Biology / Biotechnology, Year 2
(4.8)·By Jade J·Biology· Jul 2021 Freshers 2019 at my student accommodation college was really good, a lot of effort went into events planning and making sure there were different things on each night (whether you wanted to party ot chill). Even during the freshers for 2020, months of planning and work went into organising and reorganising virtual events, especially because legislation kept on changing. A couple of small "household" in-person events were planned as well, following guidelines to try and make the freshers feel as welcome and safe as possible, whilst still trying to give them a sense of normality. The accommodation I had last year was adequate, probably average for the area. My room was big compared to many, but you definitely need tk bring blankets as the heating is set on a timer and it can get very cold when it isn't on over winter. Sgudent Union is really chill (vintage kilo sales are held there sometimes!) It has a big area to do work, with a bar that sells food, snacks and alcohol in the evenings. People go there to watch big sports games and play pool. The Bill Bryan library is HUGE, it also has a really good amount of study spaces for quiet work or group study, with a nice cafe and the resources available at great! Sporting events happen all the time at Durham (non-covid). I am a part of one of the college cheer teams and every year we have a cheer competition which we train twice a week for (everyone is welcome). Football matches usually occur once a week between various college teams (colleges have more than one team) and there is a huge rowing culture in Durham! Many more sporting clubs as well, whatever takes your fancy really. Considering everything hashad to be adapted quickly for this year, O think the lecturers are doing a fantastic job at trying to deliver in depth content - of course it is much harder this year having to try and understand difficult concept during asynchronous learning, but this is a learning curve for everyone and it can only get better with time. When things are back to normal, it will be much better because virtual labs are good, but actually being in the lab is definitely better. Durham City is filled with students, you walk down the street and are likely to pass several friendly faces of people you know on your wanders. Even though the city is small, it is buzzing with cafes and bars - the staurday market is always fun to have a browse through. If you fancy a bigger city day, Newcastle is a 10 minute train ride away and the trains are pretty regular, every 20 minutes or so!