University of Aberdeen Blog

Long time no speak.

Once again I am sorry for this. But the life of a student truly is hectic.

Having survived the madness of the Sports Ball last month - with only few dance related injuries - March quickly descended. This could mean only one thing. Student Elections.

Every year our Students Association (the group of people on campus who organise all the cool stuff like Freshers’ Week, sports and societies and the charities events) have their elections to select the team who will run the association for the next year.

We have 6 full time ’sabbatical’ positions that students can run for which involves a year long commitment to the SA (with pay and everything) and 11 non-sabbatical positions for students who wish to pursue a position alongside their studies. All of them are filled by students from the University and everyone can run!

Last year I was lucky to be elected as Welfare Officer, a role I have performed during my final year of studying at Aberdeen University. This year however I decided to run for the sabbatical position of Vice President Welfare and Equal Opportunities. It’s a fun job involving representing all the students in academic appeal and being in charge of welfare and equality campaigns.

Once the nominations closed on the 12th of March I discovered I was up against two, very worthy, opponents.

This last week has seen a hectic barrage of campaigning for the 17 positions, with over 30 candidates postering, flyering, handing out free stuff, writing manifestos and speaking to as many students as they can get their hands on.

I have been up till 3am tying posters to trees, standing outside classrooms in the rain and cold (and yesterday in the snow) for 8 hours collecting those all important votes, painting bed sheets at 2am, stickering lollies until 5pm yesterday, when finally the online voting ended and we could relax.

Well. I say relax. But we only had 3 agonising hours to wait until the elections party commenced.  

I arrived at the Union feeling rather calm and, altogether, unoptimistic about winning. The week had been so hectic that I didn’t really have time to think about what would happen after campaigning ended.

Hours went by and, one by one, the winners were announced. Finally, after what seemed truly like days it was the VP-WEO result. (That’s what I enjoy calling it anyway).

Our lovely current Student President Angela built up the suspense and finally read out the winning candidate. I was sitting amongst a group of friends all standing with bated breath while I sat quite calmly ready to applaud the winner.

All I can say is that the evening resulted in me being covered in Moet and hugged about 876 times.

Have a great Easter everyone and I very much look forward to serving you as your Vice President Welfare and Equal Opportunities next academic year

Nick

The most crucial aspect of student life (behind studying, reading and attending lectures of course) is socialising.

A student’s social life is integral to their happiness and prosperity in their studies. This, I am sure I have read somewhere, is scientific fact!

Luckily for us, the University has a wide range of clubs and societies to keep even the most adventurous taste satisfied. From football to wine, ultimate Frisbee to Harry Potter, there is a club or society out there to suit all tastes.

During my time at the University I have really thrown myself into the student social life. I have been a member of the Law Society, Mooting Society, Archery Club, Fun and Games Society, First Aid Society, Students’ Association and Freshers’ Week. They all give you a great chance to meet people, especially if, like me, you don’t stay in student Halls, and partake in the occasional night out.

Traditional and frequently held events at the University are the numerous balls. From the Annual Students’ Association dinner to the Sports Ball, any excuse to don highland attire and have a few glasses/bottles of wine all set to a background of ceilidh music is welcomed by all!

The largest ball of the year is that of the Sports Union, this year to be held on Thursday the 7th of Feb. This event is attended by over 600 students and is where our annual ‘blues’ awards are handed out to sportsmen and women who excel in their field!

Having never attended this particular event before I must say I am very, very excited about it. This is soon to be followed by the Law Ball, Students’ Association Dinner and the ‘Final Fling’ all before April!

Something tells me it shall be a very busy final semester!!

Nick

The start of term is always a hectic time. This largely explains the general tardiness in my latest blog entry and the fact that, for the very first time, I have recently moved out of home. But the tales of purchasing napkins and fridges will have to wait for another time.

September saw the start of the most thrilling week in the year. Alas, it was not the start of X-Factor (though this also thrilled me) but Freshers’ Week.

Freshers’ Week, for those not in the know, is the first week of term for our new students - “Freshers” as we endearingly call them. It’s the exciting week when the new students move into their halls of residence, register for classes, meet tutors, pick up their shiny student ID cards and become accustomed to all the exciting societies and clubs the students’ association has to offer.

Now, I hear what you are thinking. You’re not a Fresher. You are, in fact, a postgraduate student? This doesn’t matter. You will learn that Freshers’ week is intended as an induction for all of our new students, and it provides just as much entertainment and joy to the returning ones.

Throughout the week we have a whole schedule of events to keep you all entertained, from the societies and sports fayres, pub quizzes and nights out, to trips to find the Loch Ness monster! The general rule is just to have fun and meet lots of new people. Because that is, at the end of the day, one of the best parts of Freshers’ Week. It’s just the start of your life as a student and we want it to be as fun and enjoyable as possible. And I am sure you will agree that you do too! The best piece of advice I can give you for your ENTIRE student life is to meet people (and work hard too!). Join clubs and societies. Socialise in halls. Attend the Freshers’ Week events and visit the Students’ Union.

Because when you’re in the library at 3am finishing your dissertation 9 hours prior to its hand in time, you’ll want as many people to bring you Haribo as you can get!

Nick

Hey there blog readers!!

My name is Nick and over the past 4 years here at uni I have undergone all the usual ups and downs of student life, which I will proceed to write about (hopefully to some level of amusement) in the future. The past few weeks of campus life have unfortunately been largely filled with the downs. Why is that? Well, it’s the time of year all students dread and there is simply no getting away from. Exams.

The streets are quiet, the bars largely empty. The libraries are lined with yawning, hoodie clad, shaking students, clutching bottles of water, iPods and highlighters and with that familiar sense of impending doom, they sit. Reading the books and journals they should have read 4 months ago, trying to reorder their largely unreadable lecture notes, highlighting each and every word on the page. Staring blankly at the walls, hoping that some ghostly apparition will appear, present them their exams papers (complete with answers) and leave in a puff of smoke.*

*Note - this has never happened to me while at uni despite many attempts.

I can remember arriving at uni and thinking that exams simply didn’t happen any more. One simply turned up, sat in a lecture, drank some coffee, drank some alcohol, wrote an essay and graduated. Easy.

Not so much. There are exams - in fact lots of them - twice a year in fact, and regardless of how many you have sat at school they never get any less frightening.

It’s a fairly standard thing really. Turn up at the room, sit down, fill in your paper and wait to start (after the compulsory seat and table check to ensure neither wobble).

Then you turn over the paper, see the questions, inhale loudly, then begin (this period of 5 minutes is the most important of the exam as one can usually sum up if you will pass or fail before the pen has hit the page).

Luckily I have only had two exams this term. One 2 hour paper and my last a 3 hour - yes, 3 hours. Alternatively view it as watching any of the Lord of the Rings Films. That is ages.

Exam period is always stressful. Even the most intellectual of students get stressed out. What you have to remember, despite how many times you scream their names in vain, is that the staff want you to pass. They don’t have secret desires to make you fail. They, like students (most of them) honestly want you to succeed.

Just remember this when you’re being lectured for two hours on some obscure aspect of European Legal systems.

Trust me. It helps.

Nick