Go for Experience

Hi, I'm Jim, Vice-President for BLBE.

I could be writing about being a sabbatical officer and all the things that I want to do over the coming year, my goals and desires, but, you can find all that stuff here http://www.salfordstudents.com/content/11257/about_your_union/the_sabbatical_officers/ and in various other University of Salford Students’ Union literature. Plus it would read very similar to what Ricky and Joe have written. Instead I want to write about the excellence of experience.

I’m not writing about experience just because I’m the ‘old man’ of the sabb team, turning 27 today, because that is not old at all. Just ask anyone in the cricket team whom the sprightly young man is, that is fielding in the covers and they will point to me as the youthful and energetic whippersnapper throwing myself around like a salmon (no, not the tinned variety).

I’m only writing about this now because I have just graduated in my degree in military history with a few years at university behind me. My university experience has many great benefits to it, and I count not least the nostalgic value. Being able to look back and say to yourself ‘yeah, that was a truly great time’ is a very fine thing indeed. The chance to meet lots of amazing people from lots of different places, the chance to live in a different city, the chance to study a degree were all great. But more so, if I had not come to university, I probably would never had taken up ice climbing, or stood on top of Mont Blanc, or had the opportunity to spend so much time visiting and climbing in some of the most beautiful parts of this country, or the chance to study and live in the Czech Republic for a year, or become a student mentor for international students, or be on the committee and help run a couple of sports clubs. There is many a story to go with all this. I wont bore you with them now, but suffice to say, that they were brilliant times.

The other worth of experience is its advantage and benefit in bolstering your degree. Doing lots of things and getting involved with various activities and groups will really add value to the experience of your time at university and you might find it very useful once you have finished and are set loose in the big wide world. After all, coming to university should be about getting an education, not just a degree. That education should include all the other skills and things you learn outside of the lecture theatre. Various skills that come from a whole range of ventures and opportunities you can do at university.

A friend of mine was recently telling me in the pub, how he had adopted a new philosophy of not saying ‘no’ to any new adventure or opportunity. Perhaps never saying no is impossible, but can I suggest to you, whether you are a new student here or a returning student, that if you are sitting in your kitchen or bedroom one evening and a friend asks you if you want to pop down to the Ultimate Frisbee Club one night, or asks you to join the Ski and Snow Sports Team or the RAG society, or if you are thinking about writing for the newspaper, or want to be on the student radio, or if you are thinking about being a student rep, or given the opportunity to study abroad or go on a work placement, or any one of a number of things: Then really think about it before saying no. You wont regret it. Not only will you find yourself having a wonderful time at university, but also you will have developed a great wealth of experience.

Jim