Semester 1:

One of the best things about the Christmas holidays is that most of my friends are home from university. This catch up with friends has allowed me to reflect on being a third year student so far.

The key aspects of this term were:

Commuting to University: So this year I decided to live at home in Birmingham and commute to university when I have my classes. Which turned out well considering my timetable consisted of having classes 3 days a week. With the help on my trusted 16-25 Rail Card I am able to get 1/3 off my travel expenses. (This card is literally the best thing). So far I have been lucky enough not to have any cancelled trains or major delays heading to Leicester. (Hopefully this continues for semester 2)

Dissertation: To start this journey of conducting your own research the department have held a workshop regarding choosing your dissertation research topic. I have also been assigned my dissertation tutor, who I have emailed my research proposal to check for any ethical implications and gain some advise on how I plan to conduct this. Our dissertation hasn’t properly kicked in like some other subjects, however we have been advised to use this holiday as a way to do some further research in our chosen topics. In semester 2 the department will hold another two workshops to give use further advice regarding, literature texts, conducting the research and doing the final write up. I am quite nervous, as this is will be the largest piece of work I have ever done (with the word count of 15,000). However I have chosen a topic I think will keep me interested for the long months of dissertation work I have ahead of me.

So far third year has got off to a good start, I hope this continues into the New Year!