First Year

New Ways of Thinking

/ Harriotte Preston

When I decided to take my place at Lancaster University it was one of the best decisions I have ever made. I know many people find it hard to decide what to major in and take as your degree, because it is a decision that will impact on your life.  However, I soon realized that I wanted to take Design; as I wanted to work in a creative industry.  I wanted the commercial side of it, where I could explore areas of product design, graphic design, advertising and many more areas that I had not even thought of yet.  This was important to me, I wanted to be challenged, and pushed into directions I did not even know existed. Fortunately, in my first week at Lancaster this soon became very apparent that I had made the right decision.

New ways of thinking

‘Good and Bad Ideas’ was the title of a Design workshop, it was one of the first that we had. The idea behind it was to make you look at Idea Generation in a new light.

This was fascinating, as most people take coming up with ideas for granted, thinking it’s easy and sticking to their methods of generation. However, we explore new techniques which takes you beyond the initial thought. One of the most creative yet challenging tasks was coming up with the worst ideas you could think of. It’s important to look at bad ideas, as identifying problems is as important as solving them.

We worked in groups of five in the workshop, so ideas were being generated fast. It was fun!  The things people think of when doing the opposite to normal is amazing, gone are the restrictions that you imply when using other techniques, as feasibility and such go out of the window.

Why did we do this?

You may be thinking what is the point of this?  Well really it’s to turn the worst idea that was thought of into the best idea. Ambitious, yes, and we were all a little perplexed at how this happened and how in the world we were meant to do this, but bit by bit you strip the idea down to reach the fundamentals. Surprisingly, it quickly becomes an amazing idea that you would not have considered before. It was also amazing to see how everyone in the group was completely involved.

Creativity existed in abundance, something that was so inspiring to be around. Now I am not saying it was easy because it was not. But it gives you a feel of what working to a deadline and client brief feels like, in a group of people that don’t know each other, then having to create a well thought out idea. I came out of this workshop happy knowing that I made the right choice and that I was so excited to start on the next tasks. But not only that, before this, I would never have looked at a brief that asked for the best idea and approached it by starting with the worst. It gave me a new mindset of sorts, freeing me from the restrictions on my creativity that I had previously placed there.

Our first weeks at Lancaster: by Becky and Katie

/ Becky

Hello!

We just thought we would share some of our initial thoughts and experiences of our first few weeks at Lancaster uni and with the PPR department.

Lancaster university has nine different colleges (a bit like Hogwarts) and you become a member of one of them. Being in different colleges obviously our experiences aren’t exactly the same, however we both lived in the halls of our colleges in first year and so our situations were quite similar.

Becky: I was really excited to start uni but obviously nervous too and the thing I was most nervous about was who I was going to live with. When I first arrived everyone was really nice and I just kept on telling myself that everyone else was in the same position as me. After a few days everyone ‘came out of their shells’ and we started to become more comfortable around one another. Fresher’s week was full of activities and talks and me and my flatmates attending pretty much everything together. Even little things like cooking together in the shared kitchen helped friendships to develop. It was so important that everyone was just themselves and put themselves out there, even though sometimes it was quite daunting I feel that participating in as many things I could with my flatmates made a difference to my overall experience of first year. It was good to know that at the end of the day I could go back to the flat and feel comfortable around people. Obviously not everyone gets on with everyone but, if you are yourself, the chances are you will make friends really easily and click with people who you never thought you would click with.

Katie: For me, I had felt ready to move to university for a long time. However, it was only when my parents pulled onto campus that the nerves hit. Who would my flat mates be? What if my flatmates don’t like me? Will it be awkward? But as soon as I started meeting everyone I was going to be living with for the next year, I soon relaxed. Everyone there was as apprehensive as I was, and also as keen to make friends, so instantly we all had something in common. Plus, I don’t know why I was worried about it being awkward because there’s so much to talk about! The first few hours of conversation in the flat was about whee everyone was from, what they’re studying, what they did that summer, etc. It’s natural to be nervous, but rest assured that once you get to your new flat, it will soon feel like home. Your college will also play a major role in getting you settled in. Each college will hold events throughout Freshers’ week, and during the whole year, which are great opportunities to get to know other people in your house and college. In my Freshers’ week, we had several fancy dress nights including animal safari (I was an elephant) as well as events during the day.

Both of us settled in well, despite initial worries and it seems as if this is the case for nearly everyone we have met.

As well as settling into our accommodation, we also had to settle into our courses too. After having initial talks from the department and meeting the lecturers some faces became familiar. At Lancaster, in the PPR department, you have to do three subjects in your first year (1 major and 2 minors). This seems like a lot but it really is very manageable. The subjects don’t have to be directly related to your Major which leaves you the option to explore other avenues if you wish.

As faces became more familiar we gradually began to feel a part of our subjects and the department. Whenever we were struggling everyone was willing to help whether it was other students, our lecturers or our academic tutors. Facebook groups were made so that people in our subjects could talk to each other and ask each other questions – neither of us ever felt like we were stuck and alone. As we started to get used to the style of teaching in the PPR department, everything seemed less daunting as it was a big transition from sixth form. Everyone in the department was so friendly and you could ask anyone anything, and if they didn’t know the answer they would direct you to someone who would.

This week’s little piece of advice: be yourself. Uni is such a great opportunity, both academically and socially so don’t waste time hiding who you are: put yourself out there and you will make friends and meet some of the most amazing people. It is okay to be nervous of course but, after a while these nerves will shrink and you will look back and wonder what you were ever even nervous about.

Just don’t worry!

Becky and Katie x