Meet the Advocates in the Health Sciences team

Emma, the author of the blog postby Emma Ford, Bristol Futures Advocate

I am very excited to introduce you to your new Health Science Bristol Futures Student Advocates! We are a small group of six, very friendly, current University of Bristol students. This year we hope to share our years of experience with you. You can participate by signing up for our workshops, attending our peer support sessions, and reading our blog. So, watch this space!

 

Carys James

  • Year and course: Veterinary Science – 4th year
  • Fun fact: I have a pet African pygmy hedgehog
  • Study tip: Make sure you go back over lectures throughout the whole course of the year instead of leaving it until a few weeks before exams to cover all of the content. This will keep your memory refreshed and improve it long term.

Sina Gilannejad

  • Year and course: Dentistry – 5th year
  • Fun fact: In first year I featured in the dental school’s YouTube video “a day in the life of a Bristol dental student” and now 33,000 have seen my terrible haircut at the time…
  • Study tip: Ask for help and advice from the older years! They’ve been in your position, got the grades to prove it and can give you pointers on how to pass with flying colours!

Molly Jackson

  • Year and course: 2nd year PhD student – translational health sciences
  • Fun fact: I sold a necklace to the comedian Jon Richardson when I had a job at a jewellery shop.
  • Study tip: Split down your revision into 5 steps to help manage your workload: record, reduce, recite, reflect, and review!

Chelsie Bailey

  • Year and course: final year vet.
  • Fun fact: I have a first degree in animal behaviour and welfare from Bristol.
  • Study tip: Study over longer period (e.g., months) instead of cramming lots into a few weeks to allow my very dyslexic brain to have time to process it and understand.

Jess Mounty

  • Year and course: 4th year Veterinary Science
  • Fun fact: Before starting at Bristol, I studied Zoology at UCL
  • Study tip: I have found it helpful to treat University like a full-time job, sticking to 9am-5pm working hours

Emma Ford

  • Year and course: 4th year veterinary science
  • Fun fact: No one can ever guess where I am from because my accent is quite uncharacteristic from growing up in international schools.
  • Study tip: Make your own questions when going over your notes! It helps your brain work, and the better you get at it, the more your questions will start to resemble the ones you could get on your exams! It’s especially helpful if you can get other students involved so you make a database of questions! It’s a great resource to build over the course of the year so when you get to exams you have a lot of questions to practice!

 

You can find current drop-in times & locations for Health Science students on our Peer Support page on Blackboard.

 

 

 

 

Meet the Advocates in the Social Sciences and Law team

by Michelle Kafe, Bristol Futures Advocate

This year the Study Skills department has some amazing new and returning Student Advocates. The Social Sciences and Law division has a dedicated team of students, all of whom are more than excited to dive into the year ahead.

Up first, we have Michelle Kafe, who is a second year LLB Law student. The aspect of Law she most enjoys is finding and applying as much legislation as she can to support her arguments. As a first-time advocate, Michelle has already had great experiences teaching workshops and looks forward to further engaging with this in the future.

Corrin Bramley is in her third year of postgraduate research study at Bristol, working towards a PhD in Politics with a project about political leadership in the United States. An interesting fact about Corrin is that she is quite the voyager and has lived in multiple places across England and Scotland -not including her exciting year abroad in California! Corrin most enjoys the independent nature of her studies and has a deep appreciation for how this allows her to apply the skills from previous education into creating her very own passion-project.

Ali Strokova is a third-year student in BSc Education Studies. This is Ali’s first year as a Student Advocate and she has already shown her enthusiasm and a readiness to support her peers and show them that they are not alone in their educational struggles. A fun fact about Ali is that she likes to microwave her ice-cream before eating it!

Anaya PriceAnaya Price is from Trinidad and Tobago and is in her second year of undergraduate LLB Law. Anaya credits the pleasure of her course to her specifically chosen modules -namely Family Law, Medical Law and Crime Justice and Society- which she feels have real-life appeal and are expressed daily in our society. As a first-time advocate, she is excited to meet new people, help, and also learn from others.

 

 

Born and raised in Italy, our next advocate, Manshika Arjoon, is a third year Economics and Finance student. This is Manshika’s second year of being a Student Advocate and she delights in her ability to share her university experiences and insights with other students. She also looks forward to holding in-person sessions, as this was not possible in her last year.

