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

Final Year Student

Hi everyone,

At Coventry University there are four faculties – Business, Environment and Society, Engineering and Computing, Art and Design and Health and Life Sciences. I have friends studying in every single faculty and from what I’ve heard they are all really good. I personally study Advertising and Media and I’m in the Art and Design Faculty.

As part of my course I had the option to either write a dissertation or do a final project, I picked the second one. For my project I had to produce several adverts for clients, which is why I started an internship at an advertising agency. Working there helped me learn a lot and supported my studies. My latest experience was with the Coventry University Degree Show 2013. During the show, students from the Art and Design faculty will exhibit their work, take part in catwalk shows, screenings and presenting comprehensive exhibitions at the University. Some students even get employed after it, as people from the industries take an interest in visiting the shows to find talented new employees.

To promote this years’ Degree Show we organised a Flash Mob in Coventry city centre. As the theme was pinball, there was a silver ball that you had to launch to play, but instead of the video game there were girls from Coventry City Derby Dolls who rolled with the ball. It was a really interesting way for me to learn how to attract people’s attention and create awareness from an unusual stunt.  The ‘Human Pinball’ was mentioned in several papers and radio stations afterwards. The video of the day has now gone viral and you can watch it (or even share it to support us :P) here:

Speak to you soon!

Mira

xx

Accommodation

Hi everyone!

I believe that once you have met all of the conditions of your offer the first question you will ask yourself is ‘What now?’ Well, my advice would be to secure your accommodation!

Since my first year I have always lived in private accommodation, as my sister used to study here and she secured me a room before I came. It’s cheaper than University owned ones, but if you are not lucky as I was to have somebody you know here, you should be careful and never book a private room over the internet. Make sure you view the place, even if that means you come and stay at a hotel for a week. The average pricing for a private room in a house share is around £250 -£350;, depending on the location, if it includes bills or not and the condition of the house.

Even though I never stayed in University halls, a lot of my friends did. I am quite impressed with the high quality accommodation that Coventry University offers (especially compared with the ones back home in Bulgaria). Around £115per week, would include all your bills and food, if you choose a catered hall.  Food is great, as there is a catering company that provides the food and they cook international meals as well!

A huge advantage of living in University halls is the amount of people you will meet. Don’t get me wrong, you can still socialise and make new friends living in a house, but you do it a lot quicker if you live in halls. Most of the people in halls are first years and are more open and of course have more free time. I lived with second and third year students and they weren’t so fond of going out that much as they had course work or jobs. I still enjoyed living with them, great people, but I think I missed out from the ‘fresher’s experience’ for the first couple of months.  So my suggestion is, if you can afford it, stay in University halls during your first year and then find a house with the people you get a long with for the second year. Just make sure you do it early enough as the good ones go quickly ;)

Speak to you soon!

Mira

Xx

P.S. Just to give you a heads up – in the UK it is all about tradition, so don’t freak out when you see that you have two separate taps for cold and hot water, but you’ll get used to it. 

Living in Coventry

Hi everyone!

Here is something for all of you, who are wondering what life is like at Coventry. Life here is unbelievably cheap, compared to other cities in the UK. Food, clothes, even rent is less expensive.  Conclusions made after talking to my friends who live in bigger cities.

Coventry is really student orientated, which is why you can find student discounts in every store and a lot of the restaurants. With your student card you can get at least a 10% discount. Because of the number of students here, there are a lot of student jobs available too.  Many places offer part-time jobs and are willing to work your shift around your schedule (don’t get confused here, jobs won’t be served to you on a plate ;))

Another advantage of living in Coventry is that the campus is in the city centre, so you don’t really need any transport at all. You might, if you live far away, but all University accommodation and even private housing is in a walking distance from the campus. As I said, it is a really student focused city.  It is really helpful that the campus is in the city centre, making it easy to access shops, banks, post office and basically everything you need. Even the train and the coach stations are in the city centre. I am not exaggerating here! For nearly 3 years in Coventry I haven’t once used public transport. Again saves a lot of money! 

People here are really friendly. Because locals are used to international students (after all there are about 5,000 of us), you will find that it isn’t difficult to adjust and fit in. And don’t worry, nobody will ever make fun of your accent or level of English, as I said people here are used to it and understand where you’re coming from.

