Student Profile: Erin, 4th year International Business Management with Marketing Student

82 Months Ago

Freshers Week isn’t all about drinking. Erin (on the left) was 17 years old when she moved from Fife to Edinburgh to start university, which meant she was too young to legally drink alcohol. However, that didn’t mean she missed out on any of the Freshers Week fun.

 

“I knew I wanted to study in Edinburgh because I love the city. I went to an open day at Heriot-Watt and I could just picture myself being there and studying there. I think sometimes something just feels right, and that’s enough for you to make a decision.

I was 17 when I started at Heriot-Watt, and I didn’t turn 18 until halfway through my second semester. In the run-up to Freshers Week, I honestly didn’t give that much thought to the fact that I wouldn’t be allowed to drink alcohol. I was more concerned with moving out and making friends. I can be quite shy, and I was naturally pretty nervous, but I was determined to make it work.

 

In the end, my Freshers Week was amazing! I experienced so many things in that week just by pushing myself and throwing myself into everything. I was still able to get into all the events at the Student Union; I just didn’t get an Over 18 wristband. There were loads of other underage people I could sympathise with. It was actually a good conversation starter – everyone wanted to know when my birthday is!

 

By my second semester, it felt like I was the only one still under 18. It was getting a bit frustrating when everyone wanted to head out and I couldn’t go with them. I had to get the bus home from the Sports Ball by myself, in my ball gown, because there was an after party in a nightclub and it was three days before my birthday! But it turned out that one of my flatmates was still awake, and sitting in my dress, drinking tea and playing cards with him at two in the morning is one of my fondest memories from first year. A few days later I had a great birthday celebration with everyone who’d been waiting for me to turn 18, and this time I could go out with them all!

 

I was in Lord Home halls and I grew really fond of the whole set up. I liked having my independence and my own wee space. I had four kitchen mates, all nice people, but the five of us were never ever all in the same room together. Sometimes you just don’t gel as a group, and that’s okay. Having said that, I got on particularly well individually with a couple of them. We looked out for each other.

 

I befriended a girl from downstairs and she took me along to meet all of her coursemates. Some of them became my flatmates and my closest friends. On my own course, I was constantly meeting people through tutorials and group projects, and my friend group was always growing. I also became really tight with all my teammates from the Swimming Club. Being part of that team really made a difference to my first year because I was so welcomed and I felt comfortable doing something I’d been doing for years.

 

When I first started my classes, I was surprised by how little hours I was timetabled in for – I did 12 a week, while some of the engineering students do about 30! I was expected to do a lot of work in all these unscheduled hours though, and it took me a couple of semesters to get the hang of that. As a Management student, you do quite a variety of subjects in your first year. I’m quite creative and wordy, and I want to work in Marketing – you can imagine me trying to get my head around Macroeconomics! But I always felt really supported in my classes – if you demonstrate to a lecturer that you’re trying, they’ll help you.

After Freshers Week, four years flew by, and I’ve now graduated from Heriot-Watt! I had the best time and if I could go back and do it all again, I would. I’m finishing working at the Student Union this summer, and then it’s on to the next big adventure!”

 

If you have any questions for Erin, she loves getting emails. It’s quite sad really. erin.brown@hw.ac.uk

 

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