Once upon a time, everyone stands in front of important life decision : study on university (or college) or skip some years and taste the real life straight after high school. My personal decision was rather obvious one, judging by the country I am from — if you don’t have an university diploma in your CV or portfolio, most of employers will “let you know” and indirectly tell you to see yourself outside of their building.
Unlike most of my peers, I knew what I wanted to be since around 6th grade of elementary school. I always loved artistic creations like paintings, films, photography and all the other forms of art expression. At the same time I was always fascinated by computers making everything they do — work, as humans told them to.
Combining these 2 elements — art & technology, my decision was clear and good to go : find a university offering Computer Graphics course, best located in UK. If you’re asking why specifically I decided for UK, reason would be simple : my previous time spent in this country left me with many good memories, new friendships and interesting people met throughout this adventure. Last but not least reason also being the overall reputation of british universities and their education system.
So after quick internet browsing and research I ended up contacting our local student agency, which helps students get admission on foreign universities from several different countries, to name some : UK, Denmark, France, Germany, Norway, Sweden and many more. After contacting this agency, and picking some of the options in their portfolio I decided for a welsh university, which certainly is better than Bangor (rekt).
After picking up Aberystwyth University, the agency did most of the paperwork, all I had to do was to come to our capital city, to their local branch to pass English language tests, as university (apparently) required these tests at level B2 at least. Coming to the agency branch was quite stressful as I knew the bets are high, and odds are against me. When it was over, I immediately asked if there’s any chance of resit. Lucky me, there was. Returning home to school was not so great as all that was awaiting me was just school things and not much fun.
Several days or weeks passed, no response in sight. Getting nervous was a new sport at that time, so I had to practice that even more. Then, the response arrived and I was more than shocked. My expectations were floating around B1 or B2 respectively. Reading the result e-mail was more than a surprise to read for me. Long story short, my results were C1 from use of english, C2 from listening and my overall score was C1. I was speechless, but in a positive way. One last thing I needed was to successfully graduate and my admission was ready for me.
Fast forward couple of months, my graduation was smoother than expected, finally, I was ready to pack my things and say adiós to my home country. I left practically right after graduation, only week left home to pack everything.
When the time came, and I finally managed to travel to Aberystwyth (from now on, just Aber, cause we’re lazy students), the city itself was pretty distinct, vibrant and alive. I liked the vibe and feel of it, as I arrived on 1st September, around 2–3 weeks before the school year starts. As I was hung over and had all my stuff with me (including MTB), I decided to have a quick walk around the town, which turned out to be a little shock. Simple reason behind this would be, and for the rest of the first week in here, I only got to hear polish language, not a slightest chance of english language anywhere (except for shopping store or Costa).
Quite contrary to the general belief that freshers live in uni halls, I, instead went to private accommodation straight away. To explain this decision, I didn’t have enough money to get a university accommodation, so I decided to find cheaper options, and from the rest of the money, I managed to buy a brand new computer which is very useful for my studies. I still think it was worth it, as the sunsets on the seafront are amazing, and when you live there, all you have to do is open your window and get amazed by the view.
First week on campus and university was pretty, sorry Aber, boring, but that’s not a big surprise as nothing really was happening, just usual formal parts, e.g : pickup your Aber card, campus tours to get familiar with the area. When the teaching started, I really liked the way lecturers delivered their lectures, as it was pretty easily understandable. The whole teaching is separated into more sub categories (this works for Computer Science department) :
▹ lectures : main teaching sections, sitting in a room and lecturer delivers new curriculum
▹ tutorials : usually 10 students or smaller group with the lecturer, closer contact and explanation
▹ practicals (later renamed to workshops) : huge chunk of people, working on the worksheets you’re given
Some of the modules have assignments, which are supposed to be completed over longer time period, and add up to your final grade. Additionally, you can almost always pick optional modules that you’ll be attending during the semester.
In the first semester we had general modules like :
▹Computer Infrastructure : computer hardware and it’s connection to software
▹ Programming : starting off with Arduino and basic programming
▹Personal & Professional development : teaching you how to improve your CV, portfolio, how to be ore productive, and generally useful tips for students
▹Communication and Technology (optional) : how these 2 evolved from the beginning until the modern times
In second semester we dived a little deeper into theoretical computing and programming :
▹Java programming : object oriented concepts, inheritance, polymorphism in Java
▹ Problems & Solutions : theoretical computing, e.g sorting algorithms, turing machine, …
▹Information Security: entropy, ciphers, passwords, …
▹Web development : basics of HTML, CSS, JS
Exams made me pretty anxious and uncertain, I can safely say. Usually they tend to be online, behind the computer, but there is also chance to have an assignment instead, or old-school pen and paper test. Luckily, you can also get an open book exam, where you’re allowed to bring your lecture notes with you and use it as a help during exam.
University offers over 200 (as far as I heard) societies or sport clubs which you’re more than welcome to join. Personally, I joined tennis society in order to play BUCS matches (british league of sports) for our university. Unfortunately, I quickly learned that if you’re not a heavy drinker you won’t make it far in a club. After a month or so, I stopped going for these socials, and met many people that did just the same thing. Hopefully, the club you will join will be better. Right from the beginning, I also became a member of Slovak & Czech society, which made my presence welcome and appreciated.
The city is alive even during night, Aber is, as I learned, currently having around 50 active pubs. There’s also a challenge to get a pint of beer in every single one of them in one night.
The prize is unfortunately unknown.
Speaking of city itself, I’d be damned if I wouldn’t mention landscape around the town, which is .. spectacular. Go north, south, east or west, you can always find beautiful hills, or warm beaches.
Now you’re probably asking yourself what does this article have to do with importance of life decisions. So let’s take it from the start :
▹studying abroad : if I remained studying in my home country, I wouldn’t be able to study graphics just computer science, my another choice was Denmark, as it was a tough decision, but now looking backwards, I’m happy I moved over to UK instead, as the universities offered by the agency were not as prestigious or highly ranked as the ones in the UK
▹ living in private accommodation : saved money, bought a computer which is elemental part of my studies and hobbies right now, in my same accommodation I met my girlfriend, which I call maximum luck
▹ not attending socials : again, saving money, as with the high price of the lager in the UK, I’d most likely go bankrupt *smile*
Life is dependant on our very own decisions. Those decisions shape our lives and ultimately form our personality, friends, environment and the way we perceive the world. Hope I helped anyone thinking about studying abroad to decide whether or not this is for them :) Stay safe.
