Starting university is a daunting task, and it can be difficult to know exactly what you will need to bring with you.
In this guide, we share five university essentials that students at the University Campus of Esports might need when joining us.
1. Something to write with:
Whether you just take simple bullet point notes, or utilise colour to make your learning even more exciting, having something to take notes with is vital for your studies.
Taking notes is really important throughout your course, and can be done on a laptop, tablet, or in a notebook.
Whilst it may seem old-fashioned, having a pen and paper for your lectures and industry talks is very helpful to effectively take notes.
There have been multiple studies into the effectiveness of handwriting notes versus typing them up, and it has been proven that the knowledge retention is much higher if you write things out by hand.
Always have something on hand when attending lectures to ensure you keep up to date with the course content and assignments.
2. External Hard drive:
Regardless of whether you are starting the first year, or are halfway through your degree, you will need an external hard drive.
Hard drives or USB sticks will become your best friend when doing large pieces of coursework, as files can quickly fill up on your desktop. Having a drive to put your work on, on top of having cloud storage through the university, will allow you to keep track of what work you have done, and make sure everything is safe.
Your course demands will really determine how much storage you will need on these hard drives, as some pieces of work will be significantly bigger than others.
For example, if you are doing the Games Design, Games Art, or Games Development courses, you will require a larger hard drive to hold your files. Whereas someone doing Esports Coaching and Management would not need as much storage as there would be less raw files.
As well as storing your university work, you can also utilise this storage for games on your personal devices – so another reason to get one!
3. Headphones:
Whether they are for quiet study, or to immerse yourself in one of our gaming suites, a pair of headphones will allow you to study your way.
There will be opportunities for quiet study regularly, so being able to sit down with some music or a podcast on can really help you focus.
Wired headphones, wireless earbuds, or even a gaming headset can easily be used whenever you want to zone into your work with some background noise to help. On top of being able to use them for studying, depending on the headphones you have, you can plug them into computers in on-site gaming suites to play more comfortably.
Having your own peripherals can make a world of difference in gameplay, so bring them in where possible!
Headphones are an easy tool to aid you through studying your degree, especially for moments where you want some time to focus and crack on with coursework.
4. Food, or money for food:
Something that is easily forgotten in amongst a busy day at university is taking time to eat, and this is really important to maintain energy throughout the day.
You can bring some of your own food and snacks onto campus to eat during the day between lectures or investigate options to purchase some whilst you are here.
There are a few vending machines on site, a café upstairs in the VeloPark, and multiple shops around the Stratford area that you can buy food and drink from.
The wide variety of options will give you the opportunity to eat your favourites, and even try a range of new foods.
5. Sentimental Items:
If you are moving into student accomodation, it is a good idea to gather some sentimental items together to help you transition from being away from home.
Something even as simple as photos, or some decorative items will make a room feel more homely – easing you into your new home throughout your studies.
There is no set list of what you should use to decorate your accommodation – so find what you love and get creative.
These are just a few of the things you may need when starting university this September, and there are plenty of things you can find to make your student experience even better.
Want to know more about what you are going to be getting up to during your time at the University Campus of Esports? Check out the student hub on our website for further information.