Last Day of Spring Term!!!

The campus is already noticeably emptier than earlier in the week, but those of us that are left are out enjoying the sunshine! 17 degrees and sunny today in Colchester... it's not all rain and cloud in this little pocket of England :) A glimpse of Colchester campus on this beautiful day...

Square 3

Gathering by the Lakes

Squeezed in the North Towers for orientation!

Rain or shine, the ducks are always around!



Happy Easter Break to all!

Emily, Ana and Puja








Essay Writing Support

Coming to grad school in the UK after a number of years out of school, the realization that 100% of my mark for each class would come from one single essay was terrifying. Don’t think right away that the same will be the case for you, I know for undergrad students assessment is based on both coursework and exams and for grad students it depends on the masters course – some have exams, some don’t, some have several pieces of coursework, some have only one. In my case, 7 out of 8 classes had one essay worth 100% of my mark... eep!

Whatever category you fall under, however, I do guarantee you that essay writing will be part of your student life in the UK!  Though a few years out of education, I did at least come from a system where essay writing was taught in secondary school and an important part of our assessment in university. For some of my friends here, however, essay writing hadn’t been part of their previous education, or at least not in the same sense as in the UK. I also have the advantage of being a native English speaker, where most of my friends and fellow students are not. If the prospect of writing so many essays was scary for me... I can only imagine that it was even scarier for them...

Now, in the last week of second term, I have submitted six essays, and have another three due in the coming weeks. The time pressure for these final essays is weighing heavy, but I do feel much more confident in my ability to produce essays along the lines of what my tutors are looking for.

There was some trial and error involved though, and whatever confidence I have developed came from taking advantage of the resources I had available. In the linguistics department anyway, we had the choice to write what they called an ‘early assessment’. It was a short, optional essay on a topic covered in class, and though we didn’t receive a mark for it, we were able to meet with the tutor and discuss our writing. I felt so busy at that time, it was hard to make myself do a task that was optional, but I was really glad that I did in the end... I got constructive feedback from my tutor about my style of writing that I was able to then apply to my essays.

Even less formal than that, I knocked on my tutors’ doors over and over again. What I found out pretty quickly here is that if I had a question, my tutors were more than willing to help me in whatever way they could. The more I asked, the more clarity I found... Even over the vacation, I sent the introduction and first section of an essay to my tutor and she responded the next day with some advice that ended up drastically changing the second half of my essay. Though it created more work, as I had to rethink a little, I have no doubt that it improved my final mark. Really, the absolute best advice I can give after two terms at Essex... when in doubt, ASK!

On a random note, as I write, my friends have been laughing at the expressions on my face. After an intense week of essay writing and proof reading and writing and.... I have been finding it a little difficult to let go of the formal writing style and write less formally... for a blog!

Anyway, so now that I am writing this, I am looking a little further into what resources are available to students, and while I took advantage of my tutors, I am now realizing how many other services are available to support students with questions about their coursework. Of course, if you Google essay writing, you will find all kinds of sites telling you how to write an essay... but Essex has their own! If you want to know what they expect here... go to the source! This site has videos of students talking about essay writing and includes all kinds of tasks to help refine your essay writing skills. There is also info here on giving presentations, doing research....

http://www.essex.ac.uk/myskills/skills/writing/default.asp

 

This page is from Essex as well... it gives more of a general overview. It is definitely a good read and makes some excellent points that I can relate to oh so well...Point 5, for example, rings particularly true after spending this past weekend feeling like I was drowning in potential sources...

http://www2.essex.ac.uk/academic/students/ug/essay.htm

 

These two sites seem quite useful, too. The first is a brief overview and the second is incredibly detailed, giving advice on all possible aspects of essay writing...

http://www.studyhood.com/english/writing_university_essays.htm

http://www.rlf.org.uk/fellowshipscheme/writing/essayguide.cfm

 

Additionally, each department has their own version of academic support services. Instead of listing them all here, I’ll say - if you come to Essex... Ask! Each department has an office and the administrators there, or your tutors, will certainly be able to tell you what the department can do to help... Before you come, it might be a good idea to become familiar with your department’s website as well, as many of them have department specific guidelines on essay writing. It seems the first Essex site that I linked to above, has a page where all the departments will post their individual support services, but the information is not all there yet... coming soon perhaps?

For International students there are even more possibilities... There is a Skills Centre on campus run by the International Academy. You can find info on what services they offer here:

http://www.essex.ac.uk/skillscentre/documents/academic_literacy.pdf

http://www.essex.ac.uk/skillscentre/academic_literacy/Default.aspx

 

The International Academy offers in-sessional classes including some that help with writing skills:

http://www.essex.ac.uk/skillscentre/english_language/classes/Default.aspx

 

In short (though this has been long!) don’t suffer in silence! There is loads of help available making the most of it can make your life and your workload so much easier....

