Why I chose to study History at York St John University?
At first, I had fallen in love with the idea of studying History in York. I didn’t know a thing about York St John University when it came to submitting applications during college, I originally had planned to study at the University of York. When exam result day came, it became apparent that it wasn’t for me to study at the University of York as I didn’t reach the grades that I needed for the course I wanted to do. However, I knew that I wanted to be in York. I fell in love with the idea of being able to walk down those cobbled streets and see everything that the city could offer. So, in light of that, I started researching, seeing what universities offered my course through clearing that was still close to York and I found York St John.
Why I chose to study History.
From a young age, I had a passion for the past. I knew that I wanted to do a degree that let me have freedom in the periods I got to study as well as how I could present my knowledge and the course at YSJ does just that. I have so much freedom when it comes to creating portfolios, instead of just a focus on exams like in A-level studies. The pieces created at the end of a module can be however you want to produce them, with a vague brief on what has to be included. This sense of creative freedom also helps to keep my own personal focus on the topics, knowing that at the end of the module, I can create a piece to fully reflect the areas I found most interesting and spent the most time researching. As well as this, studying at YSJ meant that I could have just as much time in a classroom as I do off site. During these off-site visits, I’ve already seen archives and texts dating back to 1511, being able to read and touch these documents was truly fascinating and further built on my love for history.
Events, Open Days, Decision days
Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to attend any event days for the University when making my decision to study here. However, I spent a lot of time researching the University online, reading blogs (much like this one) to be able to come to the final decision and apply for clearing.
As well as blogs, I watched a lot of YouTube videos on other people’s experiences when studying in York. This included day in the life videos, what to expect when coming to university videos and advice for first years. This research and internet scoping helped me to make the biggest decision of where to go to university and helped me to learn about the university even if I had never seen it in person until I collected my Student ID and officially started lectures. These videos really helped to build my confidence in leaving home and going to university further away than my parents expected me to. Also, this confidence only continued to grow as I settled into Student Life and adapted routines and techniques to make the most out of the day when attending York St John University.
If you’re interested to study at YSJ, read Ellie’s blog on 5 reasons why I chose YSJ.
