Carola - Full Interview

Name: Carola
From: Timisoara, Romania
Degree: Enterprise Computing (IT Management for Business)

English is my most fluent foreign language which is why I chose to study in the UK. I had enjoyed the computing module of my International Baccalaureate, but wanted to combine this with management and business, so I was very interested in the Enterprise Computing degree. I hadn´t visited the UK before I started applying to Universities but I did lots of research on the internet and one of my teachers recommended Sheffield.

Before I applied, I knew Sheffield existed but that was the extent of my knowledge of the city. Now I´m here I like it very much. There are lots of trees and natural spaces which I didn´t expect and I´ve found it easy to settle down here. I haven´t really been homesick but I´ve always been quite an independent person and have spent summers travelling round China and Europe. I don´t think the UK is culturally too different from Romania, though students coming from outside the EU might find the transition more difficult.

One of the things that surprised me about Sheffield was that I didn´t expect it to be so friendly. The stereotype of Northern Europeans is that they can be reserved and aloof, but I have found everyone here very friendly. This was particularly helpful in my first weeks when I was walking round with a map getting rather lost. Complete strangers would stop to ask if I was OK and tell me where to go.

My first year accommodation is based in Halifax Hall, which is a catered University Hall of Residence so your meals are included in the cost of your accommodation. It´s about a 20 minute walk to the department, and is close to most of the other student accommodation. The advantage of living in Halls is that there are about 20 other people on your corridor, a communal kitchen for making drinks and snacks, and lots of social events arranged so it´s very easy to meet people and make friends. I enjoy living there but in retrospect I think I may have preferred one of the University´s self catered flats so I could have more independence and flexibility in choosing when and what to eat. I have an internet connection in my room but I usually use the computer lab in the department. You are given any software you need or it´s available to download free from the internet, so you don´t have to buy anything.

In intro week there are lots of fairs where you can find out about the activities going on in the Union. There´s the sports club fair, the jobs fair, the societies fair, the volunteering fair - there´s a huge amount to get involved in and so many things to do. The city and Students´ Union are very busy and you could go to a different club every night of the week if you wanted to. I´ve taken up ballroom and Latin dance classes as something fun and new. I´ve also joined AISEC which is a global society for students interested in leadership, management and business issues. It provides opportunities to develop these skills and runs an international exchange programme so you can work abroad. It also organises jobs fairs to meet companies and find out about summer and graduate work.

My degree is half computing and half enterprise, management and business subjects. For our `Enterprise and technology module´ we are currently working on a group project where we have to design and market a gardening tool. We don´t physically have to build it, but we have to design it using a computer based programme, decide on the materials and the costings, and plan a strategy for marketing and selling the product. We´ve also had a `Guru Lecture´ which was by a member of staff from IBM and told us what they expect from graduates and what they look for in job applicants. Some of our management lectures take place in an old church which has been converted into a lecture theatre. Enterprise Computing is a new degree and only available at 13 Universities in the UK. We will all meet up in March to take part in a national competition.

I have just under 20 hours of teaching a week, made up of lectures and practical classes. We have small group tutorials every other week, and are also allocated a personal tutor. For our Java programming module, we have a weekly assignment to do as homework, which we go through in class the following week. We also have a weekly programming test instead of a final exam. An aspect of the course that I didn´t expect is the fact that we don´t have an exam in every subject. I´m studying 6 subjects this semester and only have exams for three of them. For the others we have either a project to do, or weekly assignments and tests.

Learning to program in Java has been fairly easy for me because I´ve used C++ at home and the two are quite similar. Network architectures is an interesting topic – all about the internet and how it works. Discrete foundations covers the mathematics used in computing. I´ve been finding this fairly straighforward so far as the topics we´re studying such as sense, and inductions and recursions are things that I´ve already come across in high school.

My course is available either as a three year BSc degree or a four year undergraduate masters degree. The advantage of the fourth year is that I can graduate with a masters degree without paying postgraduate fees. I also think the work experience gained from the fourth year Genesys project will be very valuable. I don´t have to decide until the end of year two so I will keep my options open until then.

Advice for students who would like to come and study in Sheffield in the following years – go for it! The University of Sheffield has so much to offer – from a spectacular social life to interesting degree programs and great job opportunities after you graduate. This University is not only about studying, but about life itself with everything it has to offer.