I think it's beneficial to test the waters of other areas of academia
because even though you're at university studying one thing, you might not necessarily be set on that one avenue. In years one and two you are mixed in with the other Property cohorts - Quantity surveying, Project Management and Building Surveying. I think it’s great because even though I initially signed up for Building Surveying, I'm glad I have had the opportunity to learn a broader range of things.
If after placement you realised that you wanted to change pathways. In your final year you have the choice to graduate in one of the other avenues. I think it's quite nice knowing you have that flexibility.
After doing the placement you look at the bigger picture.
As I now have a year's experience. I've learned a lot from professionals in the industry. I've got paid. This is amazing. So I feel really set up for my future after leaving Oxford Brookes.
When considering a placement I thought, my God, I'm going to graduate a year later than most of my friends are. But I spoke to a lot of people who said that the placement was just completely transformative in terms of steering them into what they wanted to do in the future.It also massively helps with landing a graduate job post university.
My academic advisor helped me in so many aspects.
He’s providing me with a lot of support with writing my dissertation at the moment and he also helped me secure my placement job. He is also my Building Surveying lecturer and myself and the rest of the cohort are really close with him and he helps us all a lot, which is great. I should point out that there's only eight or nine of us in this cohort. This means that, from a support perspective, the lecturers are always on hand.
Something I wish I knew earlier is to use my lecturers more.
The wrong way to approach your course is to just go to your lectures, read the online slides available and attempt your assignments. When an academic assigns a piece of work, why not reach out to them with questions? Academics are not just there to give lectures, they’re there to help you realise your potential and provide you with much more than an occasional hour-long lecture.