A brief explanation of what Wobble Week is and some stories shared by our Executive Officer Team about times in their university journeys they experienced Wobbles!
Wobble Week is a wellbeing intitiative ran by several UK universities and student unions up and down the country, the aim of Wobble Week is to support students during the time of year where the excitement from the Freshers period has calmed down, and the new reality of being a student begins to set in, and it can be a bit scary, or cause some anxiety and this can lead to some individuals having a wobble! But thats okay, we all have a wobble sometimes, and in this article you Executive Officer Team share some of their wobbles they had as students and how they overcame them!
Anshika - Union President:
I came here in the UK as an international student and really struggled in a lot of things. One of the major highlight from that was getting an interview for a job. I was shattered applying for the jobs and not getting shortlisted, then I came to know that my CV was not upto date and ATS friendly. I went to the careers and employment hub to get that sorted. They reviewed my resume, updated it and made it market friendly. When I applied for a job with that updated CV, I got a call for an interview. So their support led me to the place I am today.
Sam - VP (Education):
Being an international student who just found their way to the UK, the first few months was stressful and isolating, and I had to stretch my savings because I couldn’t find a part-time job for about two months. Academically, I can recall a moment where I thought I’d nailed an assessment - only to find out I’d missed some criteria spelt out in the rubric - that was a tough lesson for me about how different the academic expectations were here. On top of that, I struggled to understand different accents in lectures, seminars and other informal conversations with new friends and acquaintances. However, everything began to smoothen out with my resilience, asking loads of questions and not being afraid to be genuine about how I feel - whether it meant asking people to repeat themselves to me, or engaging in informal conversations with my lecturers after each class to gain some clarification about given assessments, seeking support from the careers team with respect to reviewing my CV and landing a parttime job, intentionally building a network friends, or taking the free language (French) class held at KR on Tuesday evenings. Eventually, I soon began to enjoy my uni experience.
Eleanor - VP (Activies):
As an International student, beginning my studies here at Derby brought a whole lot of challenges that I perhaps, didn't expect to face. I was in a new environment, living in accommodation, learning in a new system, as well as being thousands of miles away from my family. I was overwhelmed and wasn't aware of the support that was here for me to access. I was struggling to find a support system here, as well as balancing my studies, work schedule and building connections with new friends. My whole first semester felt like a wobble to be honest. A massive reliever and escape for me during this time was joining Women's Football and Futsal. By joining a community I found friends that I still have connections with to do this day. I felt like I had joined something that was bigger than myself and the issues I was facing at the time. It gave me routine by attending training sessions and games every week. I found a sense of belonging with the club and a reason the stay in Derby whilst times were tough. Looking back, I am so grateful I found something that reassured me to stay in Derby and also give me some resilience during a tough time. Being a part of my team also lead to leadership opportunities as I took on Futsal Coordinator as a committee member and continued that into my third year as well. This provided me with so many skills that helped me to develop as a student, leader and as a person as well. If it wasn't for joining a sports club/Community, my first wobble of a semester could have lead my to choosing to give up and go back home instead.
After graduating in July and continuing my time at Derby as VP Activities, I've come to learn about all of the other amazing resources that we have on offer to help students during tricky times. I’ve come to understand that I wasn’t the only student experiencing a difficult moment, and that’s precisely why communities like this exist, to offer support and connection.
Kaeda - VP (Welfare):
When started in first year I was really struggling with writing my assignments and managing my time to complete them, I was having to request Requests for Additional Consideration's (RACs) on every single assignment, and then one of my friends recommended I reach out to the student hub for support, so I did. Immediately I got a response recommending I do a dyslexia screening test and they sent me a link for one and following that I got an appointment booked in with an educational psychologist and I got a diagnosis of Dyslexia and Dyspraxia. After that I asked what my next steps were and I was put in contact with the student support team who supported me with getting a support plan in place to ensure that my learning was accessible for my needs, and they also recommended that I apply for Disabled students allowance, which I did and within and by November of my first year at university I had a support plan, and specialist equipment and support which allowed me to succeed in my studies.