Freshers Guide to University

Heading to University has to be one of the most daunting experiences I have ever had to do. Saying goodbye to all my life long friends and heading to a city where I had only visited a handful of times, live with people I didn't know and study a course which I hoped would allow me to work towards the career that I want was a scary prospect and so this year, before I start another new adventure I thought I would give you all my top tips for starting University.

Walking into a flat that you have to call home for the next year and meeting a bunch of complete strangers is never going to be an easy thing but after a week or two you soon adjust to living away from home and start to enjoy all your new found freedom. When I first arrived at halls I remember the huge amount of people carrying box upon box to their new small rooms. After unloading the car and a nearly tearful goodbye to my mum I entered the kitchen where I met 6 of my new housemates. After our first night out the rest was history and I proceeded to live with 5 of them again this year.

Everyone is in the same position- Everyone has just arrived and everyone is desperate to make friends and get to know people so if you're worried about making friends then don't. Just remember that you are meeting people with the exact same worries that you have and so you all have something in common!

You won't remain friends with everyone and that's OK- After my first night out at Uni I was convinced that I had found the people I would be friends with for the rest of my time at university, but just because you get along with people doesn't mean you have to be best friends. I still see and talk to the girls I met that week but since freshers week I have met so many more people that I get along with just as well, if not better, and so its important to remember that you make friends throughout your time at university and not just at the beginning.

Take advantage of Freshers Fairs- Freshers Fairs are a great way to see what opportunities and societies there are available at your new University. You can speak to the members of the societies and see if it's something you would be interested in trying. At Leeds university they have Give it a Go sessions so that you can try out the society to see if you enjoy it before having to fully commit!

Join a Society- Following on from above, I've met some of my best friends through societies! The people you meet clearly have common interests and so getting involved is a great way to meet more people. Leeds have over 300 societies and so there really is something for everyone whether that's your course society, like ZooSoc or GeogSoc to Snowriders, Cheerleading or Quiddich you will most likely find something you're interested in so why not get involved!

Stay Organised- Staying on top of reading, essay writing, attending lectures, going out for most of the night 3/4 times a week, along with taking part in a society, especially if that's a sports team with training, is hard going. My advice is to plan out what you have each week on the Sunday night before the chaos starts, that way you know what is coming and can see when you have to do. Having a good diary/ organiser is crucial, I use WH Smiths planners with a page a day as they are the perfect size to fit in my bag along with enough space to write down what I need, a large planner for your wall is also brill to help you see when your deadlines are.

Notes, Notes and more Notes- When in lectures, taking notes on a laptop or paper is really useful, everyone is different as I personally write mine out after going through the lecture in my own time with a recording of the lecturer speaking what's being discussed on the slides. Keeping lecture recordings is often useful for revision if you don't understand a part of a slide so you are able to listen again at a later date.

It DOES matter- Ignore the people who say just get the 40% to pass, if you are thinking of doing a year in industry/abroad at any university then you need a 2:1 minimum, these marks are also used, especially for year studying abroad to decide which university you may be placed at. Those with the highest first year marks will be given the best university places.
In Biology/Zoology, additional field courses often go to those with the highest marks in first year as well, so although the grades themselves don't count towards your degree, they may greatly effect the opportunities you have during your time at University.

80 is the new 100%- When I was only getting 65/70% in my first term at Uni I was devastated, I couldn't understand why I couldn't get higher, but at uni getting anything above an 80% is very rare. At school you are told that you need over 90% to get an A but at Uni that is just not true. 60-70% is a 2:1 and ask any second or third year and they will tell you that they would be very happy with a mark in that bracket!

Stay fit- Lots of Universities give out free gym memberships to first years, use it! You hear loads of people talk about putting on weight at uni which is mainly down to the huge amounts of calories consumed during nights out and hardly any burnt sat in a lecture theatre, so either hit the gym or join a sport society allowing you to exercise, socialise and party.

Water is your new BFF- Water, have it ready by the bed when you get in and make sure you drink at least two glasses before you fall to sleep after a night out. Have a bottle in your bag for when your dehydrated or falling asleep in lectures and try and have some in the morning too. Water really will help with hangovers, boredom and keep you awake,
TOP TIP, also have an apple in the morning, its scientifically proven to be as effective as caffeine first thing (well, apparently). 

