Coventry University

Hi, I’m Irina,

Out of all the Universities that I could choose, I chose Coventry University because it was recommended to me by friends and former students. I went through all of their courses, very varied curriculum I must add, and as I have a passion for languages I enrolled for the course BA Spanish and English!

Before coming here in September 2012, I was looking for accommodation and although the University gives you hints and tips, it was somewhere beyond my budget. I set out to look for a private house, which I could rent with some friends. The organisation that helped me to enrol has put me in contact with other ‘Coventrians’ (the term I had used to describe students that were heading out for Coventry University).

When I got here my first contact with ‘uni’ life was the Fresher’s Week and Fresher’s Fair – a frenzy of parties, freebies, societies that are all trying to recruit you, which takes place in the week before courses start. Ever since I’ve participated in too many volunteering programmes working with Culturae Mundi, I’ve also participated in international projects such as MexCo- where we were in contact with students from Mexico doing different tasks – and Lingua Franca, which put us in touch with students from Spain, Israel and Germany. As part of these projects I came into contact with people from around the world. I must confess that my biggest wish to travel and see the world and talking with these students, I felt that I was taking the first steps to do that.

Such projects are not the only ones. There is a range off student projects, even student lead projects that the University offers. You just have to find out about them, and as you can imagine, it is not that hard to do so, if you read the newsletters from the faculty or by getting along with your professors. They’re a nice bunch and welcome students for a chat especially if the student have a genuine interest into their subject.

Beyond the projects is the University itself. The University’s buildings have a central theme for the type of courses they host. For example, the newly build Engineering building looks almost like a spaceship and provides all the facilities you would need. The Business, Environment and Society buildings are packed with information, news and historical facts. The Arts and Design buildings are more stylish, as students have had a part to play in decorating the corridors – mannequins, colours etc. One of the buildings was formerly a theatre.

The Hub, the new student centre - the central of student life, is where I spend most of my day. Lots of computers, if you ever need one, an international food serving court and if you are a religious person, regardless of whom you pray, you can talk to someone in the Spiritual Centre. You can see crowds of students relaxing, talking and remembering the night before. There are loads of social places in and out of Coventry, all with different themes and different theme events which they host on a regular basis.

Irina from Romania,

Studying BA English and Spanish