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| You can find me in the library |
And so begins a whole new chapter...
September brings about the new academic year and the beginning of the autumn term is now under way. Last week I attended my main matriculation event and I am now enrolled to start studying once more. I met all of the other students on my course and they seem enthusiastic enough. There are about a dozen of us in all, so it is a small group which means that we should get to know one another quite quickly. I much prefer smaller groups anyway.
We have had the induction day, where all the boring stuff is gone through such as health and safety, student and faculty obligations etc. Next week the real work begins with the start of our formal lectures. Although we will do lots of work with faculty tutors, each week we have a Masterclass with professional seminars from people who work in the industry affiliated with our course.
I am really looking forward to these Masterclasses because they take place in the evenings, right after our last lecture of the day and although most will be held in the beautiful lecture theater on campus, some are taking place at key events held in the city, so they are more social. It's going to be a lot of fun and already there are some very interesting people engaged to speak and present Masterclasses to us, so it's a great opportunity to learn more about what they do and the profession in general.
I am finding my way around campus quite well. The rows of lifts remind me of the Ministry of Magic in the Harry Potter books and our campus colours are burgundy and white, which is almost Gryffindor! The campus shop opens next week I think, so that we can purchase our scarves, clothes, stationery and teddy bears, all in campus colours and bearing the logo. I do like shopping, so it will be fun to see what they have on offer.
Our course has a common room too, where we can meet up before class or sit in comfy chairs to get some reading done between lectures, if we want to. There is a lovely sense of community and they seem to try and nurture an immediate sense of belonging and home from home, which is vital for overseas students to settle in - not that there are any foreign students on my course.
I just love having a common room to go to though as it reminds me of the old Malory Towers and St Clair's books I loved reading as a child. It gives me a feeling of nostalgia and wish-fulfillment because I always wished that my school had a common room, but it didn't and neither did college - so I finally get a common room to curl up in with a cup of tea on rainy days. That is one of my university goals achieved already!
I haven't had a chance to visit the library yet, but I did learn that there are six floors of books(!) and learning materials, plus access to vintage newspapers and periodicals etc. So if I wanted to research beauty tips from women's magazines in the Victorian era, I can. I'm almost afraid to go in for fear that I will never come out again. It sounds like heaven. And not only is the library open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, including Christmas - but you can take out 25 books and keep them for a whole year. How marvelous is that?
I am excited to get started with the course work. The last counselling course I did was Level 4. The Masters course I am on now is Level 7 - so I have skipped two full levels, which makes me a little nervous, but I wouldn't have applied if I didn't think I was up to it and I do like to stretch myself because that's how you accomplish things and achievement breeds confidence in general, so its good for you. Mostly I'm looking forward to getting to know the other students and exploring different viewpoints etc. I'm sure I won't agree with everyone all the time, but healthy, respectful debate keeps life interesting and its a great way to learn.
As with most academic courses there are lots of campus groups and societies that you can join and take part in. I've never really been much of a 'joiner' but when I saw that there is a Poetry Society I just had to register my interest. I love poems and poets so a Poetry Society is right up my street. It makes me think of the Bloomsbury Group or Tolkien's Inklings, so it is something that I want to be a part of. It suits my bookish personality to a tee and I'm sure my own poetry will be enhanced by regular Poetry Society meetings, so it will be good for my writing.
In the meantime there is already a ton of reading to do and I have a stack of books in my study from the course reading list, so I'm going to make myself a nice gingerbread latte and dive into the first book on the list. All in all, it looks like it is going to be an interesting couple of years and I am glad that I decided to push myself and apply for another course of study. I plan to enjoy myself and make the most of it! Until next time...
Blessed Be
Marie x
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