The Staff @ DU

I have to admit, I have been very impressed by the dedication the university staff has for its students. They make it obvious that they want their students to succeed.

• Regular workshops in your field of study are held to help you develop skills or find a future career
• Most of the lectures are recorded and professors tend to put all of the notes, material and lecture slides on DUO (the website everyone has a student account on).
• I had some problems settling in and getting courses approved by my home university when I moved here. I will never say thank you enough to Dr. Wray, she is part of the staff in the Geography Department and she did everything to find a solution to my problems, whether it was writing a letter to my advisors, offering to contact them directly or even helping me out with deadlines!
• Each college offers mentor sessions for each student where you gather with a few of your college mates to share how everything is going and if there is anything your mentor can help out with. I was living out and not so close so I was only to go once to a mentor session during this term. However, as soon as my mentor found out about this – only towards the end of the term, I probably should have told her sooner-, she sent me a mile long email saying that she was sorry to hear I could not come this whole time, that she understood my situation and would actually drive to my place to pick me up for the mentor session and bring me back!!!

To sum up, I AM IMPRESSED! Durham University can take pride on that!

 

Clubs and Societies @ DU

Whether you have a hobby, a calling or skills you would like to develop, there are plenty of opportunities to consider here. During the two first weeks of October, DU organizes events to let new students find their fit and get more integrated. One of the events was a fair where all student associations and organisations were present.  I went there with a new friend right after my matriculation ceremony. We wandered from room to room, looking at the different panels on each table. I’m sure you went through some similar experience before if you are a university student.

You go along the tables, looking either interested or trying to keep a neutral face while keeping your eyes low because the people behind the tables are targeting you with their stare. Once you make eye contact, you’re dead meat and you have to smile and nod. Or you are way more straightforward person who doesn’t care and half smiles while leaving because it’s already getting a bit awkward. That’s in the case of organisations that do not interest you.

Then there are the tables you are absolutely interested in and will just rush to be like “I want to sign up!”. It’s always a good feeling to see a club/society/association that relates to what’s important to you.

And then there are the tables that do interest you although not as much as others but you still want to sign up because you’re all about being open and discovering.

So what happened in my case is… I signed up for a ton of clubs and societies and ended up taking more fliers than I expected. And the week after I ended up receiving more emails than I expected. However, I did let myself be open to many opportunities and I was able to be part of some that actually caught my interest.

I joined the SCA or the Student Community Action, an association allowing students to volunteer for a whole spectrum of projects. Whether you want to walk dogs, teach code, take care of children or just meet new people, SCA is a nice place to start with.

So I decided to volunteer for two things this year. First, I joined a project call One-to-One Tutoring and have been teaching Spanish to a high school student for the past months. I enjoy teaching and make people understand. It also allows me to reinforce my own skills in Spanish. Second, I signed up to volunteer at a nursery and take care of children aged between 0 and 5 years old. I went there a couple of times already and will probably return next term. I enjoy taking care of children and helping them in their own learning environment.

Matriculation

Durham University has its own traditions and when you come to Durham for the first time and look at your schedule for the first week – which will be full of orientation events- , you will come across an event called “matriculation”. Actually, you might even hear the verb “to matriculate”.

So, let’s clear things up here. Matriculation ceremony is an event which has the purpose of officializing one’s status as a Durham student. Whether one is a first year or a student here on exchange for one year, they are a new student to this university and this is sort of a welcoming ritual. They will have to first get a robe from their College upon arrival. Remember the robe Harry Potter wears when going to class in the first movie? Yeah, it’s similar. Second, they will dress casual and put on this robe on the day of the matriculation ceremony. Everyone will then be led with their college mates to the cathedral and seated on one of the rows in this beautiful 11^thcentury edifice. I will not spoil what is going on during the ceremony but I will say that this is probably a demonstration of the more traditional British side of this institution and of the high status of Durham University. In any case, I’m sure you’ll enjoy it.

Welcome – November post

Hello Everyone!

Welcome to this blog!

Here, I will be sharing my experience as an international student with you. I am a young French demoiselle doing her Bachelor at McGill University in Montreal, Canada. Currently, I’m in my third year and I have chosen to come to Durham University on a year’s exchange.

Currently, I study multiple subjects, including, but not limited to, economics, geography and philosophy which are the ones I have chosen to take on my year abroad. This first term (a.k.a the Michaelmas term) is going pretty well so far. You will soon know more about Durham University, the city itself and my student experience. Stay tuned!

Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions regarding studying in France, Canada or the UK or any inquiries in respect to the content of this blog. It would be my pleasure to answer your questions.

Lots of love,

Gabrielle