but I would enjoy it and do well, and I would be educated in something that I was and still am passionate about.
 
My parents said exactly the opposite, do whatever you enjoy most. I studied Fine Art knowing full well that I would be unlikely to get a job in that field, but I would enjoy it and do well, and I would be educated in something that I was and still am passionate about.
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Very nice if your parents can afford it to indulge you, but we had to strike a balance between enjoyment and employment options
My daughter actually made her decision because it interested her, she is the type of person who likes to plan ahead and have a goal

Not all about money because she turned down a place at LSE studying maths and statistics which no doubt would have been the route to much higher financial gain in the future.
 
tijuana taxi said:
....

.... she turned down a place at LSE studying maths and statistics ....
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I'd give my two kidneys, eyeballs, and a lung to get into LSE! That must have been a very brave decision to make?!
 
tijuana taxi said:
Very nice if your parents can afford it to indulge you, but we had to strike a balance between enjoyment and employment options
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I'm not sure what you're getting at here. Students aren't all sponging, over indulged, rich kids. My parents didn't try to influence me either. We got grants, but they were means tested and my parents decided not to subsidise the difference, so I worked though most of the breaks. So did most other students I knew. I never lived at home again, so I suppose I didn't contribute to the family budget, but I wasn't a drain on it either.
 
My parents and I shared the cost, and I'm sure they didn't see it as indulging me. This is the point I'm making though, I think it did a very good job of preparing me for adult life. The subject isn't particularly vocational, but few are. I know people who studied law and are now Partners, and I know people who studied Theatre Studies who now run Mergers and Acquisition departments for global insurers.
 
dont forget its not just the grades that matter, personality and the impression you make on people too. Good grades and education certainly opens more doors for you, but you can do well in life if you haven't had the most success in your education if you don't let it knock you back.
 
Have a blast and don't worry. :D

If you can't cook hit a second hand book shop and look for the Good Housekeeping My First Cookbook and Second Cookbook. Both very basic and dated, but also very good. If you're in non-catered halls it worth cooking from basics rather than buying in tinned and ready meals. The time to cook is not that much longer, but it's a lot cheaper, plus once you know the area you live/study in you'll find out when the local butchers empty their freezers (not all do this I know) as it's a great way to get cheap meat.

The leave your door open (assuming you're in the room) trick works as well - though make sure you have no expensive gear on display for safety.

Freshers Fair - don't be afraid to join too many societies (as long as they do not cost too much). Chances are you'll only stick with a couple, but it's a great way to make new like-minded friends, their may be a photographic society there as well.
 
Most people are worried before they go to uni but within a couple of weeks most settle down and have a whale of a time. It is perfectly possible to have fun and get the work done to get a good grade.

Despite the cost most people can afford to go to uni nowadays. You just have to know how to make cheap easy food and make a half pint last in the student bar.My son went to uni and had a great time and got a good degree.I had no money at the time, having been widowed a few years earlier, and having just completed my own first degree.

Some lecturers can be a pain but you will meet people like that in any area of working life so its good experience getting used to dealing with people, being assertive and not getting ruffled.

Enjoy yourself and make the most of the experience.
 
Some of our lecturers obviously resented having to actually give lectures, and take tutorials, because it interfered with their real "job", getting on with the research for their PhD or the next book/paper. We also had a few who just gave the same lecture, in the same slot, every year in the same dull monotone. A few managed to combine both characteristics! Luckily, most of them were great. Very different personalities, from the excitable enthusiasm of my British History lecturer, to the gravitas and quiet humour of one of his colleagues. I still miss those days at times.
 
I went to uni with my girlfriend, similar to you we ended up in the same halls. Was good as whenever I was on a downer she was there... ended up as my wife ;) Can give you more chances at making new friends, as you will meet the people around her room as well as your own...

Good times
 
you will be fine. If you get involved in the student newspaper/magazine/website then you should be able to get a load of photos published. It will also give you access to shooting a wide range of things, including any bands that play the SU, anything local that is going on you should get a pass for, the many sports events in Southampton, as well as the Uni Balls etc (the ones you are not going too).

Work hard, and use the experience you can get, like with the radio station, Tv station (probably have one) and the newspaper to enable you to get a job.

You will get to know people quite easily, everyone in the same boat. Just make sure you don't get too plastered all the time.

Talk to your GF, she is probably feeling the same way you are. Try not to cramp each other, and be honest. And don't play away. She will know, and it is not worth it. If you want to "share the love" just split up with her, it is better in the long run.

