Turkey, BSc (Hons) Biomedical Science
“I used Wellbeing in my second year when I went through a rough patch and they really helped me. I probably wouldn’t have finished my degree without the Wellbeing staff.”
Why did you choose Oxford Brookes?
I thought the campus was very pretty and I wanted to study in a student city which it is with Oxford University and Oxford Brookes. It is safe and is the student city I wanted. So that’s why I picked it.
What attracted you to this course?
Besides from loving Biomedical Science, I thought this course when compared to other universities was much more research based. This research angle allowing you to become a scientist, where in other universities their courses appeared more directed for their students to become a lab technicians. I wanted to do more of the science side of it. Also with the outline of modules, the number of exams and how much coursework there was, I thought it was a very good balance.
What do enjoy about your course the most?
Definitely the project module we do where you have to work in a lab. It’s a great experience and actually teaches you about things that you wouldn’t find out in lectures. I felt it was the best thing I learnt in my course, helping me to feel like a scientist now, whereas I didn’t before.
How did the staff here at Oxford Brookes help you settle in?
I have a mentor who I meet every week and we talk academic or normal stuff. It’s really helpful to have someone there who you can talk to about any kind of problem and they can help organise your deadlines with you. I go to student support before exams as I get really bad anxiety and they help calm me down before I leave to go to the exam. The library staff are always very helpful. I had a few papers I wanted to get and they were supposed to be available online, but apparently they weren’t, so the library staff just bought it for me for free, which was really nice. They were like it’s our mistake so there you go.
Do you have any advice for future international students?
Don’t be shy, everybody here is coming from somewhere else and are on the same boat. So just be nice to people and they will be nice to you too. If you need any help definitely go and get help from Student Support or Wellbeing, they’re really helpful. Just try to adapt as much as you can, it’s a nice experience to see a different culture but it’s also a hard, necessary experience for a person to grow and to understand different values. It’s nothing to be afraid of - there will be someone who will understand you at this uni, so don’t feel alone.