Messages from our students

00:03
>> ANNIE: Here at St Andrews it's, like, it's crazy how much diversity there is in such
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a small town.
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It's, like, everybody's just there - from Asia, from Europe, from America.
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I like that cause it makes me feel like I'm part of something big, you know?
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>> LEA: St Andrews is such an international place, and that is so great, because you meet people
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from so many different areas and walks of life and you get different world views really
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because someone's coming from somewhere else.
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They can bring a new perspective to what's happening in their area of the world of what
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they've experienced.
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>> SIDNEY: I feel like the size and breadth of the diversity of the population allows you
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to meet people from all over the world that you might never have met.
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You wouldn't necessarily become best friends with an Iranian girl, but we clicked really
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well and I've learned so much through and been to her Persian society events, and I
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feel like all my friends are from such diverse backgrounds.
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>> ANNIE: I like to think that that's how the world should be. Like, it's fun to have a
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tiny experimental world where people are all different and work together, you know?
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>> LEA: St Andrews alumni are going to spread all across the world, so you have connections
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to every different corner and, yeah, that's really cool.
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>> CLARA: I was kind of in that position. I was kind of making decisions between two universities
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and I really wasn't sure, but, honestly, from personal experience, it has been the best
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decision that I've ever made.
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The community atmosphere. The fact that you're surrounded by such beautiful surroundings
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and you're getting such an amazing education at the same time is amazing.
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That combined with the opportunity to participate in a massive range of extracurricular activities.
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It's not just an education. It's kind of...it sounds cliché but it's not just an education,
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it's kind of, the life experience that you're getting with it as well, which I think has
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been really great for me.
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>> ANNIE: You're going to make lots of friends here.
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You're going to learn many things here.
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The study's really fun, you don't need to worry about that.
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I feel in St Andrews you are accommodated for everything.
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They help you with pretty much all problems you have from career, from your well-being,
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to your academics.
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They are going to help you and they are going to be there for you.
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>> LEA: If you're willing to take that step, and take that initiative to really want to
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do things, there are a million things you can do in St Andrews and, yeah, take that
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opportunity because it will change your life.
 
English (United Kingdom)

00:02
>> CLARA: I think at high school there's a lot of myths that when you go to university
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you'll get no careers advice but that definitely hasn't been the case for me.
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They've been really welcoming to me, even as a first year which has been really nice.
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>> SIDNEY: They have specific area reps.
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Their entire job is to just network and find careers there.
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I think that was really helpful for me and for my parents cause my mother's biggest concern
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was "well, how are you going to get a job back home if you're going abroad."
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But they have really recognised that concern, especially with American's and have done a
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pretty good job to fulfil it.
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So if you're a motivated person, and if you are interested in doing something completely
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different than what your peers are doing, by going abroad you are going to be market
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yourself much better on your resume back in the states as well.
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It shows you are a self starter and you can go somewhere and you can cultivate all these
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relationships and get involved in whatever you want to get involved in.
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I think it's all about taking advantage of the opportunities that are given to you, and
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that's at any university, but St Andrews there's insanely more opportunities that are unique
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to St Andrews and unique to the diversity of the student population than anywhere else.
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>> CLARA: Yeah, so I had an email from the careers department about their winter work
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shadowing programme and they had a link to a load of different opportunities in all kinds
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of areas.
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And then, hopefully, you're given an offer for work shadowing placement, which I was.
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So it was a really great experience.
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>> ANNIE: So, the Careers Centre really helped me a lot advising me on what to do and also
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they helped me a lot on making my CV.
01:36
>> LEA: So last year I completed a professional skills curriculum which is basically a course
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to teach you on professional skills at the university.
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It's something that obviously really important for employability but far more than that I
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think it's so great that we have something like that here because it's not just skills
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that we are learning for the world outside but actually skills that are so relevant to
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what is happening in our daily lives.
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I'm involved in a lot of societies and extra curricular in St Andrews so it's so important
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to know about time management, and leadership, and change management.
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Also, just speaking and voice coaching.
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There's so many opportunities to be able to take those courses and that's why I absolutely
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enjoyed the professional skills curriculum and honestly would recommend it to anyone.
 
English (United Kingdom)

00:03
>> CLARA: I really love that it's such a close knit community.
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When I first came on the open day the ambassador showed me around and said you can't walk down
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Market Street without bumping into four people that you know.
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Which I thought was an exaggeration, but coming here, I see it's very true.
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>> ZAYNAH: You walk out of your front door and you meet, like, five people going to where
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you're going who you know and I think that that's a great experience.
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>> CLARA: With that comes, that everyone is really friendly and welcoming and opening.
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I know that I've always felt like I've been able to go to the older years to ask for advice
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on different things. So, yeah, it's been really great.
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>> LEA: I can almost no describe how special it is to come to St Andrews because it's such
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a community.
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I think that's what I value the most in St Andrews.
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We're a small town, but, we have everything you could possibly ask for.
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>>SIDNEY: There are so many events happening all the time that I just find myself consistently
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sucked into student life here.
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>> STEVE: I think one of the biggest things I like is that there's something for everybody.
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It doesn't matter what your interests are.
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We've got societies that cover everything from knitting, to Quidditch, to whisky tasting,
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to coffee.
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>> CLARA: I'm also involved in the drama scene here. So I've been able to direct a play.
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Which is teaching good leadership qualities.
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I'm involved in the musical theatre committee which is obviously teaching you useful skills
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for business meetings somewhere in the future.
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So yeah, being thrown into a load of things but it's been really great.
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>> STEVE: So as a mature student and a commuter student, life here is exactly the same as
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it would be if I was an 18 / 19 year old living in halls.
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There's no distinction between us.
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We all get treated the same.
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We all have access the same services, the same facilities, and we can access the same
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clubs and societies and everything else.
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>> SIDNEY: I wanted to go somewhere that was a community where I could find people and
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make sure, like, cultivate life-long friendships with them.
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And I think that this was really the community for me to be able to do that.
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I came here pretty quickly.
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Made a lot of really good friends I never really had before and I think that coupled
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with my relationships with my professors made me always feel like I was never too far from
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my home.
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>> ZAYNAH: You will make personal connections that you will maintain for the rest of your
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life and so what if you didn't live in a city for this time.
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You know what I mean?
 
English (United Kingdom)