Money, No Worries- Starting uni can often be the first time you have a large quantity of money readily available to you. Make a list of what you know to be coming in and out such as rent and student finance and then see how much you will have each week. Another piece of advice is to not get a overdraft and if you do only make it small! This will prevent you from spending money which isn't yours

Enjoy yourself- first year is for settling into your new life and getting to know new people, so don't panic if you aren't on top of everything immediately, it takes time to get everything under control.

Good luck to all those starting uni this year!

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Ross Piper Talk

Last Wednesday Leeds University were lucky enough to have zoologist Ross Piper come into talk to us all about his trip to Burma which has been shown on BBC 2. The show is all about trying to find as many species as possible in the short time they were there so that they could show the Burmese Government that the land really does need protection.

Ross's talk told us all about the animals that were not shown in the series especially the wide variety of insects there. He went on to tell us how although the show makes out that the land is untouched, when he was there many of the pieces of land which were meant to be protected had already had many roads cut into to aid with deforestation of the natural habitats. Learning about a place I had never heard anything about was truly fascinating.

We got to see many brilliant camera trap photos and pictures. It really reminded me why I wanted to be a Zoologist and help animals in the first place! We got to talk about what people want to watch tv and that its a shame that one person gets to decide what everyone in the country watches.

He then gave us a small career talk. He spoke about how he did a phD, then went to do extras and then decided that he has done enough academic studies so went on to do a normal job so he had time to write his books. Now he has writen 12 books. His time is taken us doing ecological surveys, writes his books, completed the bbcs burma program and doing publicity work for his book.

It was great to find out about another Zoologists life style and what they became and how they got there.

If I got to to travel to Burma like Ross did, I would be the happiest person in the world!
As Ross says, you make your own luck and you only need to have one lucky break!

BUDS- A Snowrider Weekend in Edinburgh

Day One

If i told you that I was going to spend the majority or 2 days on a very cold hill side in Edinburgh you would probably tell me that firstly I was mad and secondly, how could that be fun? Well originally I would have thought the same but throw in 40 Leeds Snowriders, plenty of incredible racing and freestyle skills for your eyes to witness along with fun with capes, cheesecake fights and a crazy antics, you find that your weekend is up there in the best of the year!

The View from the top

Henry Racing

We set of at 1am on Friday 8th November to a very rowdy coach, after eventually falling asleep I awoke to be sat outside a dry ski slope in the wonderful Scottish city of Edinburgh. After unloading we found our selves perched at the top of a very large hill, (it would need to be large if people are skiing on it) in the full sun of a very chilly morning. The races began and we cheered and wooped all day long. We were given some amazing tshirts and red capes to wear all day, which I definitely feel will need to come out more often. As the day came to a close, Iona was in the Freestyle final in which she performed AMAZINGLY. Then followed a quick bus ride and we arrived at our hostel.

The Caledonian Backpackers has got to be the nicest Hostel I have even stayed in, from breakfast being served (included in your stay) until 12 and all the rooms feeling personal and cosy it was an absolute treat to stay there. The added bonus that it really is about 15 steps away from the main high street just adds to its brilliance. We got back and after a quick change, some snowrider antics and a long walk we and the rest of the UKs snow sports teams headed to a club by the station. A fun night was had by all and far to many shots were consumed. I have never heard a DJ ask people to repeat what he does so many times in one night either!

Beauty everywhere

Day two- Exploring Edinburgh

How very Scottish

Instead of heading straight to the slopes some of us decided to wander round. As i have never been to Edinburgh I felt like it was a great opportunity to explore! We headed down the main street and got to see the beautiful memorial set as it was Memorial Day the following day (Sunday 10th November). We then wandered into some of the Scottish shops and the temptation for buying shortbread was very real.

After meeting some others we went to find lunch up at the cafe The Elephant House, where J.K Rowling famously wrote Harry Potter but as it was a Saturday Lunch time it was ridiculously busy. Instead we found ourselves in a little cafe further down the street whos hot chocolate were to dye for and you could get a toasty and a large bowl of soup for only £6!! A real bargain.

