I am one of the recent additions to the UofL student bloggers, so hello and welcome to my very first blog post!
My name is Jo and as of October, I will be entering the fourth and last year of my degree studying Geology. Yes we do look at rocks and volcanoes I hear you ask, but there is so much more to it than just that so stay tuned!
Hopefully as you continue to read my blog over the next year, you will gain an insight into my life at the university, where I aim to stimulate some healthy discussions and answer any of your queries.
To explain my degree – I’m on a four year ‘MGeol Geology with a Year Abroad’ course. What is an MGeol? It’s an undergraduate Masters, it counts towards your undergraduate studies but you complete it before you graduate. To put it simply, it’s the sum if you were to combine a BSc and an MSc, however you graduate with a Masters in Geology (MGeol). I think it’s a great way to gain a Masters for those (including me) who cannot afford to pay for postgraduate courses without funding. Student Finance continue to help you through the entire four years as it counts as an undergraduate degree yet you graduate with a Masters!

A flowering Arizona Barrel cacti from Romero Pools
A few weeks ago I returned from my year abroad studying at the University of Arizona which is located in Tucson (roughly an hour north of the Mexican/US border). I won’t talk a great deal about this now as I’ll save it for a later blog post where I’ll be sharing with you my experiences and how I feel now that I have returned home. I’ll be giving you some travelling tips if you ever do decide to visit AZ, undertake a similar programme of study or study abroad in general.
My summer will consist of beginning my MGeol research project which I’ll let you know more about soon, learning to drive, DIY and juggling a part-time job. So as you can imagine I am going to be a busy bee.
Enjoy the sun and let me know if there is anything in particular you’d like me to blog about!
Hey Jo, I’m about to start my first year in the MGeol course at leicester in september! Any tips or tricks in relation to the year abroad in later posts would deffo be appreciated since I am planning to try and do that too :L
Hello Adam,
Congrats on your offer! You’re about to embark on the best four years of your life so far.
In terms of studying abroad, that’s something you apply for around Christmas-time of your second year of studies. Thank you for your blog suggestion – I will post next week a blog post about studying broad, including why I chose to at the University of Arizona and the application process… watch this space!
Jo
[…] I also want to take the chance to introduce the new geology blogger Jo M who will taking over my job! You can find her first blog here. […]
Hello Eleri,
Thank you for the introduction. I’m looking forward to hearing all about your graduation. Good luck!
Jo