Rebecca Cook: ‘I would do it all again in a heartbeat’

Tell us about your course. What are you particularly enjoying about it?

My course is software development, and I didn’t come from a background in computing at all so for me it was the open-endedness of learning all the different areas of software development that I hadn’t even considered. I was aware that coding was thing but didn’t really know much about it at all. But during the course that is something that I have learnt how to do as well as user experience design and databases. We have learnt about advanced systems and low-level programming as well as doing the digital design with assets and photoshop, learning a little bit of that.

It has been really open-ended and eye-opening to see that there are so many different areas out there that I didn’t know about.

What made you decide on this particular course?

I knew a few people that had studied on it previously over two separate groups. I had basically seen them do their whole degree and in the summer that they finished I decided that I liked the look of what they had been doing and I wanted to do something that wasn’t necessarily going to go out of fashion. My concern with doing a degree was that I would do something that would then be completely redundant. I know this won’t be because this is going to be forever changing. One – I was interested in it and two – it was the locality of University Studies here. It is really nice to still be able to be at home and study because I left to study away from home in 2015 and I hated it. I studied linguistics for about a month and went back home for a weekend. Once I got home, I instantly decided that I didn’t want to go back at all. I didn’t like being away from my family and I was only 18 so it was a bit terrifying to leave home.

What are you most proud of on your US journey so far?

I am really proud of how well I have done on this degree having not come in with a computing background. I knew that with writing I was always going to be set because I had studied English prior, and I have always been fairly academic anyway. Being able to learn how to do things and still succeed in them even through self-doubt and coming out with firsts continuously has been amazing and has proved to me that even if you don’t think you can do it, you still can.

What’s the one biggest thing you’ve learned at US so far?

I have learned so much. I had no knowledge of anything computing and now I feel semi-confident enough to go into finding a job if I wanted to. It has definitely opened up paths and areas that I never thought about. One of the biggest things I have learnt is that I can do exams! I couldn’t do them before of anxiety, but from the given support here at US, I can do them now.

What is user experience?

User experience is something to consider when you design games or applications, you always need to think about how it is going to be used and how the user is going to experience it. It is thinking about the interactions before it is made. When you do user experience design, you mock up what it is going to look like and think about if you tap this button, where is it going to lead to and if this player does something, what happens next. You really have to think about everything, but it is a lot more graphical so as much as I love it, it is not something that I want to pursue. I would be more interested in pursuing something computing-based or something in academia.

What do you plan to do after graduating?

I have applied to do a master’s in advanced computer science so I am hoping that I will get a place. I haven’t heard anything back yet, but I only submitted my application a couple of weeks ago. I already have a conditional offer for a remote master’s in research. I was a bit unsure about what I want to do but I think I want to further my learning first before committing to doing research. I think I will probably try and teach in the long run. Maybe I could look for a new job alongside; at present, I would feel confident enough to step into something like database or user experience design. I would say user experience is probably my strongest area; however, it sounds really bizarre to say that I don’t actually want to pursue it because, generally, it is more of a graphical design thing.

How will US help you achieve those goals?

I have learned things that aren’t academic related, so we have had modules for that encouraged teamwork and leadership using an agile development method. Communication is another big thing. Between the time of leaving university to coming back to university again, I didn’t really have any reason to talk to people in the way that you do here and speak out to people at open events and things like that. I never had to do that so it has given me the knowledge and the confidence to be able to try and achieve more than sitting at home and thinking ‘I can’t do this’.

How would you sum up your experience here at University Studies?

Unforgettable. I would do it all again in a heartbeat.

How do you feel about graduating?

I don’t want to leave. I have loved every second and I am gutted at the thought of leaving because I’ve fallen in love with my US family, and I just want to stay here with them.

If a friend were thinking of studying at US, what would you say to them?

I would tell them to 100% go for it and have no doubt about it. And if there is anything that they are worried about just know that there is the support here to help them through any of their worries, any of their doubts and if for any reason they think that they can’t do it, the staff here will ensure that you can.