Last time I was asked to describe my experiences from within a tight time-frame, I wrote a 3-stanza limerick, containing the immortal phrase
“After Electric Castle,
I don’t mind the hassle
Of packing galoshes with flowery skirts.“
Just as my summers are defined by how tired I am at the end of them, my Uni experience is as diverse as it is crowded. The first semester of the first year saw me doing Czech, Mandarin, Gospel, Tango, a web-design course, fake money trading (and earning of a small fake fortune after the USA elections), sneaking into a philosophy class, bouldering, yoga, K-Pop dance, let’s not forget UNIVERSITY… The usual. To understand why, you’ll need to know a few things about me and why I came to Sheffield.
Self-described Youtuber and Enthusiast of Life
Coming from what Romania calls a city (100k people) and my London-bred colleagues define as a village, there were limited opportunities for extracurricular activities, so I learned foreign languages, I started working as a freelance video editor, I wrote scripts and stories, all because, honestly, it would have been too easy to get bored. My laptop became my weapon against the apathy of Eastern Europe, my window into a world where people went to London Comic Con and met Benedict Cumberbatch on the street.
Therefore my passion for tech. Studying in England had always been the plan. Math became my one true love in my final year of high school, psychology already thrilled me, and, since I enjoyed coding and puzzles and challenges, coming to Sheffield for CompSci was the natural step.
Sheffield
Between Warwick and Sheffield, the decision ultimately came down to finances. You can do so much more in Sheffield when you’re on a budget, from accommodation to theatre nights and dance classes. London and Edinburgh are just two hours away, Cambridge is within reach, flights to Oslo are 40 pounds, it’s ideal. (I’m telling you to come to Sheffield and listing all the places you can run away to. I’m really selling it, am I not?)
Point is: it’s a good city. It’s safe. It’s lively. It’s supportive of its students and their dreams. It’s got lots of trees, by some people, and better weather than the rest of England. You may be in your last year of high-school, thinking “All I like is video games and walking my dog, what can I possibly do at Uni?” Oh boy, read the first paragraph again. It’s much harder to find something you can't-do in Sheffield than the vice versa.
The choice
When making the choice, remember: you’re not supposed to already be an expert at it. The Uni’s entire point is that they’ll teach you how to build airplanes or split the atom or dissect Shakespeare mercilessly. “Appetite comes eating”. I had no idea what coding-related-thingy I could create when I came here, but now my head is buzzing with start-up ideas and networking potential. Choose what you’d wake up at 5am for. Create. Experiment. You’re coming to an environment with plenty of safety nets. You’re in England, mother of all European possibilities.
The journey is all about loving what you do, be it art or engineering. Once you’ll find yourself in Sheffield, looking after yourself, the future suddenly stops being “what my parents want for me” and becomes just “what I make it”. The endless possibility is not a myth. It’s a daily reality.
A reality which I love and bring to life with all my might, even if I do end up with little sleep and a blood stream of green tea. I’m a restless spirit, the kind that feels better in the train than in her apartment, at the top of a mountain during a blizzard than in a warm bed. I can do both, I like both, but why settle for the easy when the difficult gives you such an amazing story to tell?
