So it's that time of the year when young people pack up their lives and move to University.
Some people stay close to home, whereas others (like me) travel as far as 100 miles to their chosen University. It's a daunting time for all, but here's a guide to help you get through those first stressful few weeks!
1) Save as much money as possible before you go to uni: Your student loan won't cover half as much as what you think it will. Try and build up some savings before you go.
2) Buy a railcard: This only applies if you are going far away from home, and if you want to visit your family. A car is one of the most expensive things to take to uni...you are much better off buying a railcard and using it to save money on train tickets.
3) Don't be shy: When I first got to University, I didn't speak to anyone for 5 hours. You have to remember that everyone is in the same position as you. Start with the people who you are sharing accomodation with. Introduce yourself, and then as a group, you can all introduce yourselves to the neighbours and so on. You will meet people on your course, and will be surprised how many people you know after a few weeks, just from meeting them at the Student Union!
4)Learn to cook: Cooking is essential for University. Everyone needs to eat, and it is cheaper to buy the ingredients to cook your own food instead of buying food from the Uni canteen. I couldn't cook when I got to uni, and now I cook myself roast dinners, stir fry's etc...
5) Don't be a snob: Following on from point 4...there is NOTHING wrong with supermarket brand products. Smart Price/Tesco value food does not taste much different to branded products, yet is much cheaper. Don't turn your nose up at it, because you probably wouldnt even notice what brand it was if your mum had cooked it for you.
6) Find a job: As said in point 1, you will spend more money than you think at University. Having a job means you get an income every month. If you work for a big business such as ASDA, try transferring stores to one near your Uni.
7) Learn your way around: Suggest a walk around the campus or town with those you live with so that you become familiar with the area. Don't leave it until you are late for a lecture to find out where the lecture is! Also, it helps to know the way home from the nightclubs in town, so you may want to find out rather than drunkenly stumbling home with no clue where you are.
8) Be safe: Everyone knows what happens at University. You go out, get drunk, meet someone, bring them home with you etc...At this age you should all know about the birds and the bees...Regardless of the drunken state you are in, use contraception. Getting pregnant and dropping out of University is just a waste of all the hard work you put in to secure your place on your course.
9) Socialise: Obviously, it's important to work hard at University...especially because of the money it will cost you. But first year is for socialising. Go out when you can, and when you can afford it. Go to all the best SU events, make the most of all the student offers in town...because after first year, it gets harder. The workload increases, and the effort you put in reflects the grade you get for your degree. I went out at every opportunity in first year, and now I barely go out once a week. Use the first year to get to know people, enjoy yourself and socialise, but prepare yourself that University is not an easy ride, and that years 2 and 3 will be a LOT more difficult.
10) Have the right equipment: A laptop is essential for University, or even a Netbook or iPad. Anything small and compact that is easy to carry around for you to do University work whenever you have the time. I used to do my assignments on the train home, or in bed, and it is much easier to type lecure notes directly into your computer, rather than scribble them down and type them out later.
11) Learn some drinking games: I know I shouldn't really encourage binge drinking...but from experience I know it is much cheaper to get together with some friends and play drinking games before a night out, rather than go out sober and spend more money than necessary on drink. For example, a 350ml bottle Tesco vodka is about £5. There are about 14 standard shots in a 350ml bottle. If you ordered 14 shots from a bar, you would probably pay about £40. Therefore, you can save £35 just buy pre-drinking, instead of buying all your drinks when you go out.
12) Register with a doctor: Some people would argue that they don't need to because they are never ill etc...but if you had an accident and were taken to hospital, they would ask who your registered doctor is, so its better to have one. You never know when you may fall ill and need a doctor, so its easier to register with one just in case.
13) Know how to contact people: Find out the contact details of people you may need to contact urgently. The most important would be your lecturers email address, as unlike in school, if you are struggling with work, nobody will help you unless you ask for it. Another important contact would be the number for your doctor, as mentioned above.
14) Enjoy yourself: You only live once...make the most of it, and good luck!
Saturday 20 August 2011
Work Experience at the Bristol Evening Post-Part 2
So I was back at the Bristol Evening Post this week for more journalism experience!
I spent the first morning at Bristol Crown Court with a reporter, to cover a list of people being sentenced. These included a 24 year old who had been caught growing his own cannabis, a woman who had been wrongly paid £27,000 in wages by the NHS, and a man who bit off another mans nose in a bar fight.
