Life In A Fijian Community: An Honest Experience

Catherine Gryffenberg has been volunteering in Fiji this summer. Here's what she had to say about adapting to life in a Fijian community and some of the highs and lows of immersing into a different culture:

Catherine's home in Fiji

A Fijian community is the warmest environment I've ever been welcomed into. Upon arriving in my village and being sandwiched into the arms of my Fijian mum, dad and siblings, I could tell it wouldn't take long to for me to call this 'my home'.

Catherine with her Fijian family

The lifestyle couldn't be more different to what I was used to, but isn't that half the charm? The water tank became the social hub in the morning with all the village children bounding over to say "Bula!" (wishing happiness and good health) amidst teeth brushing and water bottle filling. Before long I was spending dinner with my cousins and nephews and introducing the other people in the team to my brothers and sisters!

#NTUDEGREESHOW

Nottingham Trent University is currently buzzing with creative energy as the Art & Design graduates prep their work for #NTUDEGREESHOW!

Last week, the fashion students showcased their work in a series of catwalks which, we can confirm, were as excellent as ever.

Their work is still up in Newton if you haven't yet seen it and we couldn't miss the opportunity to take a few snaps of their unique and inspiring pieces to give you a little taster...

Collection by Natasha Flannery

6 Ways To Save Money At Uni

Budgeting money can be hard, especially if it's the first time that it's your responsibility. We have pulled together our top 6 tips to give you the best chance in starting and finishing university financially comfortable and ready to start work!

Light Night Nottingham 2017

The lights outside of Nottingham Castle.

On Friday 10th February, Nottingham opened it's arms to welcome in Light Night for the tenth time!

The people of Nottinghamshire flocked to the city to see variations of impressive light shows everywhere they turned...

Here, at Nottingham Trent University, we presented various art installations, exhibitions and workshops all created by staff, students and alumni. 

Here's a taster of what you were able to see...

Dear University...

Dear University...

I'm scared of you because you're the unknown. You're in a new city and I'll be there with loads of people I don't know.

What if I don't like you? What if I pick the wrong course? I'll be stuck with you or risk losing a lot of money! No one in my family has been to University and haven't even thought about you as an option...

I have, though. My teachers are saying I should go, that I could do really well. I don't like school much, though, so I don't know if I want to carry on studying. Maybe I should just get a job straight out of college.

I want to know what you're like from people that have really been through the experience themselves.

Family supper 2016

The family Supper events are collaborative events run at either Nottingham Trent University (NTU) or the University of Nottingham (UoN). They run from March to May and in 2016 saw over 410 attend the 3 NTU evenings with a similar number at UoN. Attendees were Year 10 pupils and their families from across Nottingham City and County. The aim of these events is to provide those Year 10 pupils and their families with information about higher education as well as allow them an opportunity to ask questions of current students at both institutions. 

Why people came?

Student discussing with her parents university.

The evenings are a great way to not only find out about the benefits of going into higher education, but also to get an understanding of what topics pupils would like to study, and  routes into university. This is done mostly through talking to current students who give examples of the real experiences they have gone through in attending university. This was all after a family dinner with other families, staff and students from each university.

The main topics discussed on the night

Whilst year 10’s were concerned about having enough student loan to live (party) and study if they chose to come to university, parents and carers were more concerned about whether or not they would need to financially support their young people in higher education. An overview of student finance was provided through an interactive quiz but more information can be found on the Student Finance England website.

Student ambassador answering parents questions

Another concern was what if I don’t get the grades or I haven’t picked the right subjects for post-16… Each university student on the event had a different experience when it came to how they got to university. Families got a chance to talk to UK based and international students as well as mature students and those further on in their HE study working towards a masters or PhD. Essentially the advice coming from all was do some early research if you have an idea about what you want to do or do something you enjoy if you have no idea what you want to be ‘when you’re a grown up’. The UCAS website has a section on it for pupils aged 16-18 to help them through this.

Family playing quiz together

Families left with some questions answered about higher education but most importantly an overall sense of positivity about the prospect of higher education for their futures.

