Student blogs

Thursday 14th March was a very important evening (drum roll please)...it was the Law Society's Annual Law Ball (themed as ‘Skyball'- James Bond).

This year's venue was the Holiday Inn in Kingston, where they gave us some amazing reception drinks and a three course meal. Not only that, but there were plenty of other attractions, such as a chocolate fountain, photo booth, casino games, vodka luge ice sculpture (shaped as a ‘007'), a belly dancer (our very own fellow student ambassador Charlie Smith) and DJ Yass from Barcadia!
The evening was a huge success to say the least and it was so good to be able to have some fun with our friends (and lecturers!) before we went away for Easter.

The night was filled with socialising, dancing and definitely a few ‘shaken, not stirred' heads the next morning! For me, the evening went far too quickly (must be a sign of the fun I had). We were all feeling a little sad the next day knowing that this would be our last Law Ball but were happy to have made such great memories which we're sure to remember forever. We've already planned to come back next year (who says graduates can't have fun too??)
That's all from me for now. Have a good Easter break!

It's rather odd to be on the other end of an open day at your own university. I'm so use to being the one answering questions and dispensing knowledge but actually attending an open day? I haven't been to an open day as a prospective student in nearly 4/5 years. It was weird.

So Kingston recently held a Postgraduate open evening event which I booked myself onto, I've been considering a masters course for a while but I haven't been sure on the course. I'd already reduced my choices to 2 courses, History of Art and Design studies or Media and Communication. This evening to me was about getting answers, I've already done my research online and through prospectuses but here I had the chance to talk to the course director. In itself that's an invaluable opportunity because the course director will have the answers I need, also the course director can tell me how the course has adapted over the past through years.

I'll make some observations now before snagging it onto the end but Postgraduate open days are extremely different to undergraduate open days. Firstly they're a bit more sedate and slightly more serious, and aren't nearly as busy. Although to me it felt busy but I'm wondering if that's down to the size of the exhibition hall and the free food and refreshments on offer. The atmosphere is completely different at PG to UG, the talk from the Deputy Vice-chancellor was really down to earth and it felt more as though we were being spoken to as adults. Since being at Kingston I've enjoyed being treated as an individual rather than as part of a student collective like I was during school and college, it's empowering.

Lastly when you get to looking into postgraduate courses you already have a solid idea of what you are looking for and what to ask, after all you've been through the process before with looking at undergraduates. With that in mind it's a quicker process, although it took a while because the particular lecturer and staff I wanted to talk to turned up late. I'll be honest I found that really frustrating; no matter how much free food and tea I could have it didn't really help. I wanted to speak to someone and my level of frustration kind of showed to me just how important the idea of doing a Masters is. So I went away for about 10 minutes and came back and finally the people I needed were there. Talking to the course director for media and communication was great because she settled a lot of my concerns about moving faculties and the entry requirements. She also gave me a fantastic outline of the modules and how the year will work out. Just to hear that over the 5 or so years she has ran the course it has been getting better and more exciting for students was what I needed. To know that courses adapt to the times and change is great because I know that I won't be getting an outdated or stagnant course. I had a good long chat with her, possibly about 20 minutes or so and she really sold me the course. I know the idea is to promote your course but I didn't feel like I was being pushed if anything we were both doing the same thing, making sure the course is right for me.

So the course has pretty much been sold to me and as soon as I can I will submit my application. The next part is the dreaded money matters, it's a necessary evil but also as a postgraduate I am no longer able to get a student loan from the government despite not taking a tuition fee in the first place. Sometimes it is unfair the government don't support postgraduates as much but that's where universities make a difference. Kingston does offer some postgraduate financial support such as bursaries but what it has recently introduced is a benchmark 10% discount to Kingston Alumni. As a Kingston student, that gives me a good reason to stay with Kingston, when it comes to funding the supermarket motto of ‘every little helps' this discount really does. I probably would have stayed with Kingston anyway, the 10% is a nice little bonus, and anyway there are plenty of ways to go about funding which I fully intend to look at, provided I qualify.

Regardless of if you're an undergraduate or postgraduate, these open days and extremely useful in making the right choice for yourself. Every open day I'm at I always tell students to make the right choice for you and it's exactly the same advice I use myself. I went in, quizzed the course director, picked up the information on funding, had a cup of tea and left. In fact I left the event and went to the pub I work at, sat down and planned out what I needed to do to prepare for the masters. The planning was made over a cheeky well deserved pint, it was well deserved (and enjoyed) as I have been running round the clock with the whole 3rd year and degree show thing.

I'll get to the manic nature of 3rd year another day, for now I'll crossed one thing off my list, sorting out my masters business! Take care and to anyone interviewing on Fine art I wish you all the best with your interviews!

It has been a while since I wrote a blog. I hope everyone is well and looking forward to the Easter holiday, I know for sure that I am. This a short blog about how to survive on night shifts. I have recently finished my three nights in the row and my sleeping pattern is just messed up now. As part of the Midwifery course you undertake placement which is the practical side of the course. So in placements you are given shifts like a qualified midwife. Which has its advantages as well as disadvantages. The one main advantage is that it prepares you for when you qualify.

So here are my top tips:
1. Get plenty of sleep the night before. You can do this in two ways stay up late till the early morning 01:00 to 03:00 and sleep till the about 1600 - 1700 depending on how far you live from the hospital. Or sleep at your normal sleeping time wake up in the morning then have another nap for roughly 3hours.
2. Get your uniform and bag ready the day before. This will save you time in case you over sleep. It has saved me so many times knowing what I am going to wear the day before. Knowing where my oyster card is, having my bag loaded. This gives you more time to do your make-up ladies or your hair to look extra beautiful :) 
3. Take mini snacks and a bottle of water to the shift
4. Smile. A positive attitude will make the night go faster.

So my future night shifters (if that's a real word) I hope this helps.

Have a fantastic Easter Holiday see you all soon
Dorrizle, Doreen: )