What Will Your Social Life Be Like as a Postgraduate Student?

[00:00:03] Speaker 1: Hi, my name is Lucy and I'm studying at master's level at BCU, and I'm going to tell you about life outside of uni as a post-grad student. As a post-grad student. I'm a member of the Post-Graduate Society. It's free to join. They send you regular emails and updates about local activities and events upcoming in your area as a post-grad student. When I was an undergrad, I discovered all the bars and clubs in Birmingham, but not much of it in the city itself. Don't get me wrong, I still enjoy a cocktail or two, but now I enjoy planned weekend activities. Exploring the outdoors and athletics is called Eventbrite. It's free to download and it shows you all the local events happening in Birmingham and its local towns. Just search for what you're interested for and you can find a fun thing to do each weekend or in the week if you're free. It's got lifestyle stuff, fashion, food. It has got academic events too. There are lots of things to explore. And a few weekends ago I searched and found a local farm near where I live and I got £2.50 entry to feed and play with baby lambs, piglets, calves. And it was just a wholesome, relaxing weekend away from study. As I said, the app is free to download and some events are free and some events can be like a fiver or the more detailed the event the price may go up. I got access to that farm and that really fun weekend for only £2.50. As a cohort, me and my classmates like to discover the local facilities around our campus, for example, by City South campus is the Botanical Gardens. This is excellent for walks. Some of my classmates bring their children and their partners and we can all socialise and get to know each other all together. They do student prices and they have a lovely cafe and excellent coffee. Another activity we have done as a cohort is going to Hollywood Bowl. They do 10% off for student discounts, for bowling and lots of other games. Another option is having a picnic. This could be on campus or in a local park at City South campus. We have a big grass verge where we have lots of benches. Myself and my classmates take it in turns for somebody to bake something every few weeks. So we have a nice treat to have between lectures so we can go outside, socialise outdoors and have some nice lunch. Of course, in Birmingham, there's always lots of sports. There's table tennis, pool, mini golf, football or Parkrun happening across all the different parks in Birmingham. It's free to join if you sign up online and it usually takes place on a Saturday morning. There are also all your other entertainment options, such as a theatre, cinema or comedy club. When I first started on my masters course, I was really shy and anxious. I went into it thinking, I didn't want to make friends. I'm not going to get to know people. I just thought, Oh, I'm going to study, study, study. But realistically and naturally made friends on my course. And it's actually been really supportive and useful to have those friends. There are also lots of different opportunities to make friends, such as if you are living in accommodation, you will obviously live with people. You can actually bond with them. And also just from doing things like going to the library. When I finally got a bit more confident, I started volunteering for things and it was all external things around campus. I'd meet people through volunteering and stuff like that, so I've got lots of connections now and like a big team of BCU mates who I can rely on. And also just going to visit different campuses like only recently I discovered that just because you're based at one campus doesn't mean you always have to stick there. For example, in my course, I am always on City South Campus and recently I've just been going to the city campus, there's a sports campus in Perry Bar and there are lots of BCU campuses and you've got access to all of them as long as you've got your swipe pass. So the more you look around, the more friends you can make. I just also thought that for me, after finishing this master's, that would be it. Then I'll probably be like in full-time work for the foreseeable host. So that can be quite tricky. Then when you get a bit older and get to work, have to be really professional to make friends. So I kind of just thought, why not make friends now? I can make friends, make memories and get my degree at the same time. Being a master's student is my responsibility of how I use my academic time. So sometimes when I need to catch up with my tutor, I might meet me for coffee or in a social kitchen. Or we've grabbed lunch in a canteen together before just to catch up about a piece of work. It's very different to being an undergrad, you know, you are treated a bit more maturely. You are an adult now. You're definitely choosing. This is the path you want to go down. This is what you want to study. And I think the tutors realise that and they definitely have time for you. So whether you just want to meet up for coffee and discuss your work, work like that, instead of like, you know, sitting in office, which some people would find quite uncomfortable, It's just a better relationship. There are lots of places to socialise around the campus and meet up with new people and meet up with your tutors. Life as a post-grad student at BCU is fun, relaxing and sociable. Thank you for watching. [00:00:03][0.0]