“It is great to be back!”

“It is great to be back!” – A set of words I didn’t think I would use soon enough. After all, at the end of a whole year of assignments and exams, the only thing I could think of was going back home and relax. No more work, no more pressure, no more stress.

However, a couple of months into my vacation I started to really miss Southampton, my friends, my freedom and even being given work to do. Hence, on September 18th, when I landed in England, I didn’t feel sad for leaving home, but glad to be back here where I am given the opportunity to pursue my future.

I have recently started my first year in Software engineering at ECS and it is, without a doubt, the best choice I could have made. Every coursework, every laboratory project becomes a fun challenge! The feeling of enjoying yourself while you complete an assignment is just indescribable.

Moreover, the ECS work station caught my attention: the 3D screens, the fact that each student has 2 screens to work with, the amazing amount of memory storage available, the existence of both Linux and Windows computers, etc, were just mind blowing. Not to mention the fact that all our books were for free (either given to us or rented from the library), which was a major money saving. All of this made me realise that there are no words to explain how thankful I am for having the opportunity of studying at such prestigious university, and hence leading my future to a successful path.

However, not everything is great… frankly I have worked much more these past two months into my first year of Software Engineering and then ever in my life. I have never felt so tired and exhausted at the beginning of a term, as almost every break or free time I have got are for studying or doing an assignment. But knowing that all will be compensated in the future just makes me want to work that much harder.