 I then went of exploring, I firstly found a quaint little book shop which smelt amazing and I bought myself a copy of Sense and Sensibility which is nearly 100 years old! I then wandered on to the castle. Its £16 to go into the castle and if I had had more than an hour I probably would have but even a trip to stand outside is definitely worth it as the views of the city are incredibly. I then wandered back along the river. We headed back to the cold hilltop slope later that afternoon and got to witness some of the boys racing in relay and then all the amazing freestyle including the RedBull train which involved incredibly talented freestylers taking to the air one after the other with no breaks. Sounds dangerous and definitely was!

No Hands

To finish the weekend of we all went to the BUDS ball where we were given a two course meal and an awards ceremony.  The meal was delicious but there were different rules that apply. The most entertaining is that for desert you are not able to use your hands. Eating cheesecake with just your mouth isn't always as easy as it seems and we were prewarned that a cheesecake fight often break out. Well this year didn't disappoint! This was then followed with the random game of who can pick the cup of the floor which was unfortunately a draw as we got down to picking up £2 of the floor. Although we may not have won any of the competitions we definitely won which university could have the most fun, and if I'm honest that suits me just fine!

Will covered in Cheesecake!

Overall the weekend was BRILLIANT. I got to meet so many amazing people, freeze my fingers of taking pictures, take part in sprints down Edinburgh's main street, carry round my purple blanket with me all day and generally have an amazing time.

If there's ever any doubt that a weekend in Edinburgh isn't  fun then you really are doing it wrong!!

Zoology Field Course to Dale Fort

Being stuck out in the middle of no where with no phone reception when in bed and wifi that crashes when any more than 3 people wish to log on is hardly what I would have considered fun when we were told that we, Leeds 2nd Year Zoologists, had a compulsory field course to a small town called Dale in Wales at least a 20 minute drive from civilization and if I'm honest I still cant say that the majority of the trip was a barrel of laughs either. After arriving after a 8 hour coach journey and being told we had a 20 minute walk to the Fort as buses were unable to drive there the trip wasn't of to the best start.

I found a baby crab

 The first day we had lecturer Ian Hope. I LOVED the stuff we got to do with him, a lot of people didn't seem as bothered but I got to create life!. I personally don't think I could have been any more excited as when I looked down that microscope for 4 days in a row seeing my fertilised egg change into a small embryo and then to see the larvae hatch has got to be one of the most remarkable experiences! The sperm of sea squirts is also very unusual in that its tail is over 6 times longer than the body and is a tear drop shape for the main body where the bottom of the tear is connected to the tail.

Alison Dunn was our tutor for the second day where we went down to the shore and examined multiple rockpools for the variation of wildlife with in them. Once we returned to the lab we had a mad dash of a write up to complete followed by a poster. Later on we did get to have some fun where we played a quiz and got to learn all about different shore wildlife that we had collected during the day
On the 3rd day we had Sarah Zylinski. We went to the shore again but investigated whether the size of the trapdoor is ratio to the height of the spire and if its larger when close to the tide. We must have measured at least 120 purple topshells and our hypothesis was proved false. After a report writing we all got to have a nice movie night before crashing into bed.

Our Experiment

The last two days were taken over with Group projects, ours was "What are dog whelks choice of prey?" After we had collected MANY topshells, winkles, limpets and topshells we went about placing the prey in the corners and the dog whelk in the middle and monitoring them every hour to see which the dog whelk had moved towards. Sadly we didn't get any significant results which is very frustrating after you have stayed up till 3 am monitoring the stupid things!! The report writing was the ridiculous part as we were in such a rush to get it finished that we made silly mistakes but hey ho.

TO MUCH REPORT WRITING

The last day we were there everyone had to give presentations on what they had discovered from their mini research projects. Following this everyone headed to the pub and we had a brilliant bonding night for all Zoology students, learning things that I never thought I would about my fellow course friends which is definitely not going to leave my mind any time soon.

But it was all smiles in the end 

So just as we finished the presentations with a rap, I will finish this blog post with the wonderful song that we wrote talking about our project using the Price of Bel-air and silly Dog Whelks!