Back in the day, when the words “college” and “A-levels” made me want to crawl into a hole and never be seen again, my goal was to find a better place and somewhere I could feel happy. But looking for the perfect university was difficult. For me it had to tick five boxes:
- Enjoyable course
- Nice campus
- Wonderful location
- Industry links
- Accommodation
As I wanted to do Scriptwriting as my degree, that limited my choice on universities. Though there were some close to home, most of them were down South. Being from Manchester it was hard to think I would probably be the only Northerner, but it excited me. I visited five different universities, with one university campus literally peeling away and another being located in The Jeremy Kyle show, while looking at all of them I wondered if university was really the right way to go.
Then there it was. Bournemouth University, the holy grail, everything I was looking for. It had great facilities both for my course and for students, with lots of different societies to join, but to be honest I was just shocked there was more than one cafe on campus – that really sold me. The course sounded so interesting and something I felt I could excel at, with links to companies such as Disney, BBC and Channel 4. The student accommodation was nicer and cheaper than other university student halls, even the BU-managed Unilets were big and spacious.
Not only that, but Bournemouth is lovely! A gorgeous white beach, actually good arcades, cute town centre, it was like Blackpool and Manchester meshed together (only much nicer than both). I guess the truth is as soon as the Open Day had finished and I saw what the town was like, I knew that Bournemouth was right for me. It fitted all my criteria and it was the best university that I had seen, plus I wouldn’t have to go to abroad to get a nice beach!
By Charlie Sawers
