WELCOME!
If you’re reading this, it means you have been accepted to the University of Westminster, so congratulations and a big welcome! You are probably feeling a wide array of emotions, which is completely normal when you are about to experience one of the biggest changes in your life so far. Maybe you are worried about leaving your friends and family back home to move to one of the busiest cities in the world, or you apprehend meeting new people and making friends with people of similar interests to yours.
Luckily for you, this blog will detail how to make the first year of university the best yet, and there’s no better place for that than the University of Westminster, the most internationally diverse university in the UK, US, Australia and New Zealand in the Hotcourses Diversity Index.
DIVERSITY & INCLUSION
The University of Westminster welcomes and encourages everyone to reach their full potential, regardless of their age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy, maternity and paternity, race, religion or belief, sex, sexual orientation, ethnic or national origins, family circumstances, nationality, political beliefs and affiliations, socio-economic background, or other quality. In 2021, the university set some goals to reach by 2025 which are the following: celebrate diversity, ensure equality, and nurture inclusion. By studying at the University of Westminster, you can rest assured that your wellbeing is a priority.
So how can you meet new people and make this first year your year? With a student body of nearly 20,000 students from 165 countries, 25 sports clubs, and 130 societies, you can be sure that you’ll find clubs geared to your interests with people that share your passions. If you are looking to play sports seriously, our varsity team play competitively against other London universities’ teams, which is a good way to meet people outside of the University of Westminster, but you can also participate in all sports just for fun, without having to compete.
My first year at the University of Westminster started in September 2020 when all classes were online. I joined a few societies that I found interesting and met some wonderful people I keep in contact with four years later, so I cannot recommend joining these communities enough!
EDUCATION & OPPORTUNITIES
Let’s get serious, you came to university to receive a respectable higher education and graduate with a worthy degree to enter the industry of your choice safely and quickly. The University of Westminster is dedicated to providing each and every one of its students the best education and opportunities possible.
The University of Westminster rose to the 28th place in the 2018 Times Higher Education’s Young University league table lists and placed third in the UK for International Outlook. The University of Westminster offers and encourages its students to take advantage of semesters abroad and placement years to improve their employability. The semesters abroad can bring you to locations like Hawaii, Miami, or even Hong Kong, furthering your knowledge on foreign cultures. As for placement year, which takes place between the second and final year of your degree, you can find a one-year internship or two six months internships. You can also gain experience at the university by volunteering to being course leader, where you are tasked of bridging the connection between your teachers and your classmates, but you can also find a job within the university as a staff member. All these opportunities will not only give you a professional advantage when applying for jobs, as you will learn numerous skills employers are looking for, but they will also teach you a lot of soft skills and open the door to like-minded, as well as completely unique individuals and experience, unlike any you have met or experienced before.
In first and second year of university, I was course leader, which brought me closer to my teachers and classmates alike, broadening my network. In second year, I worked as venues staff on two of our campuses, where I met students from completely different courses from mine, that I would have never met without this opportunity. Before going into my final year, I wanted to do a placement year, so when applying, I used my experience as a course leader and venues staff as leverage to show for my soft and hard skills, and I received an offer from Mattel for a marketing internship. I accepted and the knowledge I gained there was invaluable. I gained first-hand experience and met incredible, inspiring professionals in the field, who have opened my eyes to careers I had no idea about but would now like to pursue myself. I am now completing my final year, but on the side, I have a marketing job at the University of Westminster. I am very happy to be working for an organization that has given me multiple opportunities to prove myself and gain the experience I had been looking for. The University of Westminster wants you to thrive and do your best during your time here, so meet as many people as possible, take all the opportunities offered to you, and have the best year ever!
REFERENCES
Duncan, K. (2016). Press release: introducing the Hotcourses Diversity Index (HDI). Hotcoursesabroad.com. Available from https://www.hotcoursesabroad.com/study-abroad-info/latest-news/press-release-introducing-the-hotcourses-diversity-index-hdi/ [Accessed 2024].
University of Westminster. (2018). Global community | University of Westminster, London. Westminster.ac.uk. Available from https://www.westminster.ac.uk/about-us/our-university/global-westminster/global-community [Accessed 2024].
University of Westminster. (2021a). Equality Diversity and Inclusion Policy and Strategy. University of Westminster. Available from https://www.westminster.ac.uk/sites/default/public-files/general-documents/Equality-Diversity-and-Inclusion-Policy-and-Strategy.pdf [Accessed 2024].
University of Westminster. (2021b). EQUALITY, DIVERSITY AND INCLUSION POLICY. Available from https://www.westminster.ac.uk/sites/default/public-files/general-documents/Equality-diversity-and-inclusion-policy-2023.pdf [Accessed 2024].