Why I Love YSJ
Written by Amy-Louise, Second Year History Student
My journey to YSJ
My journey to York St John University wasn’t quite how I had planned my application and start of university to be. I am honest enough to be able to admit that York St John University wasn’t my first choice, yet I wouldn’t change it for anything.
Results day for me wasn’t what I had expected or what I wanted it to be. The night before I had written out a back up plan, for me this was a list of phone numbers to call for clearing. The top of this list was York St John University.
For me, I knew that I wanted to be in a city rich in history and York is exactly that. I also knew that I would prefer to be at a campus university, somewhere where my classes were closer together and would feel similar to a school or college. I knew that this would help me personally as I thrive in an environment that would make me feel like I was going to school, this has so far helped me to remain productive through longer days.
So, results day came around and I didn’t get the grades I had been expecting and I had to follow my back up plan.
Making the phone call was not as terrifying as I thought it had been. It was one of the easiest phone calls I had to make, a simple 15 minute conversation where I was asked about my A Level results and my GCSE result and within an hour I had been emailed confirmation of my place at York St John University.
Academic and Learning Experience
Being almost at the end of my second year (my first semester coming to a close recently), at the university feels as though time has passed in a blink of an eye, however, one light of this is being able to reflect on my past two years and provide insight to my academic and learning experience as a History student at York St John University.
My main class style for History over the past two years has mainly been:
- Lectures
- Lectures are large scale classes that usually last between one to two hours. In a lecture for history, we are introduced to topics and themes that are then to be discussed in the seminars. Usually, my lectures are focused on a lecturer giving a presentation with little to no input from the student body, instead there is an expectation for questions and confusion to be noted down and discussed in the seminar.
- Seminars
- Seminars tend to follow from a lecture. These feel more like a college or GSCE classroom with a smaller group with a large amount of discussion happening. For a history seminar, we often focus on key themes rather than specific dates which is used to build on our assignments or exams. For seminars as well, there is a set reading list to follow with both essential and further reading on it to build on discussion points and wider contexts to the lecture themes.
- Workshop?
- Workshops for history tend to be 3 hour long spaces to work on specific areas of an assignment with immediate help from a lecture. These normally take the form of ‘writing labs’ where there can be immediate feedback and assistance from the lecturer on writing reflections or structuring specific areas of an assignment.
- Off-site visits
- As part of my history module, I take part in off site visits to historical sites. This has been in the past, the Peak District for a module on ‘People and Nature’ or specific museums such as the ‘Merchant Adventurers Hall’ and ‘The Bar Convent’. These off site visits have built on key context for assignments and given me a better understanding of themes and reflection throughout modules where these off site visits were taking place.
This semester I was given the great opportunity to take place in student placement. Personally, this placement helped me to build on specific workplace skills such as a building on my professionalism and reflection skills. Being able to choose where this placement took place was a freedom that I enjoyed as I had to do all the work on gaining the placement and marketing myself as a good candidate. This placement also helped me to make plans to consider pursuing employment in education after my degree.
I also got the chance to do a conference for a module this academic year, which as nerve-wracking as it was, this was a great experience and brought a great feeling when I had spent the last 5 weeks with a group building on research and opinions to create a fifteen minute presentation. This conference was a new experience which was highly educational in terms of reflecting what could be done after university as a job option as well as a great end of year experience to polish skills such as teamwork, public speaking and confidence.
My experience with learning has been incredibly positive, I have learnt a lot over the past year about myself. This includes the way I learn the best and what methods work for me. This includes how I take notes in lectures or how I prepare for seminars which was something I had to learn and adapt to when I first came to university and had to take a few stabs at until I found what worked the best for me. I definitely recommend using trial and error for the first few weeks, finding out what works the best for you and what works for the types of classes you attend.
Campus and Facilities
Library
I love the York St John library, the amount of hours I have spent in there are immense.