After lunch I was sent out to do the daily vox pops (see previous blog entry) before being sent down to a graffiti event called "See No Evil".
The event involves over 75 street artists, who have been granted permission from the council to use one of Bristol's dullest streets as their canvas. Graffiti artists have travelled from all over the world to take part in the event, and I was sent to interview them.
One of the people I interviewed was BG183, who is a member of the Tats Cru, one off the most popular street artists in New York.
The interviewed was featured in the report in the next day's paper, and I was credited with a byline.
I got to the office the next day to be told I am now the "graffiti correspondent" for the Evening Post. I was sent back down to the event to ask members of the public what their opinion of the artwork was. I became quite involved in the event, talking to the artists and organisers, and was even invited to the finale party to celebrate the end of the event.
My interviews also made the next days edition of the paper, along with another byline.
I had a really good time at the Evening Post, and it has been very influential. I appreciate that as I have been there before, the editor sends me off on jobs on my own, rather than shadowing a reporter for the whole time I am there. I have learnt a lot, and improved my skills at talking to people and interviewing them. It has really helped build my confidence, and I am hoping that it will help me to secure a job when I leave University.
I spent the first morning at Bristol Crown Court with a reporter, to cover a list of people being sentenced. These included a 24 year old who had been caught growing his own cannabis, a woman who had been wrongly paid £27,000 in wages by the NHS, and a man who bit off another mans nose in a bar fight.
After lunch I was sent out to do the daily vox pops (see previous blog entry) before being sent down to a graffiti event called "See No Evil".
The event involves over 75 street artists, who have been granted permission from the council to use one of Bristol's dullest streets as their canvas. Graffiti artists have travelled from all over the world to take part in the event, and I was sent to interview them.
One of the people I interviewed was BG183, who is a member of the Tats Cru, one off the most popular street artists in New York.
The interviewed was featured in the report in the next day's paper, and I was credited with a byline.
I got to the office the next day to be told I am now the "graffiti correspondent" for the Evening Post. I was sent back down to the event to ask members of the public what their opinion of the artwork was. I became quite involved in the event, talking to the artists and organisers, and was even invited to the finale party to celebrate the end of the event.
My interviews also made the next days edition of the paper, along with another byline.
I had a really good time at the Evening Post, and it has been very influential. I appreciate that as I have been there before, the editor sends me off on jobs on my own, rather than shadowing a reporter for the whole time I am there. I have learnt a lot, and improved my skills at talking to people and interviewing them. It has really helped build my confidence, and I am hoping that it will help me to secure a job when I leave University.
Friday 12 August 2011
Work Experience at the Bristol Evening Post
Once again I have been to the Bristol Evening Post for work experience. After catching up with the deputy Editor, and meeting the staff, I was invited to the morning conference.
During the conference the reporters and editors discussed the stories for today, the layout of the paper and the order of the stories. We also viewed some of the pictures that had already been taken for some of the stories being covered.
I was introduced to a reporter named Dominic, who took me out to our first story,
We travelled to Knowle, where we met a woman whose house had burnt down. She had been lent a caravan from a friend, and her next door neighbour had offered for it to be parked on her driveway, as people were trying to break in to the destroyed house.
The woman had been living in the caravan for 5 weeks, with her 18 year old daughter, who is insulin dependant. It was an upsetting interview, as the woman cried throughout, and was clearly struggling to deal with the events that had happened.
While we were there, the daughter went into diabetic shock, because they had no fridge to keep her insulin in, no electricity, and no running water. The caravan didnt even have a toilet. It was a disturbing sight, but it was really good practise for journalism, as it is a clear example of an upsetting story, which the reporter cannot get emotionally involved in.
Once we had interviewed the family, and taken pictures of the remains of the house, we went on to the Coroners Court for an inquest. The inquest was in to the death of a 16 month old, who was believed to have died of swine flu unexpectedly last year. We met and interviewed the parents of the child, and listened to the inquest, which found that the baby had in fact died of acute bronchiolitis, but the swine flu, and other viruses, had been found in the toddlers body.
I was taken back to the office, and after a break for lunch, sent out on the streets of Bristol to do the daily Vox Pops. This requires approaching members of the public with a specific question, to get their opinion, as well as take a photo and their details. This is published in each episode of the Evening Post. My question was: "Do you think the police did enough to deal with the riots in Bristol?"
