Welcome back,
I am so sorry I have been very MIA lately, but finishing university has been a stress especially the second semester. But I am happy to say that I am now complete with year one, and with that in mind, I thought I would do a round-up of the year for you and everything I have learnt in between.
(Source)
An overview of my course and university, I am currently studying for an undergraduate degree in Marketing at Birmingham City University, my course is a sandwich course which includes a placement year between the second and third year.
Moving in:
I moved from outside London to Birmingham to go to university, which is only around a 2-hour car journey on a good day. I wasn't too nervous about going to university, as it's something I have dreamed of doing for years. However, moving in was sot stressful you never realise the number of things you need to take with you, and even then that doesn't seem enough. When my parents left, that's when it really hit me that I was living two hours away from the only place I have lived my whole life, but it was a mix of emotions.
- I would recommend starting to buy all the things you need for uni months beforehand, it's an expensive process and you've got a lot to buy; so make a checklist!
- Fairy lights, cushions, blankets and photos are a must to make your room to look homely and comfortable
- A door stop is vital especially in the first few days, keep your door open and it's most sociable especially when meeting your new flatmates!
Semester 1:
A few weeks after moving in we had a welcome week, which included the freshers fair and introductions to the course. With all honesty the introduction lectures are the typical get to know everyone, introducing yourself and tasks to get you all talking which are very boring but being at university it's important to meet as many people as you can.
My modules for the first semester were:
- Business Foundations
- Marketing Foundations
- Professional development
Business Foundations was a huge assignment, it was group work with four individual tasks with it. We had to create a hotel which included all the branding, designs and finances. The first task was to create a report which included a business canvas model, research and justification; creating a report in a group was very challenging as everyone has different writing styles. Then we had to create an informational poster for a trade fair, which was very chilled, as you had lecturers coming round and asking questions about PESTLE factors, finances and Brexit all impacting our hotel. Then, we had a group presentation which was stressful as group work is in general, but especially when you're having to present. Lastly, we had to do an individual reflection report about how we worked as a group which included a lot of theories for justification.
Marketing Foundations was my favourite module of the year, but we were being assessed by an A2 online portfolio about the environment of your chosen organisation, I choose Zara and found it so interesting researching the business and the environment of the business in terms of marketing activities etc. However, as there was a lot of information it was very difficult to put this all into a portfolio, whereas I thought a report would fit this type of assignment better.
Lastly, my least favourite module was professional development. This was an online website where we had to show evidence for aspects that you see in the workplace such as commercial acumen, teamwork etc as well as the reasoning for why you believe you have achieved this as well as rating yourself out of 100%. This was a boring module and was just a long way of being assessed.
Semester 2:
I think semester 2 was my favourite one out of the two, even though it was probably the most stressful in terms of work.
The modules I had for semester two were:
- Introduction to Retail Marketing (optional)
- Consumer Psychology
- Introduction to creative concepts and design
Retail marketing was the optional module that I choose, this was definitely my favourite module my lecturer was the best and the module was so interesting. We had to do a 3000-word report about a retailer, and the experience that the customers gains from in-store and online and how this can be improved. I chose to write about Topshop, which I loved and learnt a lot more about the store from a business perspective.
Consumer Psychology was a module I thought was doing to be so interesting as it's something I have never learned about. However, we were being assessed by an exam of 60 multiple choice questions. It was a difficult module to learn as the terminology is something I haven't learned about before, but the exam wasn't too difficult but it was more difficult to balance three modules all at once.
Creative concepts and design was group work again, but this was a really good module we had to market an artist, which included merchandise designs, logos and everything else. We had client meetings every week with our lecturer to discuss designs and the work we were producing, then we had a presentation at the end in front of two lecturers and one businesswoman to talk over all our ideas in terms of marketing a smaller artist. This was a really enjoyable module, and we had a really good group as well which made it more enjoyable.
The first year has been amazing, but I am excited to see what the future brings!
Shelby x
