Summer time at Surrey!

Hi everyone! 🙂

It’s officially summer and I’m thrilled beyond belief! As I mentioned in previous posts, I’m a summer baby and love the sunshine: so much so I’m convinced I get seasonal affective disorder (SAD) : a type of depression that comes and goes in a seasonal pattern. I’ll be staying in UK for the summer and hoping that the weather stays at a toasty 20°C throughout. The university provides summer accommodation which is especially convenient. Moving from my old to new campus room was very easy and hassle-free

Speaking of summer, I’ve completed my final year! I can’t believe the last four years of my University life is coming to an end. Graduation is now a mere three weeks away and I’m counting down to seeing myself my parents (who are travelling from Malaysia to be with me) and reuniting with my friends and coursemates again. One thing I will say for sure, as cliché as it sounds, is that university has most definitely been the best thing of my life 🙂

It’s been bliss to not have to set an alarm for the next morning though it does feel slightly odd to have all this sudden free time to myself. To keep myself from going a bit steer crazy, there’s lots of ways I’m keeping myself busy. One of my projects is to obtain my UK driving license by August end. Sadly, our Malaysian license is not convertible here and hence I need to sit for both the theory and practical driving tests to pass. To begin the process, you would need a UK Provisional Driving License which you can get from DVLA online. Its straightforward and costs £34. You can then begin practical lessons whilst preparing to sit for the theory test. Only after passing the theory test (which I have scheduled for next Tuesday!), can I book on for the practical test. Even though I have been driving for 5 years back in Malaysia, driving in UK can be quite different and hence I would advise everyone to go for a few lessons just to get used to the different roads, rules, acceptable practices, etc here in the UK

Besides that, I am still working part-time as a Student Ambassador. In fact, I’ll be working on the upcoming Open Days this week which is going to be fun days ahead. I love getting to meet lots of new prospective students and providing my personal insight and experiences on studying and living here at Surrey 🙂 You don’t necessarily need to be a student ambassador to work for the Open Days in fact as you could be recruited as a student helper or as part of your academic department as well

There’s also summer opportunities for part-time work on campus with Unitemps : a University owned temporary staffing service. In fact, I’ve just signed up for additional emails relating to catering jobs on campus for the summer time and hopefully will hear back soon. It usually works on a first come first serve basis. As many students leave Guildford for the summer, there’s also ample of jobs available in Guildford Town Center specifically for summer time

I also plan on utilizing the most of this warm weather by going on day trips and enjoying the scenery in and around Surrey University. The University has a beautiful lake which is surrounded by lots of greenery and perfect for sunbathing and chilling out. I’ve been going down every day for a couple of hours, with my picnic blanket and cider + book to read. It’s wonderful! Guildford is also centrally located and easy to travel to places like London, Brighton, Bournemouth, etc by train. Armed with a 16-25 Railcard, train tickets are affordable and inexpensive if travelling during off-peak hours

Anyways, that’s all for now 😀 I’m having a BBQ with my old housemates this Friday which should be lovely and yummy!
Till next time: selamat tinggal x