My advice for students is to just do it! Get involved! Throw yourself in! If I could do university again knowing what I know now, I’d do it in a heartbeat. If you want to go into a practical career, like me, try to get some practical experience alongside your degree. In school, they tell you extra-curricular activities are important, and they’re right. You’ll learn interesting, inspiring things in your lectures, so put that into practice outside of the lecture hall. There are so many opportunities in Loughborough, whether you want to focus solely on extracurricular media or have a wide variety of interests. You will definitely find your people in university, because whatever niche or weird interest you have, I can almost guarantee you’ll find someone else who loves it too. If I could go back and give my fresher self some advice, it’d be to not wait to get stuck in. Find your joy and have fun with it.
I found my home in LSU Media, so spent most of my time there, but I also got involved with Action and Welfare & Diversity. The sectional staff and executive officers at LSU are so welcoming and will work with you to figure out what would suit you best. I am very much not a party person, so I didn’t really go on nights out, but I didn’t need to. Very quickly, I found where I belonged and had the opportunity to get to know various parts of LSU. I ended up getting involved at a senior volunteer level, but you definitely don’t have to do that to have fun and make friends.
Once you start your degree, you’re officially adopted into the Loughborough Family. Being a Loughborough alumnus means you’re still part of that family. It feels like being part of something amazing. Loughborough will always have a special place in my heart, and I look forward to the family reunions.