Talking Money

Hi, my name's Raz and I studied maths and physics are university and I went on to do teacher training. My first degree was in maths and physics at UCL, and my second degree was a PGCE which is a degree to take you onto teaching at Middlesex university.

When I was at university I didn't really have an idea about what I wanted to do, so while I was at university I did work experience at a primary school for half a day during the week and that inspired me to become a teacher.

I'll definitely be using my degree in 10 years time, possibly have moved out of teaching into perhaps research, but at the moment I definitely see myself as a teacher still.

The post grad's view

Raz: My post graduate was in something different to my degree, it was actually a PGC which is a course that gets you into teaching. I did my course at Middlesex University.

The post-grad experience was quite different from my main university experience because the course was only for a year, so it was quite intense, there was a lot of assignments, a lot of work placement as well, but it was obviously different because I was getting paid to do it as well so there's more incentives to work even harder.

You wanna be in a job where you learning something new every single day and that's exactly what I do when I'm teaching. You have moments where the children make you laugh, they say the funniest things it's unbelievable. And you have moments where it's hard work but at the end of the day the reward, the satisfaction - it's an amazing feeling.

Living at home

Raz: University was never meant to really happen for me, so it came as a shock when I applied and I got a place.

I didn't really think about where I was going to live so my parents decided that it might be best for me to stay at home.

When you're in halls of residence you become part of the university, you can take part in loads of events and functions and things like that.

When you're at home it's difficult to juggle your time so that you can take part in these things. For example, I have to travel for 2 hours every single day when I was at university, and in my first year I definitely didn't feel part of the university because of that traveling issue.

So I paid £50 roughly a month and I alway used to contribute financially to bills and things like that so that I didn't feel that I was living off my parents.

The best things about living at home is definitely the support you get from the family, it was a nice thing having my family there and sharing my university life with them.

Use the positives or my mum will kick my...

Living in halls

Naz: If you're thinking of going to university and living in halls of residence it's most important that you get to know who your neighbours are - so get into the kitchen, make yourself a cup of tea and get to know who you're going to live with for the rest of the year.

Rosie: Whenever you walk into the building you can hear music coming from behind all the doors, til about 10 o'clock at night people will be practicing scales and things so there's music all around.

Jana: Aaaahh, aaahhh, aaaahah (singing)...we've won lots of awards

Sarah: The thing with my halls is they're really secluded, you do just end up living with the people that you're set with. My flat mate gets particularly annoyed when I have people over so I always have to turn things down.

Naz: All the bills were included in the rent I paid. There was definitely a culture shock moving to university and living in halls of residence, erm I'd have to wake up and make my own breakfast for one.

Naz: Living on campus meant that I saved money on taxis and bus fares.

Raz: If you're living in a halls of residence which is 5 minutes away and your lecture finishes at 5 o'clock, that's a 5 minute walk back to your halls and then you can study and do whatever you like.

Naz: If you have a bad..uhh...if you..uh....if you've had a hard day at university you can come back to your halls of residence, knock on your mates door, chill out, listen to some music and rock out for the evening.

Accommodation top tips

Raz: Ok my top tips are decide if you want to live in hall of residence or live at home

Jemma: Accommodation will be your biggest cost at university, so what you really need to do is work out all the costs involved, not just your rent.

Aaron: Understand that you might be forced one day to pay a water bill that you thought you had paid all of.

Mike: You should think carefully about who you want to live with. There is a lot of shared responsibility, but when it works, it works well.

Naz: Put your Ribena in your room it's the champaign of cordials.

Alex: I think a lot of people found the advantage of being able to study together a great opportunity.

Claire: It is a free part of your life and you're growing up and you're learning things. Just enjoy it as much as you can because you probably can't go back on this moment.