bristol
in september, i started my undergraduate computer science degree at the university of bristol. i was initially quite worried about moving away from home and having to ‘rebuild’ a new life, but after these past few months i’ve thankfully come to enjoy my time here more than i could have ever imagined.
the computer science department here is very cool. all the lecturers have been super interesting with a clear sense of knowledge and skill behind the content they’re teaching. the structure of the course (at least for first year) seems to have a lot of thought behind it; i’ve found that content taught in one module often carried over nicely to other modules.
the large workload has been a big shock though. i never feel like i’m fully caught up with all of the taught content, and it’s made me become aware of how slowly i completed work before coming here. i’ve now inadvertently become somewhat obsessed with trying to optimise my workflow and mindset when it comes to studying and working on projects, which is still very much a work-in-progress at the moment.
there’s a programming language research group at the university, which you can definitely feel with the amount of haskell nerds you encounter here across lecturers, TAs and even students. i think it’s very, very cool. before university i never really put much thought into programming language design and type systems, but learning haskell during first term really piqued my interest for it, as well as the philosophy of functional programming as a whole. it helped that the haskell lecturers here are really passionate about what they do and even host optional ‘advanced haskell’ seminars in the second term, which i have been finding fun.
another thing i love about the univeristy is the sheer number of libraries we have access to around the city. there are 7 libraries and 5 study spaces around the main area, each with their own unique style and vibe. i’m a very big library nerd (i’m currently writing this inside the wills memorial library!), so i really appreciate having a good choice of where to go when i need some time to myself.
i’ve met a lot of interesting people too! the university seems to invite a lot of kind, fun and unique characters that i’ve had the pleasure of meeting and spending time with. bristol as a whole is a place with lots to do (and drink!), so i’ve found many opportunities to go out and have fun with friends. i truly feel like i’ve found my second home here.
view from the queen’s library.