And get your kit insured before you go!! Student halls are targets for theives, cos they all have hifi's, computers, ipods, etc.etc.
 
foodpoison said:
Should I be concerned that my university came last in The Time's guide to good universities? :p
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Naaah, good students can't afford and wouldn;t read the times..........
 
lawrie29 said:
Naaah, good students can't afford and wouldn;t read the times..........
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Well I misread it anyway, it's not at the bottom, just very low :)

I'm not fussed tbh. The staff I've met were all extremely enthusiastic, it's the perfect placement as it's not too far from home but far enough from home, the city is an absolute dream for going out, and the course is fantastic!
 
I've just started Uni. Nightlife so far seems to be great, and the people on my course are nice. But at the moment I'm having trouble settling in, luckily for me though, I;m so close to home anyway I can just pop on a couple of trains to get home.
 
Pieface said:
I've just started Uni. Nightlife so far seems to be great, and the people on my course are nice. But at the moment I'm having trouble settling in, luckily for me though, I;m so close to home anyway I can just pop on a couple of trains to get home.
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Things seem to have changed. Back in the "old" days, when dinosaurs had just become extinct and mobiles hadn't been invented, most of us wanted to be as far from home as we could. It discouraged unannounced visits from parents!
 
MartynK said:
Things seem to have changed. Back in the "old" days, when dinosaurs had just become extinct and mobiles hadn't been invented, most of us wanted to be as far from home as we could. It discouraged unannounced visits from parents!
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I'm a home boy, always have been. But I moved away for uni becase it's the best time to do so.
 
MartynK said:
Things seem to have changed. Back in the "old" days, when dinosaurs had just become extinct and mobiles hadn't been invented, most of us wanted to be as far from home as we could. It discouraged unannounced visits from parents!
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Absolutely different!

I'm far enough away to be far enough away, yet I can get on one train, pay £10, and be home in an hour.
 
foodpoison said:
Should I be concerned that my university came last in The Time's guide to good universities? :p
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Heck no - the best University in the country is the one that is right for you.

Even if you go to Oxford/Cambridge etc if you don't go to lectures you won't pass, and if you don't enjoy the area you won't stick at it for 3/4 years
 
dontfollowme said:
Like everyone else says, enjoy it but do not forget you are there to get a degree. With the volume of people attending university you need to come out with at least a 2.1 preferably 1:1.

Good luck.
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Very true in getting your first job post graduation. However, even if you end up with a Desmond (2:2) once you get past your first real job it's experience that counts, a degree is just a way of getting past the first sorting.

University is one on of the best things you can do IMO, however, you only get one shot at it so make the most of it and take the opportunities that come up.
 
Just heading into my second year at exe and I had the jitters before I went but it was fine, with a little luck you won't be on an empty corridor so people actually will pop their heads in :bang: :D

halls was a different experience as my sixth form was very small and if I had just commuted I would only have met the people on my course but halls meant I have friends I wouldn't have talked to if we hadn't had breakfast together everyday for a year :D

oh and you gotta be committee in the photography society next year :D
 
if you fancy expanding at southampton into video (great fun, and great experience if you want to go into media related fields :P :) ), head over to SUSU, your student TV station, they're some really cool guys, and tell them LSUTV sent you!

Join the photo society, great way to meet like minded people...just don't get roped in to being chair... :P

Seriously though, and I'm sure you've heard this before, uni is a completely new start, noone expects anything of you, noone has any preconceptions of who or what you are - you have a completely fresh slate (apart from your gf.... which is still cool, really dont worry about it), so get involved with as much as you can (first year you only need 40% - so studies can to a certain extent take less importance than you might think - so check out societies etc in your student's union, hall or whatever - anything that you think you might even remotely be interested in, give it a go!), and just...have a great time dude :)



In other news, I'm working 12-14 hour days preparing for the influx of new freshers.....
 
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Give it a week and you will never want to move back in!

Have a bloody great time, university really is whatever you make of it!
 
Good luck young man; you'll do well :thumbs:
 
get ** mum to make cakes/biscuits to take :D

homemade biccies kick shop biccies into touch, ok maybe my advice is crappy :D
 
Update, young-man! We need full detailed updates.

As a matter of fact, how about a 365-foodpoison-at-Uni. thread :shrug: . . . and I am dead serious. Please don't think that I'm trying to pry into your personal life; but a lot is to be learnt from your experience, especially as I have a daughter who's going to Uni. very soon.

Of course, I am sure we will be able to laugh at many of your moments over there too :lol:
 
I would do a 365, but as I don't know my fellow flat-mates that well I don't think that walking around with a camera would go down too well. All about meeting people and all that sort of thing. First impressions? That weirdo with the camera!
 
Oh no, I guess I didn't word that too well. I meant a 365 of your progress & experiences, not necessarily with pictures at all! I know it's not photography, but your endeavours are keenly watched here :)
 
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