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My life as an International Student at Cardiff Met – it’s the little things that help!

Cardiff Met student Chiew with SVC
Cardiff Met student Chiew with SVC

As an international student studying abroad, it was exciting yet worrying to be here all alone, all the way from Malaysia! But fear not! Cardiff Met is taking good care of us! I thought I would share some of little things that have helped me settle in as an international student in the UK.

International Student Advice Centre

There is an International Student Advice team to provide all the advice and support we might need over here. Knowing UK has high academic standards, I was afraid I could not do my assignments well enough! I went to seek advice from international academic advisor, Louise, to help me get started with my assignment tasks. Things like how to start my assignment, how to get useful sources, how to construct paragraphs in a coherent flow. Believe me, it helps me a lot in doing my assignments! Since then, for every assignment of mine, I’m able to construct the structure and content briefly, with the main concept that Louise taught me before. I get my assignment started easily and the process just gets easier along the way. Louise, thank you so much!

Chiew with the International Student Advice Team
In the Cardiff Met Global Lounge with the some of the International Student Advice team

Library Services

The UK has a very strict referencing system for academic writing. I am an international student, I have been experiencing fear and worries! Trust me, plagiarism is the word I am EXTREMELY afraid of! There is a powerful referencing software that Cardiff Met recommends – EndNote. But there is another problem? How do I use EndNote? I got into another worry again! I am glad to have gone through excellent library service offered by the academic librarians, Jamie and Rebecca. Jamie was there to tell me there are videos with a step-by-step guide on how to use the referencing software. I even went to Jamie and Rebecca a few times for guidance and assistance in finding information for assignments. Sorry for being a pain, Jamie and Rebecca!

Chiew with Jamie in the library
Meeting with Jamie to seek help searching for information in MetSearch

After meeting international academic advisor and the librarians, I was all set, on full force ready to start my academic life at Cardiff Met!

Careers Service

Ah-Ha! Cardiff Met is just so kind! Even careers service is provided by the university! I went there for the CV and covering letter advice. I was provided a CV toolkit to tailor make my CV to meet the UK format. I managed to perfect my CV with advice from Sarah, the employability officer. After getting my CV done, she has even given me direction for getting myself a part time job. Guess what? I managed to get myself a part time job shortly afterwards in the hospitality industry after using their service!

Freshers Fayre

There was a Freshers Fayre during the induction week before my course began. Freshers Fayre is an on-campus event to introduce the university, societies and clubs, as well as opportunities to get involved in extra areas outside of your degree subject. I registered myself during Freshers Fayre with Student Volunteering Cardiff (SVC). With SVC, I had the golden opportunity to volunteer, stewarding for the yearly event in Cardiff City, Sparks in the Park 2019. Oh gosh! I remember it was raining heavily and I was soaked for the whole night. I was so eager to leave the role immediately, but managed to persist until the end. I spent half an hour in the bathroom cleaning my clothes and shoes which were so muddy! But I was still happy and proud of myself, managed to persist until the end of the event, and being a part of the activity to raise funds for SVC projects to help vulnerable people in the community. Yes! I did it! I was very content!

Volunteering for Sparks in the Park 2019
Enjoying time out in Cardiff at Roath Park

Being an international student can be challenging at times, with all the differences in culture, both inside and out of the university! I am just so thankful to Cardiff Met for being kind and providing me with all the assistance I might need. Believe me, just reach out whenever you feel that you are not okay! It is okay not to be okay! After all, we are all just humans. As long as you shout out, the Cardiff Met staff will be there for you, as well as people around Cardiff! The people here is just so warm that I am so well loved and well treated by the place.