The front page of the Evening Post on this day was CCTV images of 25 people wanted by police for the rioting.
When I arrived at the office the next day, I found the building cordoned off with police tape, as every window around the office had been smashed overnight. This led speculation as to who would target the Evening Post office, as it was the only incident that occured overnight.
We later found that a local Mitsubishi garage, which had also been featured on the front page of the paper with the CCTV images, had also been targeted, with 7 of their models being damaged. However, it is unclear if the incidents are linked.
My first job of the day was to go to a press conference with the local police about the investigation into the riots in Bristol. Also there were reporters from the BBC, ITV and Sky. We were not given much new information on the investigation, but shown some new CCTV footage that the police have been given, and told about any arrests that have been made.
When I got back to the office I was sent out to do the vox pops again, this time asking if people support their local post office. After failing to recruit anyone outside the office to take part, I decided the best place to go would be to the post office, as people who use it are more likely to have an opinion on it.
After lunch I was forwarded very emails to write into articles. These were mostly fluff pieces, including a stray dog who was brought back from the brink of death by a kind stranger. This story required me to phone several people for quotes and for pictures, which is a really helpful skill to have for the future. Other stories I covered was a new free cycling scheme for children, and an award winning garden being opened to the public.
I will be back for a few days next week, and will blog my experience then!
During the conference the reporters and editors discussed the stories for today, the layout of the paper and the order of the stories. We also viewed some of the pictures that had already been taken for some of the stories being covered.
I was introduced to a reporter named Dominic, who took me out to our first story,
We travelled to Knowle, where we met a woman whose house had burnt down. She had been lent a caravan from a friend, and her next door neighbour had offered for it to be parked on her driveway, as people were trying to break in to the destroyed house.
The woman had been living in the caravan for 5 weeks, with her 18 year old daughter, who is insulin dependant. It was an upsetting interview, as the woman cried throughout, and was clearly struggling to deal with the events that had happened.
While we were there, the daughter went into diabetic shock, because they had no fridge to keep her insulin in, no electricity, and no running water. The caravan didnt even have a toilet. It was a disturbing sight, but it was really good practise for journalism, as it is a clear example of an upsetting story, which the reporter cannot get emotionally involved in.
Once we had interviewed the family, and taken pictures of the remains of the house, we went on to the Coroners Court for an inquest. The inquest was in to the death of a 16 month old, who was believed to have died of swine flu unexpectedly last year. We met and interviewed the parents of the child, and listened to the inquest, which found that the baby had in fact died of acute bronchiolitis, but the swine flu, and other viruses, had been found in the toddlers body.
I was taken back to the office, and after a break for lunch, sent out on the streets of Bristol to do the daily Vox Pops. This requires approaching members of the public with a specific question, to get their opinion, as well as take a photo and their details. This is published in each episode of the Evening Post. My question was: "Do you think the police did enough to deal with the riots in Bristol?"
The front page of the Evening Post on this day was CCTV images of 25 people wanted by police for the rioting.
When I arrived at the office the next day, I found the building cordoned off with police tape, as every window around the office had been smashed overnight. This led speculation as to who would target the Evening Post office, as it was the only incident that occured overnight.
We later found that a local Mitsubishi garage, which had also been featured on the front page of the paper with the CCTV images, had also been targeted, with 7 of their models being damaged. However, it is unclear if the incidents are linked.
My first job of the day was to go to a press conference with the local police about the investigation into the riots in Bristol. Also there were reporters from the BBC, ITV and Sky. We were not given much new information on the investigation, but shown some new CCTV footage that the police have been given, and told about any arrests that have been made.
When I got back to the office I was sent out to do the vox pops again, this time asking if people support their local post office. After failing to recruit anyone outside the office to take part, I decided the best place to go would be to the post office, as people who use it are more likely to have an opinion on it.
After lunch I was forwarded very emails to write into articles. These were mostly fluff pieces, including a stray dog who was brought back from the brink of death by a kind stranger. This story required me to phone several people for quotes and for pictures, which is a really helpful skill to have for the future. Other stories I covered was a new free cycling scheme for children, and an award winning garden being opened to the public.
I will be back for a few days next week, and will blog my experience then!
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