Emily

Paying for Your Education

If you are like me, one of the biggest questions I had to answer before committing to a degree in the UK was how to find the money! Forgive me for stating the obvious, but UK tuition is expensive…and it is rising every year. I managed to pull enough together in the forms of loans and one small (Canadian) government grant to cover the one year of my masters course. Now I am applying to do a PhD and unfortunately the math just doesn’t work out well. One year is one thing, but three more…not even close to possible. In order to continue I NEED help. So my new past time? Searching for anyone anything anywhere to help me! It can be worth it to know what is available at any level of study…granted, the further up you go in your studies, the more there is available, but either way, it is good to know your options.

The first place to look is university websites – Essex has a scholarship finder tool that helps to narrow down your search based on your degree, nationality etc.

http://www.essex.ac.uk/studentfinance/scholarships/scholarship_finder.aspx

Unfortunately for me it only brings up two possibilities. The first being a sports scholarship (and I am decidedly unathletic!) The second is the Essex Social Science Research Scholarship. While there is money available, and it is worth applying, the unfortunate financial reality in this country means less and less is available every year (that is the apparent trend at least…)

My point is not to be gloomy, but to emphasize how important it is to continue the search. You never know what is out there. A piece of advice I received recently… no scholarship is ever too small. People tend to gravitate towards the large amounts and so there are mountains of applicants for those scholarships, while the smaller ones or those that require you to write an essay often have fewer applicants and therefore less competition…and small amounts can add up!!! When I see an essay requirement, first I groan, then I try to think how much I would earn per hour of essay writing if I were successful...

Anyway, moving on… There are all kinds of scholarship and grant finders online. Probably ones that you find in your own country’s Google search are the most relevant, but this is an example:

http://www.studentcashpoint.com/default.aspx

There also exists a Grant Bible (aka The Grants Register)…. This amazingly thorough resource is unfortunately not available online, but is certainly available in all university libraries and possibly public libraries in the UK. (Its coverage is worldwide, maybe it is at your uni library too…?) You can catch a glimpse of its amazingness online… but sorry, no Google Books preview… L

http://www.palgrave.com/products/title.aspx?pid=402973

If you need to chuckle at the enormousness of the financial commitment, check this one out:

http://www.postgrad.com/editorial/masters-funding-infographic/

If you need financial help in order to come to the UK next year, now is the time to be looking and applying. Don’t assume there is nothing out there… there are research councils and charities galore… you just have to find the ones that are applicable to you. If you know of a useful site please share the link in the comments section! 

Emily

Campus Accomodation vs. Private Rent

For better or worse, all students can spend their first year living right on campus; in the second year though, European Union and home students are thrown into the wild to house hunt. Which accommodation is better? This really depends on what you value more:

-   Is it money? Campus accommodation can be very reasonably priced if you go for the economical choices. Towers are about 70 pounds a week, compared to ensuite rooms (with bathroom included) which are around 110 pounds a week. Private rents vary a lot depending on how cool your house is, where it is, whether you have your bills included or not... Normally they are between 250 and 380 pounds a month. So there’s not that much of a difference compared to ensuite (South Courts, Quays, Houses), but Towers definitely save you money.

Private houses have a big added cost, though. Internet is normally not included (around 8 pounds a month), nor is the TV license (I’ve no idea how much this costs--we just use Playstation and DVDs in my house), plus lunch every day. If you don’t pack your lunch like I started doing, you end up spending a looot of money built up from snacks (which take up a whole corridor in the Campus Shop, so evil!), sandwiches or proper sit-down lunches. If you live on campus though, you can just go up to your house to have something to eat if you’re hungry—you’re probably not going to walk to your house and back for the free hour that you have, even if it’s just a 20 minute walk!

-   Housemate-picking? You don’t get to choose who you live with in your first year... If you pick the Towers, you will live in a flat with 15 other people. Though you would have to be very unfortunate to have all of them to be unbearable/ antisocial/ awfully messy, for your second year you can pick your favourite people and live with them in a house all of your own. This means you live with your best friends, but it’s also bound to be quieter—Towers are the most sociable accommodation and you make 15 instant friends/acquaintances, it’s a lot of fun. South Courts and Houses have a reputation for being quieter (not always true of course), so if you want to lead a calmer way of life then probably go for these two. Or the Quays, but these are further away from the main buildings- about a 15 minute walk away.

- What about hygiene? Luckily, during my first year the flat was cleaned every day; some of us got to bond with the cleaner. Since 2011 though, accommodation is cleaned once a week. When I heard about this I had flashbacks of my kitchen bursting from rubbish and dirty dishes after just a week-end; I was thankful to live well away from those flats. But I’ve heard from friends that it’s actually not that bad at all since they worked out a few strategies, like leaving any unwashed dishes on top of the offender’s bed or splitting the loos—a very English term for bathroom-- into Girls and Boys (we did this in my first year and it was just another girl and I on our side of the flat, yeah!). You’ll have to clean your own house in the second year, so it’s up to you how tidy you keep it. Unfortunately for me, my house has been hoovered once in 5 months.

-   Convenience: Oh, how I miss leaving the flat 5 minutes before a class and still arriving on time! Having a rest in my own flat between lectures! Revising in the library and going up to my flat to grab some lunch before going back! Going on nights out on campus, and then just having to walk two minutes to be in my warm bed! Distance was definitely the best part of living on campus accommodation, it is so convenient!

