Hello all, being an offer holder at this stage of the year can be quite a nerve-wracking yet exhilarating with everything happening from studying for exams up to moving into university! I am Ziad Amr Kandiel an international student and student ambassador here at The Manchester School of Architecture and I am just about now wrapping up my first year at this prestigious top ranked institute. Coming from doing 4 A-Levels up into undertaking this uniquely structured course was a massive shift especially when compounded with the dynamic, fast-paced and enriching university studio culture. I do admit at first I felt the heat of independent learning and I felt it fast and it did feel very overwhelming at the start. However, fear not! This blog dives into the incredibly strong support network here at MSA, from academic advisors to peer mentors that make this experience feel much more grounded and gets you on your feet fast to indulge and unleash your creativity as soon as possible.
Firstly, and from the start, at MSA you are assigned a personal tutor. They are not just there for you when the pace is just too much to keep up with, but they are there for you at all times. They are essentially an extra layer of support that come after your studio tutors just in case you need any other inquiries or support or even a different perspective over anything that may be an issue of concern. For instance, when workload was getting really tough at the peak of our Heaton Park visitor Centre project. The volume of output was getting quite a lot for me especially when accumulated with other personal troubles at the time I was going through made me feel very overwhelmed causing me to fall behind quite a bit. Obviously, being an international student this was especially critical. This then led to me reaching out to my personal tutor who was extremely helpful in assuring me that I could slow down and explain it all to my tutors and they’d be understanding, I was then referred to the wellbeing services and was made aware of them and while ultimately I did not need to reach out to them, the assurance from the personal tutor and the fact I was made aware of all the options reassured me and helped me untangle the mess I’ve found myself in knowing that I got staff members that have my back.
Beyond the staff, the student support is also just as vital. Whether it is the formal sessions which were organized for us in which older students helped us manage tasks and gave a more casual talk through our work and gave us opinions and insight, or the already very friendly and open studio culture that is fostered in the studio between people of all ages, nationalities and backgrounds where you can just walk up and strike up a conversation forming bonds and friends from all over the world. Of course, the fact you can easily just ask away any “silly” questions you might feel too shy to ask to a tutor or if you want to ask anything about navigating daily life anything at all really is very comforting and destresses and eases that first year fear you may have and breaks the ice coming from the very highly strict schooling environment. Getting practical advice from people just like you who have been through all the all-nighters and tight deadlines and tricky technology tasks is invaluable and absolutely saves you when having those late-night studio sessions. Interacting with them doesn’t just help but also bridges the gaps between the year groups and provides opportunity for connection, instantly making you feel part of the wider MSA community.
Finally, one thing I’ve realized quite early on is how the support that the university gives goes much beyond just giving support for getting good grades, it transcends academics. Adjusting to a new city no matter how welcoming or peaceful it is, like Manchester, is a big challenge in its own right especially if you are an international student moving for the first time to the UK. The university acknowledges that full well which is why our tutors and student advisors are always very helpful in pointing us towards the host of student services and wellbeing support when things get particularly tough. Furthermore, Manchester in of itself is a very welcoming, warm and hospitable city and has a very big student population which makes it feel like you are among people just like you and go through things just like you do providing you with a sense of togetherness and a feeling that you are not alone in this.
To conclude, I would like to reiterate that architecture is not an easy course and it can be very demanding, one of the most demanding even, but you are not expected to face all these challenges alone and figure everything out by yourself. People are here for you always, so please do not let the fear of the unknown overshadow your passion and excitement for this marvelous course and opportunity to learn in a world leading institute like the Manchester school of Architecture. The best piece of advice I can close with is for you to actively engage with your tutors and advisors from the get-go as soon as you arrive on campus because they are your backbone of support in this big challenge. I would like to end this blog post by wishing you all the best for your exam results and university applications and all the luck in the world in your preparation for this huge leap you are taking for your future and I hope I can see some of you next year around studio!
Written by Ziad Kandiel