100 Days of University: Faculty of Biology, Medicine and Health (FBMH) Guide
By Ashleigh from The Library Student Team
About me
I am a BSc Speech and Language Therapy student going into my 2nd year of the course. I have, however, also completed a BA in English Language and French at this university, so I have been a student in both The School of Arts, Languages, Culture (SALC) and the Faculty of Biology, Medicine and Health (FBMH).
My first university experience was what I would consider a very standard one. I came straight from sixth form and lived in student accommodation with friends for the duration of my course. This time around, I have a child, I live on the outskirts of Manchester, I get to/from the university via public transport and have to time everything around my daughter’s nursery opening and closing times. Thus, I feel quite confident in saying that I’ve experienced student life from various perspectives.
The first few weeks and months of your university life can be crucial for your university experience, so it’s important to hit the ground running and take advantage of all that your new university has to offer. That being said, some of my experiences may be course-specific, so keep an eye out for correspondence from your programme coordinators throughout the year, but also for any welcome events specific to you.
Initial weeks
Whether you are living on campus or commuting in, Welcome Week is the best time during which to familiarise yourself with the university. By this point, you should have your timetable for the semester. If you have the time, have a wander around campus and locate some of the buildings on your schedule, this will make things easier when teaching starts, and you can scout for study spaces and food or drink spots at the same time!
The initial weeks at university are great for making friends and finding student communities similar to your own. I would recommend attending fresher’s fairs to find out about some of the societies and sports you can get involved with during your time as a student, and these are yet another great way to connect with other students. I should admit, I didn’t engage much with this side of university life during my first degree, I was quite content with the friends I found in halls — but I regret this! And as I now find myself part of some of the less standard student communities, engaging with societies has been a good way to connect with people.
Student halls may run their own welcome events, I started out in Whitworth Park my first time around and they had a welcome pizza night, where I met most of the people I went on to live with for 4 years, so it’s definitely worth taking up these opportunities where you can (plus, free pizza!).
You should also familiarise yourself with your course handbook during these initial days, as lots of helpful information can be found in there that is good to know ahead of starting assignments, etc. Your handbook will also often lay out how many hours of independent study are expected for each of your modules and help you start thinking about how to manage your time.
Work-life balance
On my course, we are guaranteed 1 study day per week, this is great for catching up with any reading you need to do, or just having some downtime. Wednesday afternoons tend to be kept free university-wide to allow for daytime society events and sports competitions to be scheduled.
An important thing to consider when you’re a new student is whether you want to work alongside this. In our course welcome week talks, staff advised us to treat the course like a 9–5 job, and that studying during the free time in your timetable is the key to keeping on top of everything and diminishes the need to do anything during evenings and weekends.
Unfortunately, everybody’s circumstances are different! I have needed to work alongside both of my degrees, and, although I could work on evenings and weekends previously, I now have a child. A student job which is weekday only and flexible around my timetable is ideal for this reason but means I have to manage my time better to keep up with uni work.
Consider your personal circumstances and what works for you, some managers won’t respect or value your student commitments and may take advantage of your time. Try to set boundaries in this case and keep your expectations realistic — you shouldn’t work fulltime alongside your degree! Keep an eye out for opportunities within the university or student union using CareerConnect and SU Jobshop, as these are often well-paid, and your managers will expect (and encourage) you to prioritise your studies.
Preparing for work placements
Dependent on your course, you may have work-placements alongside regular teaching. These may take the form of weekly day-release throughout the year, or blocks of a few weeks each year, etc. Information about this should be in your course handbook, and lecturers will likely make you aware of this along with everything that’s expected of you on placement.
My initial work placement was a 4-week block right before Christmas, after only 8 weeks of teaching, it truly felt like I was being thrown straight in the deep end! I found it helpful to put together a ‘placement pack’ with things like the phonological processes and IPA chart for me to keep referring back to, as after only a few weeks on the course, I simply didn’t know my stuff! Luckily, my placement coordinator was aware of where I was upto on the course and was extremely supportive throughout.
Approaching your initial assignments and exams
This can be especially daunting for those coming straight from sixth form/college, or those who are coming back from a complete break from education. Try not to panic! Read your assignment brief carefully, familiarise yourself with the formatting guidelines, and make sure you know exactly what is expected of you (if you aren’t sure, ask!). I lost silly marks in one of my initial assignments for failing to take note of guidelines on font, formatting, etc., so ensure that your final documents is formatted and referenced correctly to avoid unnecessarily losing marks.
There are lots of resources and workshops available through our library’s My Learning Essentials programme, from academic writing and critical analysis to presentation skills and so much more, follow the link above to see what we can help you with. The library staff also run drop-ins twice a week should you need any support with referencing, writing, IT issues and so on!
Connect with other students on your course if you can at this point, study groups are a great way to get work done while socialising and getting some informal support at the same time.
Final thoughts
Above everything else, enjoy yourself! For a lot of students, you will only do this once! Try to maintain a good balance between studying, working and socialising and you will have a great university experience. Don’t be afraid to seek support should you need it, via your Academic Advisor, the library staff, DASS, the University Counselling Service — just don’t suffer in silence.
I wish you all the best of luck and I hope you enjoy and make the most of your time at Manchester!
