Over Half Way There: Georgia

I spoke about the interviews I did last summer before my dissertation and third year in general completely swept my attention and time away. They're still a few patiently waiting to be read in my drafts, and it's time I got sharing these wonderful contributions. I really do apologise to those who took the time to write these posts for me, I'm very sorry they weren't shared sooner! Here's Georgia's story of her second year at Keele University studying Criminology and Psychology...

'I enjoyed second year about 1000x more than I enjoyed first year. I struggled a lot in my first year as I found the course really difficult and I felt very home sick, finding that I really missed my family and my (now ex) boyfriend, but I felt much more settled in second year due to the fact that I already had my friends at uni and also had changed to a different course, which helped me feel much happier. At first I was doing Maths and Psychology and was somewhat out of my depth with the Maths work but instead of asking for help and advice, I just thought I should work harder but found that I still wasn't getting anywhere. I've found that changing to a course more suitable for me has made such a difference to how much I've enjoyed it. 

The work load definitely increased this year but mainly my attitude to work changed; gone were the days of doing the bare minimum just to pass and instead came countless hours of finding the right book in the library to help make a point in an essay and I was thrilled to get some firsts. However, going from staying up all night doing Maths problems sheets and revising for class tests that I didn't understand, revising and writing essays for something I actually understood was a doddle! 

I found it much easier to settle into a house rather than halls; you have somewhere to sit and relax with a cup of tea rather than having to head up to your room due to there being no communal area. I also felt much more independent; you have to do your own bins/recycling etc and you even get a washing machine in the house. In first year I was in one of the infamous Hawthorns blocks of 36 people and although at first it was great to have such a big community and automatically have friends, it got old quickly. We had a bit of drama at the start of second year within our house and I only really spent the first semester there. When I got together with my boyfriend in January I more or less moved in to his house, tampons and all, which was great fun as I got on so well with his housemates and it was really nice to be living with him. I found it much easier than being chucked into halls with a bunch of strangers! 

Something that provided me with so much pride and enjoyment in second year was properly committing to the uni trampolining club, it was so nice to have that little community with a shared interest. In second year I was treasurer and head coach of Keele University Trampolining Club (KUTC) and we had one of our most successful years in terms of medals won, members joined and numbers competing at competitions and I'm so proud of all our members. I was then elected to be club captain! I also came second at a national trampolining competition separate to the university after battling with whether or not to call it a day which I'm proud of. And I passed my driving test first time, which was the highlight of my year!

My freshers week was a little different during second year as I had a bar staff job at the Student's Union, and it meant I only went to two of the freshers nights. It was nice knowing things like which toilets/bars are less busy and not to buy a freshers pass unless you're going to go out to every night (although it does mean skipping the queue!). It was a strange feeling knowing that the week was for the freshers but also for us to catch up with old friends and celebrate being back. I got the job on bars in April of first year so I worked for the whole of second year and having that income was just fantastic. So a combination of having the years experience of food shops and knowing how "value" you can go coupled with having more money each week means that I did much better with money in second year. Whenever I did manage to get out to the union I certainly made the most of it!

The first night out at the union after January exams has to be a low point in my life. I had recently got together with the boyf so a combination of being a bit nervous around new people and not having drank in a month due to exams all resulted in me drinking a bottle of vodka and then some. At 5"0 and weighing about 45kg I'm not exactly built to be a big drinker and alas about half an hour after arriving at the union I chundered into my cup in the middle of the scruffy squirrel and instead of maintaining some dignity, I decided to burst into tears, which resulted in me being taken home at the wild hour of midnight. I'm basically a drunk Cinderella. After arriving back at my boyfriend's I persisted to chunder again on his carpet, and was swiftly handed a saucepan (which I'm sure we have since used again) and all in all was in bed by 12.30. It was tough to show my face again but quickly became a "remember the time...".  

To everyone going into second year in September I would just say that input = output, if you want to end the year with a 2.1 or a 1st then put the effort in sooner rather than later. If you feel like something's lacking in your life then join a club or society asap and if you're struggling with work don't be embarrassed to ask for help. Overall though I wouldn't change a thing about my second year. It definitely exceeded my expectations in terms of enjoyment and getting more out of my time at uni!'

I hope you enjoyed reading about Georgia's experience of her previous two years at Keele! If you have any questions about Keele uni, feel free to ask me or I can put you in contact with Georgia. If you have any other questions email me - missisgoode@gmail.com - or leave a comment below! 

MissIsGoode

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