A student’s perspective #Grads4nottm

Part 2 The company

   Log of how the week passed


Day 1

Information pack given

Information pack given

Following some careful navigation to the Boots site, on the outskirts of Nottingham. I was welcomed into a large room with a lot of other students. After a short wait, we were introduced to a manager working at Boots and a recent graduate working in Nottingham. They both gave us a small speech on how they managed to get into their jobs and about the benefits of working in Nottingham.


After these came a few ice-breaker  activities and a small welcome pack before we were introduced to our companies. It was an exciting moment, as we didn't know which company had issued which challenges. [I’m assuming this was probably to stop bias at the application stage as there was a mix between small and large companies and everyone would want to work for a big one.]  The company I was working for was a medium sized logistics company called Prolog, and I wasn’t the only one. After talking to our team leaders, Tim and Matt (Prolog), I found out I was working with a group of people doing other challenges.

 The group was consisted of:

Megan – Project Manager
Ryan, Michael and Sam – responsible for the SWOT analysis
Jason and Kwadwo working on web design
Me – responsible for benchmarking


After our initial face to face and a brief overview of the company, my team and I left after swapping numbers and arranging how to get to Prolog the next day.


 Day 2- 4


Waking up early, at 6 am I prepared myself for a long day. My new team had decided the day before that we would go together to Prolog in Megan’s car early the next morning. [ All participants’ commutes were different, depending on the company they worked with.] Prolog was just outside the city centre so we had a little further to travel and had to plan for this in advance. Arriving at 8 am, we proceeded to have our photos taken for our ID cards. Before filling out disclaimer forms, so we didn’t disclose any information about the company to their competitors.

After being given our photo ID’s to allow us to swipe in each morning, we were led on a tour of the facilities. As it was a logistics company, it was large, covering over 6 different sites and holding products from a variety of different partner companies. We were shown the range of methods used to process products and finally, taken to where we would be working for the next 3 days. Our team had an office to work in, fully set up with pens, paper, a flip-chart and computers. After compiling all our notes on the company we had gathered so far, we started work. As I was working on a bench marking analysis, my work was closely linked to the SWOT analysis. This meant I worked a lot throughout the days with Ryan, Sam and Michael.

The challenge passed very quickly as our whole group were very focused and enjoyed the work. We soon made light work of our challenges, finding lots of different ways to improve the company.

Final part coming soon...

The Presentation

A student’s perspective #Grads4nottm

Part one - The application 

Me and the team

I’m Declan Manning, a third year student on the Business Management and Marketing course at Nottingham Trent University. I recently secured a place on the Graduates for Nottingham scheme or #Grads4notts for short. Graduates for Nottingham is a scheme where students, graduates and businesses such as Experian, Ikano bank and other small and medium businesses such as Appinstitute work together with Boots and the University of Nottingham Trent to resolve challenges facing industry.



Applying for a place on #Grads4nottm

As a third year student  getting increasingly close to graduating I understand the difference varied experience makes to a CV. This was my reason for applying for #Grads4nottm as it gives both a weeks worth of work experience and is a great opportunity for networking. To apply for this scheme, I submitted 250 word document outlining my skills and reasons why I was a suitable candidate for the week long programme. There was over 30 different challenges put forward by 25 different companies spanning from competitor analysis, design work, business & operation development, customer engagement and finally advertising and PR work.

Official #Grads4nottm logo

I chose competitor analysis as I found it best suited to strengths and fit in with the management aspect of my business degree. Before #Grad4nottm started, I was assigned a business challenge that involved completing a benchmarking analysis of the company. For anyone that’s unfamiliar with the term benchmarking analysis, this is an evaluation of the company and its competitors using the same criteria.



Bring on the challenge!

The challenge took place over the course of a week. Our first day was an induction to the scheme at Boots, and meeting the company we would be working with during the week. The following three days involved working on a specific project for the company. Our final day had been allocated to presenting our findings back to NTU and the relevant company. Once we had completed the scheme we had the opportunity to attend a networking session with all of the companies present in #Grads4nottm. This meant that I still had the opportunity to chat with all the companies.

