The SU’s Student Communications Assistant reflects on her first year of University at LSBU

My name is Aimina Hussain. I'm the Communications Assistant at South Bank SU. I'm in my first year at LSBU studying BA (Hons) Journalism. This is my account of the year.

Best part

The best thing about this year has been meeting new people. Quite early on we made an LSBU Journalism WhatsApp group chat (I definitely recommend this) and it gave us a chance to chat on a personal level.
 

Worst part

The worst thing about this year has been not technically meeting them. It felt as though it wasn’t a complete experience. It was so nice meeting people who shared the same passion for Journalism and it would’ve been nice experiencing the course with them, talking to them and debating with them.

Online learning

A big part of this year has been online learning. It was very unusual at first because it was a completely different way of learning. I felt insecure about having my video on because it felt like everyone was staring right at you. It is a lot more.ntense than meeting someone naturally in real life. Our course members have been communicating through an app called Slack and I feel like it’s been really helpful. It gives you the opportunity to message lecturers and fellow students directly. I do feel like there has been support in place but this year hasn't been the full first-year experience that I will never get back really. This is an article I found with some tips to succeed whilst learning online - https://www.futurelearn.com/info/blog/how-to-succeed-with-online-learning.

The uncertainty

Something I also didn’t like about this year is the fact that we didn’t actually know whether we would go to campus or not (we didn’t). The uncertainty was just a downer because there were times when we would be told we’d be coming on campus and we didn’t. There were always talks and whispers. If we knew from the beginning this entire year would be online, I would have preferred that.

LSBU

Before LSBU, I applied to the University of Essex. After a month there, I felt it wasn’t for me so I left and applied to LSBU the following year. It was super important to me to choose the right University. I definitely did. There are so many opportunities at this University. I’ve attempted many. For example, I’ve got two student jobs, I’m a fundraiser for the Raising And Giving team. I’m a course representative for BA (Hons) Journalism, first year. I’ve really tried to put myself out there. Recently, I haven't been so motivated because of my own personal reasons however the opportunities are there. I really hope my fellow students will get more.nvolved next academic year as the turnout to some events have been quite low but I feel like students are doing the best they can since everything is behind a screen.

The campus

I have been on campus twice. At one point during the year, we were allowed to attend a workshop in small groups in person. There were two other students who showed up. It felt very empty. I appreciate them trying but it wasn’t worth the travel.

The future

We’ve been told the plan for next year is ‘blended learning’ with a mixture of online and face to face learning. I’m super excited to get on campus but I hope there is support in place for this transition. 

Summary

Overall I’ve had a good year at University. I’m more.omfortable with online learning and communication now - they are skills I can carry with me throughout the years.

Aimina Hussain

Communications Assistant

[email protected]