Things I Learnt In My Second Year Of Uni

Hi babes,
So my second year is over and I feel like it has gone way too fast! It feels like not long ago I was in college, looking around universities during the open days and being so nervous and worrying about personal statement. Now I'll be graduating in just over a year... eek! It really does go quicker than first year!

Here is everything I learnt...

• A degree is seriously hard work

The first year of your degree normally doesn't count, so when second year rolls around you realise just how much work to put in to complete a degree, it really freaks you out at first! You get so much coursework and so much to learn and revise if you're doing exams. If you miss too many lectures it can be so hard to catch up, and you can get stuck in a vicious cycle of missing uni to catch up on uni, which, take it from me, it EXTREMELY stressful. I'm not saying you need to have 100% perfect attendance (I would be a huge hypocrite if I said that.) Just try and attend as much as you can, escpically lectures for modules you find difficult, and ask your lecturers for help, something I definitely should have done more of this year. Try and get in the library as much as you can, but have breaks and take time out for yourself, too.

A trend board I did as part of a portfolio assignment

• Say yes to things more, make the most of opportunities

When your at uni there are just so many opportunities offered to you, such as volunteering, being part of societies and sports teams, being a course rep, going on trips, and a lot more. I definitely wish I would have taken up more of these opportunities, uni is all about making new experiences that may not be offered to you later on in life. Just remember not to take on too much or you may not be able to fit it in to your timetable. You don't to overwhelm yourself, or have so many responsibilities that your grades suffer. The best things I did were joining the Women's Football team, and going on tour to Croatia. Wish I'd have done some non football related things though!

Pool party in Porec, Croatia on sports club tour

• You won't be able to go out as much as you did in first year

In all honestly I wasn't out all the time in first year, because I wasn't close with my flatmates and I'm quite a socially shy person so I didn't make that many friends. However, I had to say no to a lot of nights out in the last year (probably should have said no to more, tbh.) It sucks to see your friends posting on their stories about how much fun they're having, but you have to remember that when you've got your degree everything will be worth it in the end.

• Apply for internships and work experience

This is a big one. It's good to get some experience on your CV before you graduate, so get applying and find some experience during the summer or for a full year if your course offers a placement year. (This is an indirect to me. Melissa get some work experience)

• Take time out for things you enjoy

This is something I definitely need to work on, I'm very passionate about photography, sewing, styling and blogging and other creative things outside my course but I've not really been putting in enough time for those things. It's hugely important to make time for the things you love, a lot of this is just time management and getting your assignments done in plenty of time so you've got more time for hobbies. Then I can spend more time with my little baby (this blog)

Hope you enjoyed this post, let me know what you thought! Are you at university, or will you be starting in September? I'm spending a lot of time at the moment watching the women's world cup games so do follow me on twitter (@melissajordank) for my hilarious and sassy commentary. See you next time,

My University Experience and Advice For Freshers

Hi babes, welcome back to The Fashion Femme and thanks for stopping by. In this post I will be talking about my first year at university studying Fashion Buying and Merchandising at the Manchester Fashion Institute at MMU. I have honestly had such a great year academically and socially. If your starting university this year, or plan to go in the future, I hope this will be helpful! There are so many different fashion degrees these days, maybe buying is the right option for you?

Studying Fashion

When I tell people what course I do they usually say, "what's that?!" well basically, I've been learning creative skills to be able to put together fashion collections (which comes very easy to me) the business side of the retail industry and fiance and costing. Which included a maths element, which is definitely not my favourite subject! It's not an easy course, takes a lot of hard work and determination. 

However, I have really enjoyed it, my favourite module has been Business Communications as I have learned about different retail brands, pr and marketing and social media which has strengthened my passion for blogging.  Having a bit of knowledge of Adobe programmes, like Photoshop, Illustrator and InDesign can really help you out on any fashion course, as everything is digital these days.

It's important to pick a course you are passionate about, obviously you need to get a job at the end of it, but you will be studying this for 3/4 years so you need to really enjoy it!

One of the assignments I really enjoyed was this one where we had to research the target customer of missguided, create trend boards, research fabrics and look into costing to build a collection. It's important to immerse yourself in fashion industry, so sign up to drapers, retail week, read WGSN and all different magazines.

I'm so excited for Level 5, learning more product development and applying for placements! Hopefully I will spend half my placement in London, half in Manchester working in a buying office or in Marketing. It's been my dream since I was doodling designs in primary school to work in fashion, now it's slowly starting to happen... eeek!

Joining a sports team

 - Very happy considering we got beat 6-0?
One of the best pieces of advice I can give to to-be freshers starting university is join a sports team. You will meet (hopefully) an amazing group of people who you will become close friends with, which is especially good when you have moved to a new place. I decided to join football at university and that's honestly the best decision I could have made. My football girls are amazing and I don't know what I would have done without them! Not only do you get to play a sport, there a nights out every Wednesday that are literally epic and if your team is anything like mine, pub night on Thursday and most other nights of the week, tbh.

So if you've always wanted to try rounders, cheerleading, pole dance, rugby, equestrian, have a look at the sports fair. You will have the best year ever! Which brings us to the next section...

Going on tour

Most athletic unions at universities in the UK go on TOUR. Where you, all your teammates and all the other clubs in the university go to Europe for a week to play sport, that's what you tell your mum anyway. It's basically like going to Ibiza, but with the uni football girls and you spend the whole time writing obscenities on each others arm and forcing vodka down freshers throats.

Plus, it's fancy dress every night, seeing the nightlife of Croatia whilst dressed as a carrot, or a Pokemon is not an experience you get very often. Also initiation isn't so bad, it's on the beach and your steaming, and deffo worth it to meet all 10/10  rugby girls/boys/whatever floats your boat- lets face it.

Living in Halls/Houses

Sooo, I didn't have the best experience in halls, hopefully you will have better experience than me. I think the best advice I can give is make the best effort you can to make friends with your flatmates, such as creating a group chat, ask them about their plans for freshers and try to arrange nights out, etc. 

If you're really not happy with your flat, go to the accommodation office and arrange to move as soon as possible. Also don't rush into signing a contract for a second year house, and make sure your really happy to live your housemates.

Final words of (sort of) wisdom

Any other questions or if you want to have a chat about anything, tweet me @melxssajordan, I will reply as soon as I can!