BSc Biological Sciences
School of Biosciences Student Ambassador
Birmingham has been great at giving me the opportunity to discover as many options as possible."
My time at Birmingham
As I am the most indecisive person you will ever come across it was a hard decision deciding where to study! But I think what really helped me decide was after an open day I stumbled into Mason Lounge cafe area where I was waiting for a friend who recently graduated. I felt the cafe had a really friendly, relaxed and generally nice feeling about it, something I decided I wanted to be a part of.
My first year was honestly one of the best years on my life and probably one of the most intense! It's a bombardment of information and constantly new things. I met so many new people and had to navigate my way through so many new confusing buildings. But after a while I started to settle down and it really felt like home, and my flatmates and I became a good ol' fashioned dysfunctional family.
The breadth of the course is something I really enjoy, I've been able to study everything from bacteria and viruses to alpine and glacial ecology in Norway.
I enjoy the opportunity to get involved on campus. I'm now on committee for Carnival RAG, the charity society, and I've been able to organise my own events for charities such as Movember and the Poppy Appeal as well as go on their events such as hitchhiking across the UK. Things that I would have never in a million years thought I'd do, or be able to have the freedom to do.
There is always something going on in Birmingham! Whenever I'm going around I end up stumbling across something new, like a massive Eid festival in Cannon Hill Park or a little food market in Victoria Square. Also my family love coming up for the German Christmas Markets, a good excuse for a couple of glasses of mulled wine! I enjoy going to concerts and bands are always visiting Birmingham, it's so convenient with the O2 Academy, the Institute and loads of other venues just round the corner.
My future plans
I'm currently trying out as many things as humanly possible to try and answer that question. I'm currently in the process of putting ticks and crosses next to many different paths. Birmingham has been great at giving me the opportunity to discover as many options as possible, from event management in Carnival RAG society, to Biosoc putting on a careers fair for careers out of the lab, to having a meeting with the Bioscience careers advisor about some options in social enterprise.
About the Student Ambassador Scheme
I decided to join because I remember speaking to some great student ambassadors when I came to my visit day and it made a real impact on my impression of the University. I wanted to be that person for when other students visit and share my experiences at Birmingham and how great it's been. I haven't been a student ambassador for long but I've had a few students and families that I've got on with really well and really hope I end up seeing them around Birmingham next year.
My top tips for prospective Birmingham students
- Don't panic! Keep calm, be yourself, with the thousands of students and hundreds of societies you will end up finding your clique and you'll be okay!
- Try as much as you can! There are so many things to do, why not try that free ballroom dancing class? or go to that day trip organised by your Residence Association to get to know your neighbours!
- Put your notes in a folder, not your bedroom floor, you'll need those for summer exams!