Tala YouhanaTala Youhana has joined the Student Advocate team this year and looks forward to being part of a friendly team and community of students, as well as engaging with the breadth of activities we have planned. As a second-year law student, Tala values the distinction between black-letter law and the open nature of its applications to society. Tala has already shown her enthusiasm via her involvement in writing articles and running workshops for the Study Skills team. A fun fact about Tara is that she has never won a game of Monopoly!

 

Evidently, the entire team is excited to begin the new academic year, take on new challenges, and provide support for our peers. This fantastic group of students -and a few more- are ready to run workshops, host drop-in sessions and lead tutorials in the most encouraging and useful way possible.

You can find current drop-in times & locations for Social Science & Law students on our Peer Support page on Blackboard.

 

 

 

 

Meet the Advocates in the Life Sciences team

We are Bristol Futures Advocates from the faculty of Life Sciences. Our role is to support you in your studies and help you expand your skills.

Aisling MahonyAisling Mahony

Hi, I’m Aisling! I’m currently in my third year at Bristol studying Biochemistry and this is my second year as an advocate on the Life Sciences team. I decided to work in the Bristol Futures team after the pandemic caused a switch to online learning. I had used the Personal Development Plan throughout my first year of university to help plan my growth both within my studies and in my career journey, so I understood how beneficial Bristol Futures and Study Skills can be to students. My experience as an advocate has been really rewarding and I’ve really enjoyed working with other advocates in the Life Sciences team to deliver workshops and run peer support sessions.

Breanna Goff

Hello, my name is Breanna and I am a third-year Psychology student. I have been working as a student advocate for a month now and I am loving it so far. I was interested in becoming an advocate as I wanted to contribute to the ever-developing learning environment we offer to Bristol students. The job itself is also really flexible for anyone looking for a job within uni. Since being a student advocate, I have worked with the amazing Life Sciences team to create workshops and develop future plans for Study Skills as a whole. Not only has this been an enjoyable experience so far but it has also allowed me to refine my own study skills to apply to my degree.

Carol HuangCarol Huang

Hey, I’m Carol. I’m a year 2 Plant Sciences student from the School of Biological Sciences. Throughout my first year Study Skills tutorials have helped me break down reports and essays, it really helps to have a look from a generic perspective to stop me from getting carried away in subject knowledge and forgetting the basics.

 

 

Emily Thomas

Hello, my name is Emily and I’m a year 3 student in Biomedical Sciences. I started working as an advocate this year, I thought it would be a great way to develop professional skills whilst contributing to the wider university community. I really valued the opportunities offered by Bristol Futures as a whole such as the Bristol Plus Award and found the online resources on Blackboard have some helpful tips on how to adjust to university-style learning and learning during the Covid-19 pandemic. This made me keen to get involved as I already had experience with Bristol Futures as a student.

Martina MattioliMartina Mattioli

Hey, I’m Martina! I began my journey as a student advocate in September and it’s been a great experience so far! It’s really rewarding to be able to help students both in drop-in sessions and workshops. I really enjoy the sense of community Bristol Futures tries to build; it isn’t always easy to feel a part of something at university because there is so much going on. I decided to become a student advocate because during my first year Study Skills tutors helped me a lot in my studies and adjusting not only to studying at university but also online learning and I wanted to be able to do the same for other students.

Jasmin Rahman

Hello, I’m Jasmin, I’m in my 3rd year of Cellular and Molecular Medicine. I have been a Bristol Futures advocate for a year and since starting my advocate role I have definitely become a more self-aware learner. It’s taught me to experiment with my learning rather than sticking to old revision methods as a force of habit. I’ve really enjoyed engaging with so many different students last year and I’m looking forward to doing more in-person advocate work this year!

Sabrina ChoongSabrina Choong

Hi, I’m Sabrina! I’m a 3rd-year Biochemistry student. This is my second year as a Bristol Futures advocate, I joined because I wanted to try something new and to feel what being a part of the university community is like as not just a student. It’s been really enjoyable being able to meet new people and help other students like myself integrate better into university life. As a student what I found the most helpful thing about Study Skills are the workshops. If you don’t use any other services or features in Study Skills, I urge you to try out workshops you think might be useful to you because it has helped me immensely throughout university.

 

Book a workshop with us or come find us at our Drop-in sessions from 1pm-2pm on:

  • Mondays online
  • Wednesday in the Biomedical Sciences Café
  • Friday in the atrium of the Life Sciences building

We look forward to meeting you!

You can find current drop-in times & locations for Life Science students on our Peer Support page on Blackboard.