The library has three floors. The ground floor being a large group area that is open 24/7 with many vending machines, including a stationary vending machine that sells pens, highlighters and headphones to make sure you are fully stocked and ready for a study session. The first floor of the library is open from 6am to midnight each day with large areas for group work and a silent study room. The second floor of the library is open from 6am to midnight each day, this floor is the silent study floor. Up on the second floor as well is a student kitchen.
Rooms
There are many areas throughout campus that can be booked for group study. These spaces are also found on group working tables. These areas are useful for group work or securing a room for you and your friends to lock in and complete tasks without an outside distraction.
Well-being
University is not just all about education. A key aspect as well as focusing on yourself. At York St John University there is a key focus on student mental health and the presence of well-being throughout the campus prevails.
As someone who is reasonably open about mental health, wellbeing provided that extra support and helping hand for me when I felt that everything felt a little out of control. As well as this, there are so many aspects to wellbeing than simply one on one sessions, there’s also drop in sessions and visits with Blue the therapy dog. All information and more can be found at:
https://www.yorksj.ac.uk/wellbeing-and-welfare
There is always someone to talk to at University and you are never fully alone, even if it feels that way.
Gym
One key aspect to York St John University is the YSJActive scheme. This is a scheme that provides a range of opportunities for sport, exercise and recreation.
On campus, there is a gym that costs £15 a month for YSJU students which includes assess to female-only gym sessions and access to all classes. These classes include sports such as football, badminton and yoga classes.
Gym and exercise can be an incredible way to relive stress and build on mental clarity so it’s great that there is this opportunity if someone may need it.
Places to eat / drink
There are many places across campus to be able to grab a quick drink or snack in between classes.
Throughout most of the buildings on campus are vending machines that sell all types of drinks and snacks, or if you are feeling something more substantial, there are constant menu changes in the canteen in the Holgate buildings and the many cafes.
My go-to cafe for a quick snack and hot drink before class is the Fountains Learning Cafe right outside the library, they sell baked goods and the option of hot or cold sandwiches and a range of hot drinks. I love the De Grey cafe as well, as they are mainly hot drink orientated and I love a warm beverage during a lecture, especially on a cold winter morning.
Community and student life
Student Union
The Student Union is an amazing place to sit with friends or on your own during gaps in classes if the library is busy or if that’s not somewhere you work well in.
With a coffee shop on one floor and a bar on the other, there is something always happening in the SU. I personally love going to the coffee shop and sitting in the cafe area to study or grab lunch with my friends between classes.
The Student Bar is also a hit spot for York St John University Students. With events like pub quizzes, karaoke and pound a pint, there is always something happening that can be a great spot to hang out with friends and grab a drink after a long day of classes or on the weekend.
To keep up with the latest news on the SU, keep an eye on their website to see what events are happening soon to see if they interest you as something you might want to take part in or go and see. All of this information and more can be found at:
Societies
There are so many societies offered at York St John University to make new friends and find a new hobby.
The range of societies seems endless, for whatever you are into there is more than likely a society for it. From sport societies such as Badminton, Cricket and Volleyball, there are also more recreational societies too. This includes societies for British Sign Language, Film Society and other creative societies such as Knitting, Musical Production and Korean Culture society.
Societies can be an amazing way to meet new people and pursue a hobby outside of university classes and can help to provide a de-stressing space outside of class in an environment where you can meet new people all at the same time.
Here are some of my top tips for making the most of living away from home:
- Explore as many new things as you can
- I challenged myself at the beginning of my first year to say ‘Yes’ as often as I could to new experiences and they are now some of my fondest memories from my first year of university
- Make your new city or accommodation your own place
- I have a ton of decorations all around my accommodation, my bedroom has tons of fairy lights, posters and stuffed animals all around it to remind me of home. Right in front of my desk are tons of photos or notes from home, and they make me feel less homesick whenever I look at them
- Find somewhere that you feel the most comfortable and confident in
- This could be a job, a group of friends at university or even a place you love around campus.