To read part two click here!

Do you know what you’re doing after school finishes?

Future Proofing

I attended one of our departments Future Proofing sessions to have a look into what advice we give to Pre-16 students about Post-16 options.

What is it?

– Future Proofing is basically what it says on the tin, the event is focused showing students to research areas relevant to their future to discover what qualification they may need to access them.

–This ranges from jobs, apprenticeships and higher education. Every different type of job or Higher Education has different entry requirements. This means after working out what you want to do the session would suggest how to get there.

How does it work?

The session was broken down into :

Meet greet & Eat

– The year 11 pupils and their families ate together with, and chatted to, our Student Ambassadors

What do you know?

–  The point of this part was it gave pupils an opportunity to ask any questions they had about student life in an informal setting receiving ‘real’ responses from ‘real’ students.

Chat & Research

– This I felt this was the most important part of the whole evening where Student Ambassadors moved around and chatted with the families and students about specific university questions.

– For those individuals who have not yet decided on a future career or pathway, there was a personality quiz to complete. Once complete this suggested areas compatible with the pupils answers in terms of careers to research.

Catch up & Questions

  – Finally pupils and families were asked to consider and state their next steps. For some the session had raised more questions than answers and they stated further research was needed. Others however had very specific ideas about the grades and pathways they needed to pursue. Finally at the end any questions that weren't answered at the start or throughout were quickly answered for peace of mind.

Conclusion

Future Proofing was a relaxed way of allowing for two specific things to happen. First it lets students understand what they may want to do in the future and the pathways to access those things. Secondly, undertaking this research allows them to make informed decisions about what they both can, and want, to do. Therefore it can be said the session ‘Future Proofed’ their Post – 16 choices.

Mentoring Student Profiles

Mentor Student Profile

Student Associate Profile

What Can I do with Art and Design?

"The open door policy of the teaching staff is great. If I’ve ever had a question about a lecture, or can’t find some of the recommended reading, tutors have always been very quick to respond to my emails.

Similarly, for feedback on assignments it was really easy to make an appointment and have a chat which I’ve found really useful.”

Rhianon Brooks, BA (Hons) Criminology 

Student Profiles: Criminology

"The open door policy of the teaching staff is great. If I’ve ever had a question about a lecture, or can’t find some of the recommended reading, tutors have always been very quick to respond to my emails.

Similarly, for feedback on assignments it was really easy to make an appointment and have a chat which I’ve found really useful.”

Rhianon Brooks, BA (Hons) Criminology 

VLOG: Why Did You Decide to Come to University Later in Life?

When it comes to higher education, age is really just a number. Its a fact that more than 1 out of every 10 students at Nottingham Trent University is a mature student. Our latest Vlog explores some of the reasons why our mature students decided to come to university later in life. Whatever the reason, going to university as a mature student can be a highly rewarding experience!

 

STUDENT PROFILES: Sociology

"The course allows freedom in terms of choosing modules, which enables you to guide your degree in the way you want it to go. It offers a wide range of topics which I have found extremely interesting." Dean Barnes BA (Hons) Sociology.

"I really liked the structure of the modules in the first year that allowed virtually every area of social life to be considered. This structure has allowed me to embrace specific topics of interest for my second year such as religion and gender and health which I can write about in my assignments."

James Donovan, BA (Hons) Sociology

VLOG: What Is a Mature Student?

Giving up on the 'real world' and heading back to university as a mature student can be a scary and exciting path to embark on. Our guest Vlogger's,yes, you read that correctly, (video bloggers) share how they are finding the experience...

                  

Engaging with Economics: A student's perspective

Hannah Dudley from Toothill School came to NTU for her work experience in October 2012 as an Economics research assistant. Here's how she found it;

Why economics?  The dictionary said it was the study of the science that deals with the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services, or the material welfare of humankind. Sounds a bit dry right. I was in year 11 and thinking about A level options with only a hazy idea of what I might like to study at university. I knew I had an initial interest in economics (I was studying it at GCSE) but was unaware of the bearing it had on every aspect of our lives.