Studying cultures and languages at Nottingham

Read about Han Thomas’ experience of the Sutton Trust Summer School at University of Nottingham.

I’m from South Wales, so it was almost a three hour journey up to Nottingham to study the Cultures and Languages strand of the Summer School. I can’t deny that I spent a lot of the journey worrying, about anything from not making friends to not liking the campus. That feeling didn’t go away immediately, but by the next morning my worries had started to fade, and it already felt like I’d known everyone for weeks. A full afternoon of ice breakers on the first day got the participants and the student ambassadors better acquainted.

Every day at the Summer School was jam-packed. The staff did amazingly well organising everything and keeping it running smoothly, especially on the hottest day of the year! From going for breakfast at 8am and being introduced to the mind game of the day (sometimes even before you’d had your first cup of coffee, might I add!) to playing that final game of Pony just before it was time to sign into blocks at night – there was never a dull moment.

Mornings were filled with academic sessions that were beyond what I expected: from learning about the #BlackLivesMatter movement; to discussing American presidents; and even learning the Ukrainian alphabet, the sessions absolutely confirmed to me that my choice to study French and Politics at university would be the right decision.

Afternoons were spent developing skills that’ll be useful for university, which initially sounded a bit boring when reading the timetable, but it definitely wasn’t – at summer school nothing ever was! The ambassador’s ‘What I wish I’d known’ session and general conversations with them, meant I left summer school with every myth and worry I had about university life dispelled. And, of course, the fun bit of advice was that it’s never a bad idea to take fancy dress stuff with you to university, because you never know when you might need it!

Evening activities were probably my favourite part of the Summer School: from the fantastic Super Mario themed team challenge night, to the quiz night which possibly created more questions than it answered in our team, I enjoyed every moment. And not forgetting the impromptu rendition of a song from the musical ‘Hamilton’ that myself, another participant and one of the ambassadors performed. This is something I would never have been able to consider doing before Summer School, and yet I did it without a moment’s hesitation!

The last night was the formal dinner. I won the Spirit of Summer School award, and as they explained why, I couldn’t believe that at the start of the week I had been so anxious.  That in the end, I had thrown myself into every activity and thoroughly enjoyed them all, learnt so much, and ultimately didn’t want to go home.

One of the things I’ll treasure most about Summer School is how nothing was too much to ask: if you had a question or a worry, someone would always be willing to sit and talk to you, or help you out. For example, when I felt awkward about asking for my name to be changed on my name badge (because I don’t go by that name anymore) I was assured that it wasn’t a problem at all.

For me, talking about the Summer School can’t only be about academic sessions and personal statement advice (but I must say, it did teach me that everything in my draft personal statement could probably do with being changed), because by the end of the week, I could not only see university life in general as a reality, but also life at Nottingham, where I had already decided I wanted to apply to before attending the Summer School.

I am grateful to everyone at Nottingham University who worked with us throughout the Summer School and to the Sutton Trust for creating the opportunity, because it was a truly wonderful experience. And you never know, maybe I’ll be a Summer School ambassador in two years’ time…I wouldn’t be surprised.