Month: January 2018

How I settled into University life- an international student perspective

management-blog-picHello, my name is Titus Njoroge Kuhora. I am a second year BA Business Management student from Nairobi, Kenya. Coming to university is filled with a mixture of anxiety and excitement, even more so for international students. Being thousands of miles away from home in a foreign country is a daunting prospect. However, personally, all this changed when I joined the University of Sheffield. The friendly nature of the locals and the amazing support and social activities which the university has to offer helped me fit right in. I would like to talk about some of the activities I got involved in that helped me settle into university life.

Sheffield and its international nature

Coming to a foreign country as an international student, can sometimes be lonely. At these times all I wanted was someone I could talk to in Kiswahilli (Kenyan’s national language), or and I missed Ugali and Skuma (Kenyan delicacies). Thankfully, the diverse nature of the University of Sheffield allowed me to meet people from Kenya, through its East African Society. For me, being part of this society has had the greatest impact on university life. Knowing that you have people who share the same humour and viewpoints on life as you, can be very comforting.

However, the University of Sheffield also has many other societies such as the international student committee, which helped me meet other international students from around the world. With students from 125 countries, it has been a pleasure getting to understand different cultures, which is very important as the world is becoming even more globalised.

Support systems

The support systems provided both by the Management School and the University are incredible. It has been amazing to know that I have not come to a university where I am not a mere statistic, but where I am valued and supported.

management-pic-blogComing from so far away, there is a sense of expectation from parents that we should get the best grades possible. Such pressures can sometimes weigh us down, and make us crumble under pressure. However, with the support systems from friendly lecturers and the 301 Student Skills and Development Centre, I have been able to avoid such pressures and get the hang of university life. This support enabled me to understand what is expected academically and over time I have seen a significant improvement in my evaluative and critical thinking skills.

Coming to university is not easy. Being an international student can bring a lot of baggage (no pun intended), but hand-on-heart the University of Sheffield is an amazing place. It allows students- local or international – to express themselves, and be integrated into university life. Being in my second year of study, I have to say that I love this university and feel part of not just a student community, but a family! 😊

How to get a part time job

My name is Charalambos Phokou, but people call me Harry because faceCharalambos isn’t the easiest thing to pronounce. I am originally from Cyprus and before moving to the UK I did some quick maths, I realised that if I got a minimum wage job when I arrived here together with my maintenance loan I could live entirely financially independent. So I vowed to do just that.

Slight issue was I had ZERO work experience, but despite that I have now worked 7 jobs since stepping foot in the UK. So using what I have learned over the past year I have come up with this brief guide to getting a part-time job while studying at the University of Sheffield.

Get experience! You can get some through the taste of work scheme with the Careers Service here or by volunteering at local shops. In my case I worked at Sport Sheffield for a day and my mentor there acted as my reference which made it easy to volunteer at Oxfam, a charity shop.

Now that you have experience or if you were lucky enough to already have it you need to develop your CV and cover letter writing skills. We go back to the Careers Service. They are an excellent resource where you can book an appointment to go through your CV and give you tips and tricks to apply to new jobs.

With your great looking CV it’s time to apply. The Careers Service constantlycservice post local vacancies that are appropriate for students. My top tip is to apply to any university job that seems appealing, the pay is great, they are usually extremely flexible and also fun! You can may contacted directly about vacancies through a group email or you may have to go the university website to search for student job vacancies. Another source of jobs are local shops. I applied to everything I was remotely interested in. Getting a job is a job.

After hours of personalised applications, I got a job with Tesco through an online application and worked there for 6 months, upping my hours from 15 during term-time to 30 hours during the summer. I have since left Tesco and am currently working 3 jobs. I am a Student Ambassador for the Management School, a Global Campus Ambassador for the University of Sheffield and a Brand Ambassador for Circle.

From working hard in my first year I was able to afford a trip to Greece which was simply the best experience of my life. I was able to develop a decent CV and a strong LinkedIn page by connecting with all my employers. It’s what I’d say the best part of university, the sheer amount of opportunities thrown at you as a student. You just have to make sure you catch them.