In any case, I really valued (am valuing) the experience of living off-campus this year: house-hunting, having my own house to decorate, having a living room! Big plus to live very near Tesco (the student supermarket par excellence) and just pop in whenever I need any ingredients! And don’t think it’s difficult to find a house; there are loads of student houses around, whether you want to live with up to 6 people or even a nice apartment on your own. The university does help you out too. Personally, I’m going to try to live on campus next year by finding a place in the Resident’s Support Network (RSN): I miss campus!!

P.S: If you’re not in the European Union, you can actually apply for accommodation on your second and third year too ;).

Speak soon!

xoxo

Ana  

Winter Vacation in Europe

It is hard to believe that February is almost upon us and that we are in the third week of term. I want to take a moment to reflect on the winter vacation... my first at uni in Europe.

In October, I arrived to a bustling campus. There were people everywhere, and it seemed that as soon as you met someone new, you were bound to run into them on the squares again the next day. Come term end though, and overnight everything changed. The campus emptied out... the contrast was stark and I wondered how I’d survive the month long break mostly hanging around an empty campus. As the shock wore off though, the slower pace of life became a nice change in itself.  The campus did not actually shut down; the library remained open, as did the essential shops and services. I received numerous emails letting me know about the modified opening hours and even extra events and services available over the break. And I slowly realized how many people were actually still around, I was routinely running into classmates in the library and friends sitting outside of Happy Days Diner, but the line ups at the SU shop were mercifully shorterJ. If I had been smart... I would have taken more advantage of that initial calm to get some of my coursework out of the way! But I guess enjoying the calm for a few days is not such a bad thing for your brain!...

Well, I did actually escape for a bit and flew to Germany to visit family for the days around Christmas.... and getting the ticket was an adventure in itself! I wanted to fly out of Stansted – it is by far the closest airport and there are buses leaving practically every hour of the day and night.  I bought an £89 ticket well in advance – or so I thought. Then less than a week before my flight, a very observant friend noticed that the dates weren’t exactly what they should be. My flight had taken off – and returned – without me! In November! Back to the drawing board. There turned out to be quite a few flights still available, so that wasn’t a problem. The now £200 ticket set me back a little further than I had hoped, but it was worth it for a change of scenery and a well deserved mini-break! The next concern was getting a bus ticket. There are two buses leaving from Colchester to Stansted. One, a coach, leaves from the downtown bus station, the other, a city bus picks you up from campus. As the tickets are pretty much the same price if you buy them in advance, it is definitely worth it to make the trip downtown to catch the coach. I say this from experience.... When I booked my tickets the appropriate coach was sold out, so instead of a one hour trip in comfy leather seats I spent two hours in the most uncomfortable seat possible on a city bus bumping down all the backroads. Even worse, it was 3:00 in the morning, so half the passengers had decided to go out to the bars while waiting for the bus... the smell was unpleasant to say the least.. AND, the lights were on, bright as anything, so there was absolutely no chance of nodding off and passing the time away. Next time I will book the coach as soooooon as I have my ticket (providing I manage to buy a ticket for the proper month of course). Then comes Ryanair. Cheap, yes. Without headaches? Unfortunately no. If you want to bring luggage, you have to pay extra. Otherwise you have one 10KG bag allowed as carry on. That is ONE... not a backpack and a purse, or a suitcase and a laptop.... it all has to fit in one single bag. I don’t know about everyone else, but whenever I travel, things seem to expand and multiply... Well I did my best, and packed one small, light suitcase. Even ‘borrowed’ a scale from Tesco, bringing my suitcase into the store and balancing it on top of a plastic covered scale... Anyway, lots of effort, and despite the horror stories I had heard from all directions about Ryanair’s ridiculously strict baggage policies... they didn’t even weigh my bag. Well, all the better! Next Ryanair lesson... seat numbers! So, you line up and when they open the doors to the tarmac, everyone makes a run for the plane. Not really sure why my fellow passengers were all so eager to coop themselves up in the flying bus as soon as they could, I made my way towards the plane wondering which line to get in – the front or the back. I searched my ticket from top to bottom and back again looking for the seat number, and made it to the aisle of the plane before finally deciding to ask someone. The guy behind me frowned a little and informed me that I did not have a seat number. Aaaaah, the stampede towards the plane now made sense... Found a cramped little seat on the aisle with corresponding luggage space above and squeezed myself in... Upon arrival, the story gets a little bland, picked up at the airport and driven to my destination for a nice family Christmas... if not my normal family (I’m actually Canadian, it was extended family that I was visiting).  

Well, back to campus and back to work. The first week of the New Year was still quite quiet and proved to be a good time to get some coursework done. The final week of break though, the library filled up and the stress level was noticeably high... everyone enjoyed their vacation – maybe too much even! And then reality hit...

Emily

Hi!

Welcome to our brand new blog! We will be using this space to post snippets of our own student experience. Please check back soon for some insight to life on campus over Christmas vacation. Thinking of staying in England for Christmas? You will not be alone.... Thinking of doing a bit of travelling? You won’t be the only one...

Questions? Concerns? Ask us! We guarantee you that one among us had the same question prior to our own arrival in England.

Cheers,

Emily, Puja and Ana