This term so far has been, as expected, a hectic one! The dissertation hand in date is approaching at an alarming speed and juggling this as well as other coursework and commitments has been a challenge; it feels like the entire two and a half years I’ve been at university has built up to this time as it is taking all of my time management skills and organisation to stay afloat. We’ve also been organising social events for the Archaeology and Anthropology society such as a joint bar crawl with Geography and Geology, which I was really sad to miss because I had an interview in Birmingham but am very happy that it was a great success. I’ve been travelling to attend interviews for a PGCE (Post Graduate Certificate of Education) in Primary Teaching as I was probably hoping to be doing around the time of my last blog post, so I’ve had to prepare for these which has including brushing up on maths skills that had been long forgotten and generally practising interview answers (not something I am naturally good at-but practise hopefully will make perfect.)
One thing I have noticed this term is that I find it really useful to have such a range of places to study around the university, from the Archaeology and Anthropology department study space, to the Arts and Social Sciences Library to the Refectory Café. Spending so much time studying gets a bit boring; so having a change of scenery is often really helpful and there’s also the Royal Fort Gardens which offers a peaceful break outside if you want to get some Fresh air or have lunch on the benches. There is also lots of fantastic places to get lunch around the university, including a pop up ‘red tent’ which sells lots of homemade ciabattas and cakes – a definite point of persuasion for coming to Bristol University in my opinion!
Another great thing about this term was getting the chance to work at one of the post offer visit days and meeting potential students of the University of Bristol for the following year. Getting a chance to speak to people about my experience of living in Bristol, covering everything from work-load, to accommodation to the shopping scene in Bristol was really fun and hopefully gave the students an insight into life at Bristol University from the students’ point of view rather than just the lecturers’.
Over the next few months I’ll be very busy with my dissertation; doing research and actually writing it! I’ll also be celebrating my 21st birthday, going home for Easter and getting ready to leave University for good! Hopefully the next post will find me being very organised and focused on essays and my dissertation, but also enjoying my last term at the university…
Orla 
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