The Location in York
I love York as a city, I think there are so many little side streets and places you could easily miss if you don’t keep an eye out for them. To help my mental health, I love taking long walks around town especially later in the evening or early morning, this way I can still see the stunning views of the city without the overcrowding and bustling streets.
I love taking walks around the Shambles and seeing each market stall, especially as they change every couple of days, this can be really handy to pick up last minute gifts for people or to see the small businesses of York showcasing their trinkets or handmade items. I love wandering around the Shambles to be able to get in my steps for the day and be able to visit the shops that hide within the shadows.
I also love the amount of cafes that surround York, especially the small business ones instead of chains.
York is so rich in history that it’s difficult to not tell my friends absolutely everything about anything as we walk past straight and curved roads or placards on buildings that tell a story of an element of the past that occurred there hundreds of years ago.
Personal growth and development
Coming to University can be a major change, whether this is in routines or changing friend groups and cities. However, it can also be a great time for growth and development.
Over the past year, I have been challenged in new ways. Some of these challenges were a lot harder to overcome than others, having self-worth and being able to push yourself through obstacles is a skill that not everyone can do easily. I know that I see an obstacle, I immediately want to run away from it, but this is a part of the university journey. Being able to stand tall in front of obstacles and tackle them, it comes with time and can feel like the most terrifying thing to do, but I always found that repeating the mantra ‘I want this’ or ‘I can’ really helps me to get past those challenges.
One of the biggest opportunities I had to challenge myself to overcome was surrounding my anxiety. This anxiety can prevent me from doing a lot of the average ‘everyday’ activities that I got in my head that most university students could or should be able to do. When in reality, you aren’t alone in your worries at university. There were times when I spoke to even the most put together and organised student and even he admitted to me that things can get really overwhelming really quickly at university, it’s all about finding a balance on what you want to do and then what you need to.
I have had to face anxieties surrounding large changes, making new friends and learning to live independently where I am unable to return home for long periods of time. I have learnt to become more independent and have gotten used to doing food shops for one person and cooking by myself and for myself.
I have learnt what does and what doesn’t work for me in terms of tidying up, cleaning and cooking. I love a Sunday reset, where I can clean up from the week and then relax watching a movie or catching up on any TV shows or YouTube that I missed due to a hectic week. I love when my room gets really hectic so that I can spend an entire day piecing everything back together for the new week and making sure that everything is organised again to go back to class after a weekend free.
One of my lecturers gave me really good advice one day, and that’s if you feel only 70% well and ready for a class, but you give all of that 70% into it, then you have still given your 100% even if you feel sick or behind on reading. Giving 100%, doesn’t mean that it has to be a complete 100% all of the time, it’s more about giving what we can, when we can.
This mentality took me until the last few weeks of my first semester into my second year to realise and part of me wishes I had realised it sooner. We can’t always be 100%, at the end of the day, if we take away our status of students, below our academic successes, we are human, and as humans we have other responsibilities to our bodies and to our minds that may take greater pressure than our studies do.
But coming to University is a great time for development, I have found ways to push myself further in everyday life. I have learnt specific ways to cope that I may not have realised unless I came to university. Deadlines, classes and social activities can all add up during a week meaning that I have had to spend time to be able to build on my time management skills as well as having to make sure that I keep focused and keep my mental health in check while studying. This has been difficult and is a very difficult task however, I realised that I wasn’t as alone at university as I first thought and that there are always people to talk to about things when it gets too overwhelming or things feel like they are out of control.
To finish
If reading any of this has helped to give a clearer idea to York St John University and you are considering applying, don’t forget the UCAS deadline is on 29th January 2025. So to make sure that you are exactly where you want to be and to be able to experience a student life in the heart of York, make sure to submit your application before this deadline.
To find out why other students chose to study here at YSJ, make sure to read Ellie’s blog on “5 reasons why I chose YSJ”.