Juste is a third year undergraduate student studying Criminology and Sociology, who used to do ballroom dancing but is now very much into fitness and training!
When I first started university, I wanted to take part in the different activities and opportunities that City had to offer, to make the most of my time at university.
That’s why I wanted to become a Student Ambassador and take Spanish as a module along with my Criminology and Sociology course. Being a Student Ambassador, studying a Spanish module at university and commuting to university every day has made my experience unique and I am excited to share it with you!
Student Ambassador
Being a Student Ambassador has not only added to my university experience, and made me truly feel part of the university, but also helped me make some money whilst studying. This is because through helping out at events by leading campus tours, and working with young people, I have been able to represent my university – also I got to wear shirts and jumpers with the City logo which really made me feel part of the university!
An example of an event I have worked at is the Health Science event for Year 6 pupils. My job was to assist a group of pupils in different activities such as building the structure of the eye using pictures and answer any questions they had about university!
My Spanish module
I have enjoyed Spanish at secondary school and even though I did not take it as an A level in sixth form, I always wanted to become more confident in speaking it! So, when I was choosing my modules for my first year at university, I realised I was able to take Spanish!
I was so excited, I immediately started looking into it. I knew it was going to be challenging as the Spanish module was a commitment to undertake for the whole of first year (usually for my Criminology and Sociology course, I get assessed and complete each module at the end of the term and get new modules the next term). This meant that taking the Spanish module, I would be doing extra work compared to others in my course. However, I was up for the challenge!
“I enjoyed the work and meeting new people, but most of all, I enjoyed speaking Spanish again!”
However, it did begin to feel like a lot of pressure with the all the extra work, especially when exam time came around – it was difficult. But I am really glad I took it, I finished first year with a 2:1 but I decided not to continue with Spanish next year, and instead focus solely on my main modules to aim to finish with a 1st in second year of university!
How many days a week do I attend university?
An academic year at university is made up of three different terms:
- The first term runs from September to December
- The second term runs from January to March
- The third term runs from April to June
For my course, Criminology and Sociology, the modules I am studying change every term (apart from the third term as this is an exam term) and therefore, my timetable changes.
So, the amount of days a week I am at university changes every term. For example, during my first year at university (term 1) I was in university 2 days a week for lectures and seminars. And those were LONG days! Because it meant that all my lectures and seminars were packed into those 2 days – I had back to back lectures!
However, another term my timetable consisted of me attending university for 4 days a week, so even though my lectures and seminars were spaced out, I had to commute way more often.
Juste has also undertaken a Marketing placement at City – read about the experience applying for the placement and what her placement was like.
The Student Ambassador scheme, that Juste is a part of, is just one of City’s career and volunteering opportunities.
Juste talks about different awarding grades you can achieve at undergraduate level (First and 2:1) – you can read more about university terms including grading terms here.
