Hi! My name is Mackenzie and I’m currently in my third year at Lancaster in Religious Studies. Long ago, in the distant past of 2015, I left my home and lovely dogs to study at Lancaster, and I’ve enjoyed it so much that I want to stay here another year for a master’s! This blog is to try and give you a bit of an insight to daily uni life, and my experiences in PPR (Philosophy, Politics and Religion) in particular. Also I’ve never written a blog before so, for the sake of adventure, here we go!
With Halloween just gone, I thought I’d talk a bit about the social side of uni first. As a fresher you will undoubtedly be introduced to the wonders of Lancaster nightlife, with 9 bars on campus for the lazy and the famous Sugarhouse! Those of you who aren’t down with the kids in terms of music taste, fear not! While comparatively small compared to the music scene in bigger towns, Lancaster still has something for everyone if you look in the right places. There are live events throughout the year, open mic nights across a number of pubs, and even societies in the uni that revolve around different types of music.
Alongside making friends with your flatmates and people from your course, a great way to get out there is to join a society! After a very lazy first year, I decided to join the Trampolining Club despite having no trampolining or gymnastics experience beyond leapfrog. It has been one of the best decisions I’d made at university (excluding the academic side, obviously!) It was a really fun way to get some exercise, push myself (way, waaaay) out of my comfort zone and learn new skills, and of course to make new friends. Despite being so nervous about joining, everyone was lovely and encouraging, to the extent where I’m now competing, which I never thought I’d be brave enough to do. Don’t hesitate to try something new when you get to uni, there are so many opportunities and it’s a great way to unwind after a week of lectures!
Day: November 14, 2017
2am turkey dinosaurs
Hi everyone! This time we’re going to talk about adjusting to life with new flatmates! They always say that the friends you make at uni will be the friends you will make for life, and the people you move into accommodation with in freshers week seems like the best place to start!
For myself personally, I was really nervous moving into Lancaster for the first time. Being an only child, and sharing a house with just my mum and my two dogs (yes they count as family) for the past 18 years of my life, I was dubious to see how I’d adjust to sharing a flat with (in my case) eleven other people. I was used to my own space, how on earth would I cope with what is basically like eleven siblings?! However, when I moved in, I soon realised I loved sharing a flat with people who were all in the same boat as me. I experienced all of the new things at uni with my flatmates, and we saw each other at our best (and our worst!) Currently, in my third year, I’m still living with a few of them now, and couldn’t imagine eating turkey dinosaurs at 2am with anyone else.
Not everyone gets on with their flatmates however, and that’s okay too! Sometimes there seems like a lot of pressure to be best mates with the people you live with, but remember you’re allocated people to live with based purely on your choice of accommodation, so there’s always the possibility that your personalities just don’t gel. Some people are far closer with people they’ve met on their course, and also friends they make in societies, so it’s possible you’ll have more in common with those that you don’t share a flat with.
Following on from this, in first year you’ll be pressured by housing companies to find somewhere to live for second year straight away. Don’t rush into this! Take some time to really think about who you want to live with, and take some time to look around different accommodation options. If you’re nervous about renting a place for the first time, Lancaster University Homes is a great website that lets you compare different choices of accommodation from agents that have been approved by the University, so you can rest easy knowing you’re not signing up to anything too dodgy. (*disclaimer – I promise I’m not on commission for this website, I just think it’s a great idea!*) LUSU, the student union for Lancaster Uni, also have a letting agents called LUSU Living which is based on campus to make life easier as well. Either way, make sure you’ve settled into your first year before you rush to make any plans for the future!
Starting essays already!?!?
Introducing me
I’m Emily, I’m 21 years old, and am currently a Masters student studying LLM International Law and International Relations. On this blog I’m going to give you a bit of an insight into what it is like to be a student in the PPR department, and what normal days/weeks look like as a student at Lancaster University. But first, I thought it would be wise to let you know a little bit about me. I studied my undergraduate degree in Politics and International Relations here at Lancaster, and have decided to stay here for my masters as I really enjoyed my time here and didn’t quite want to leave! I’ve played college netball for Bowland throughout at my time at uni, held numerous part time jobs, and also been lucky enough to have three internships during my time here at Lancaster so far. During my spare time, I enjoy going to the pub with friends, often entailing a few pints and a game of pool, so, this year joining the college pool team was a must (mainly because it’s the perfect excuse for a pub trip).
