1. Never underestimate any lecture or contact that you have had towards your degree. Each contact could be the difference between and A grade and a D grade.
2. Stay away from fries and fried chicken. I know it tastes good and is cheap, but you are doing your body a disservice. Fruits & veggies abound and can be found in cheap food stores dotted around the university campus. There is a market in the mall which has fresh meats and halal foods.
3. Check the weather daily; this has become my ritual as it informs how much I layer when dressing up for the day. In addition, always carry a warm jacket because the weather changes very quickly here. Better too much than too little as you can always take a few off. There is nothing as stressful as getting a cold and trying to do uni work at the same.
4. Resist the temptation to do a lot of retail therapy (unless of course you have a trust fund to live off). The stores are incredibly attractive and there are always sales going on, and so there is a huge urge to go in and buy a few pieces here and there. As a student, we have excellent discounts at many stores with the NUS card, but still, planning is everything.
5. Take advantage of everything that is FREE. This is a time in your life that you are allowed to be cheap and there are loads of offers for students. Do a survey here, earn money there, a free salad today, free lunch to attend an event on campus,etc. Get a rail card today bygoing to the train station and requesting one. You pay 30 pounds for it and it is valid for one year. In the event that you are over 25 yrs, you will need to take the card to SiD for signing and stamping before the train station will validate it.
6. Go to nus.org.uk and pay 12 pounds to get issued a one year annul international student card which entitles you to discounts in the UK and in some parts of the EU (I got free access to the Acropolis in Athens for having an NUS card. An incredibly famous and spectacular tourist location that charges 15 euros for entry).
7. Be smart about setting up standing orders and signing up to contracts. That's all I will say.
8. Jobs are few and far between. Visit the university's recruitment site at http://www.beds.ac.uk/studentlife/careers as well as the internship pages at http://www.beds.ac.uk/international/why-study-at-bedfordshire/ready-for-work/sis for advice and opportunities.
9. Remember to set your goals for coming here and go through them regularly. Top of the list is probably your degree right? The great thing about learning here is that the academic resources are great; from the helpful tutors, to the library resources available on campus and online 24 hrs a day, 7 days a week, you cannot go wrong.
10. Invariably, try to enjoy this experience as much as you can. Make friends and establish networks of people from all over the world, try new things, visit new cities (I took a trip around the EU and will blog about that at some point) and just enjoy this for the wonderful experience that it is. Good luck!
Photo credit:
1. Telephone boxes. Source:
2. Fries and fried chicken. Source:beefandbuns.blogspot.com
3. NUS card. Source: www.nus.org.uk
4. Internship video.Source: University of Bedfordshire channel on youtube
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