Students' and Parents' Experiences
Export Day!
With all the stress of doing exams and then waiting for the results, I didn´t really think much about what it would be like coming to university until it was right on top of me. It was about three weeks until D-day (or export day as my Mum called it), that it finally hit me, when I finally realised that in just a matter of days I would be leaving the area I´d lived in all my life, my family, friends and, most importantly, my dog.
There were a couple of times when I thought about not coming altogether, I mean, everything at home was how I wanted it to be, Summer had been great (girls´ holiday in Zante!) and I was closer to my Mum and friends than I ever had been before. But at the back of my mind I knew that I had to come, because I was in need of a new challenge and my own independence (I mean, I´d only just learned how to use a washing machine a couple of weeks before.) Ultimately it helps to get a good job if you have a degree and having a successful career is very important to me.
I´m doing my degree in Speech Science, which means in four years time I will be a qualified Speech and Language Therapist. Sheffield was the only university where I had to be interviewed so this was the reason I put it as my first choice, along with the fact that it wasn´t too far away from my home in Manchester. (Two of my best friends have gone to St. Andrews which is about as far away as you could possibly get.)
After reading the brochure, my first choice for accommodation was Stephenson Hall of Residence and I was really pleased to hear that I´d got a place there, until I found out that I´d have to be sharing a room! As an only child this was an experience that I´d never had and just before I came, it was this that scared me more than anything. I was really nervous that my room mate would be horrible, really messy or snore or something, and wouldn´t like me. In fact, I was so worried that I contacted the university and asked for them to put us in touch before we came. So I actually talked to my room mate before I got here and that put my mind a bit at rest because she seemed really nice and it turned out she was worried about the same type of thing.
Saying goodbye to everyone was really hard but I´ve kept in touch with everyone from home loads, although having msn on my computer means that I don´t tend to get as much work done as perhaps I should. When I arrived here though (in a hired transit van which was very embarrassing!) everything fitted into place. My room mate is lovely and is now one of my closest friends here. I´m actually in a separate house to the main hall where there are fourteen of us, the rooms are huge so when I went home I brought back more stuff instead of having to take some home. I find the course really interesting too.
All in all, I know I made the right decision coming to Sheffield. I like everything about it…well, apart from the hills!
Catherine Dew
Speech Science
First Year