Just because it is a smaller city, don’t think there isn’t any social life here! Huge mistake! The Student Union makes sure there are events constantly running and you can sometimes find yourself even wondering which one to choose from the long list.

Speak to you soon!

Mira

xx

Our campus is in the city centre

The Hub

Hi Everyone!

In September 2011 the University opened TheHub and it have now been open for 1.5 years! Even from my first step inside, I was absolutely amazed by its design and functionality. For a £35milion project they certainly did a good job and it is used so much by students on campus.

Entering the building, on your left, is the super market ‘Amigo’. A lovely place to buy some snacks, drinks or even your lunch, though there is a much better place to eat, but that –later! Next you can find COSTA, best coffee to wake you up! Then is the reception – in a futuristic designed ‘office’ with really helpful and kind receptionist. They are also Coventry University students so will understand your needs better than anybody else.

The informal study places are situated on the ground and first floor. There are couple of separated areas around the tables and chairs. The sitting areas are called ‘Nests’, a place where you can sit with your friends on Fatboys and ‘Pods’, ideal for group meetings. Each pod is supplied with a TV screen, where you can play your presentation and ease everybody by look at one screen. Very thoughtful, isn’t it?

Every floor is provided with brand new PCs which are for personal and university use. Fast and easy to use, they are all connected to the university printers so you can print off your files.

On the first floor you can find the food court as well. Allowing you to try different types of dishes you can treat yourself not only with pizza and sandwiches, but with freshly cooked national and international meals. ‘Taste of the Mediterranean’ is great and affordable for all students! Where else can you find Moussaka or Kleftiko?! There is also a comfortable seating area.

The next surprise is the roof garden – astonishing place with sitting area with flowers where inspiration can easily strike you. After all you are on top of the world!

Inspired by ‘Transformers’, apparently, Square 1 is the cherry on top! TheHub’s venue is a cinema during daytime and turns into a club at night! Excellent design and a modern touch with folding chairs hidden in the walls! Another ‘magical’ surprise is the side garden – common for everybody, but when the club opens the gates close and it becomes exclusive only for the customers.

Speak to you soon!

Mira

x

Societies

Hi everyone!

Today I thought I should share with you guys my experience with societies. Coventry University currently has over 90 sport clubs and societies that vary from football and cricket, to international societies, Anime and Chocolate-lovers!

As I have mentioned before, I am the president of the Bulgarian Society, but I am also a member of the Street Dance Society. We rehearse at least 3 times a week at the dance studio in the University’s Sport Centre.

It’s a lot of fun, as everybody who is there is friendly and really nice. We are like one big family there, as we all share the same interest - passion for dance. We preform quite a lot as well; we have had several performances during events on campus and not to mention dance battles inside the club.

This is it for today! I wish you all a successful week and just to let you know, if you want to join a society or a sport club but it doesn’t exist you can always create a new one – just like I did!

Speak to you soon!

Mira
x

Student Ambassador Work - Bulgarian Alumni Event

Hi everyone,

Today is my first official post and I have decided to tell you about my work as a Student Ambassador/ Marketing Assistant for Coventry University International Office.

As part of my role, I supported Coventry University at the first Bulgarian Alumni Event. It was last Sunday, 17^th Feb, and we had it in Sofia (for all of you don’t know that is the capital of Bulgaria ;)). It all started at 18.00h at Niagara Restaurant and everybody who came was welcomed with a glass of champagne and strawberries.  I met a lot of new people which had graduated before I came here and heard a lot of funny stories about their lives in Coventry.

Mandy Mann, International Officer for Europe, with Alumni

Coventry University Cupcakes

Strawberry Starters

After everybody arrived we had a little presentation where Mandy Mann, the current International Officer for Europe, updated the alumni with the changes that have happened since they have graduated. One of the things was the opening of the new 60 million Engineering and Computing Building – everybody was well impressed. Then I introduced myself and updated them on how many Bulgarian students we have now and how much more active our society is since I became the president.

Me with some white doves!

Bulgarian Alumni

After that we had a lovely meal and kept talking. Everybody that was on the event was currently studying, working or in the process of doing it, which was nice to hear. Since I am a future graduate, knowing that students who graduated from Coventry University are doing well now made me feel even more confident about my future.

Speak to you soon!

Mira

xx