But now onto the important stuff, a day in the life of a student…
This week I have to say is one of the quieter ones, focusing on starting planning for my essays. For my masters there are no exams, instead 3 x 5,000 word essays are the assignments for my first term. 5,000 sounds a lot right? Well, after a few years of studying your chosen subject, it becomes very easy to reach if not go over a word limit of 5,000, so don’t be put off by that. For my PPR modules, you get to choose my own questions to focus on, which is great as it gives you such flexibility to focus on areas that you have been interested in previously. I have always been interested in social media and its effects on politics, and the Iraq war and the motives behind it have long since been an intrigue of mine. So I have managed to worm these two subjects into each of my essays, the first essay being of the effects of social media on diplomatic practice, and the second being on whether realism can accurately explain the invasion of Iraq. Pretty cool eh? Well, the nerd in me sure thinks so.
Besides essay planning, of course there’s lectures and seminars I have to attend. My current timetable this term I must admit is very quiet, requiring lots of self-study, reading plenty of books and articles, and frequent study trips to the library or computer rooms on campus. Fun right?! Well, 7 hours of lectures/seminars a week isn’t actually all too bad, and I really like this method of study, as it allows me to work at my own pace and use the lectures to clarify my understanding of the weekly readings I have to do. What’s even better, is that I love my subject, so spending time studying for the most part is very rewarding.
Life at Lancaster however, isn’t all about studying, and luckily for Lancaster students there is plenty to do both on and off campus. This week, I have a netball match on Wednesday, a competitive pool game this evening, and plans to go on a night out at the weekend. In between this, I often find myself catching up with friends for coffee (or my preferred drink from costa, a hot chocolate) or watching an episode of two from a good TV show on Netflix to unwind after a long day of studying. Fitting in time to do the things you enjoy in between the time you spend studying is key for providing yourself with a break from your studies, as managing your time effectively is one of the biggest things you’ll learn at university, even though after three years I still haven’t yet mastered this skill!
I hope this provides you with some insight into my life at Lancaster, and please keep your eyes posted on this blog for more updates from myself and other students! If you have any comments or questions, feel free to comment on my post.
Greetings All!
Let me start by introducing myself. My name is Sowenna Ene and I am a final year Philosophy, Politics and Economics student at Lancaster. During the course of this academic year, I will be writing posts every so often detailing my weekly activities and general undertakings from academic work to the more social aspects of university. Without further ado, I shall now get into my past week.
This year I decided to join the University Futsal Team. This essentially manifests itself in playing matches against other universities in the British Universities & Colleges Sports league (BUCS). On Sunday 5th November we played two games, a friendly match and also a BUCS league game. This took place at Leeds Beckett University and we won the friendly match 6-0 and the league game 10-2! This was a nice set up for the week ahead which predominantly centred on academic studies…
Monday began with a lecture in ‘Continental Philosophy’ in which, by the end of the term, we will have explored the ideas of thinkers Friedrich Nietzsche, Michel Foucault and Hannah Arendt. Monday’s lecture explored Michel Foucault’s ‘The History of Sexuality’ which explores the progression, manifestation and application of power within society. Fascinating stuff! Later in the day I had a lecture and seminar for my module titled ‘Contemporary Issues in the Middle East’. If it hasn’t become clear, one should pay attention to the sheer scope of modules and the great variety of choice a degree at Lancaster allows. The range of module choice available is something definitely commendable and really allows you to tailor your degree to you and where your particular interest may lay. Aside from lectures and seminars, this week was spent mainly planning for an essay in which I look to explore nation-state building in the Middle East; this is due in the final week of term, but its never bad to start early!
I hope you have enjoyed reading about my week this week at Lancaster University and I look forward to communicating with you soon.
Take care!