The weeks leading up to moving were crazy and full of panic. I was excited to be moving to Birmingham to study Computer Games Technology but at the same time anxious to move from home. After massively overpacking and only just managing to squeeze everything into the back of the car we left the small seaside village of Felpham and set off for the growing city of Birmingham. The road trip took just over three hours but on Friday 8 September at 10am I arrived at my new home here in the heart of Birmingham.
At first I didn’t know anyone even living in the same accommodation as me and the flat was entirely empty for the first night. Luckily prior to arriving, I had met a few people online who were on the same course as me. So after settling into my new accommodation I set off with my new-found friends and headed out to explore the University and surrounding areas. The bustling Bullring was infinitely larger than the measly shopping highstreets back at my old home, so much so that I almost got lost the first time. It was great fun meeting new people and exploring the city but on top of that I also took part in some of the Welcome Week activities such as talks and trips.
I attended the Vice Chancellor’s welcome talk and was introduced to Jaspreet Singh, the president of the Students’ Union, who then went on to explain more about all the opportunities available to students studying here are BCU. I also learnt a lot more about employability for part-time jobs and BCU’s interesting Graduate+ scheme from their respective sessions. I really was blown away by how much support BCU has to offer. It’s safe to say that these informational talks set my expectations high and reinforced my lofty ambitions for my time here at BCU.
But then came the fun part, the day trips out! The first trip I attended was the highly anticipated Ikea visit, it’s safe to say that I put my student loan to good use that day and ate my fair share of meatballs. We had great fun looking around all of the showrooms while trying to restrain ourselves from spending our whole student loan in one day. It was nice to pick up a few little things just to make my new room feel a little more like home.
The next trip was the big one. We went to Warner Bros. Studio in London to have a tour around the Making of Harry Potter exhibition. The coach was packed and the trip was fully sold out, I had heard so many good things about the tour from friends and family so I couldn’t wait to go. Honestly, I cannot say enough good things about that trip, it was so fantastic and one of the most surreal days of my life. It was one of those experiences where you really have to see it for yourself to appreciate it. Although those animatronic spiders were utterly terrifying!
I also attended the Welcome Fair, which was incredibly busy and popular. I had the chance to join a few societies such as HaCS (Hackathon and Computing Society) and learn about upcoming events such as Hack the Midlands at Millennium Point that I will definitely be attending. Not to mention the crazy amounts of freebies and informative leaflets, also lots and lots of pizza!
I think the Students’ Union deserves so much credit for arranging these great talks, trips and fair and ensuring everything ran smoothly. Thank you BCUSU for a brilliant Welcome Week.
