Meet Annetta Chilufya

Brief introduction of me

Where I come from

I come from a country in the south of Africa called Zambia. It is a very beautiful country. It is has a lot of mountains and hills and the sun is always shinning even when it is raining. Zambia has a lot of friendly people and when you go to visit my country you can never feel out of place and maybe that is why I thought there was no country more beautiful than it but I guess I was wrong.

How I found out about Stirling University

I never thought or dream I would find myself so far away from home. It was a warm afternoon and I was beginning to feel like I was going to give up on finding my perfect university because I had applied to many universities and I was turned down due to various reasons. But this one particular afternoon my aunt called and told me to apply to the university of Stirling, I told her I was tired of applying to universities that would turn me down so I had decided to stay in my country, but she advised me to give it a try. I thought about it and I decided to look it up on the internet. When I found the university website I could not believe my eyes and I knew this time it would work out because it was the most beautiful university I had ever seen.

My journey here

It was a very long journey and I was very tired and I even became home sick. When I arrived at Heathrow airport, I had to connect flights to Glasgow, where I spent a few days before coming to the university, I began to feel very home sick and I was beginning to regret my decisions to come to this university.

Settling into the university

When it was time for me to live Glasgow and come to university here, I become very depressed and unhappy but when I saw the university with my own eyes I could not hide the joy and happiness I felt in my heart. I was overwhelmed by the environment and the university itself. After I arrived I went to my residential hall which is Andrew Stewart Hall and I was shown my room and loved it, its nice and warm and its then I realized this was going to be my new home and its for this reason I managed to settle in very well. I have made a lot of friends I especially have a lot of Chinese friends and we have a lot of fun together, I have even learnt how to eat Chinese food.

My interests

I love playing Golf and going to the Gym. I was afraid that I was would not find a lot of sports facilities on campus but the university offers a wide range of sporting activities and it is very interesting because I can even involve myself in sports that I thought I would try out. I am planning to join the sky diving society it sounds like fun although I am afraid of heights. Please wish me luck.

International study centre

The International Study Centre (ISC) in conjunction with the University of Stirling helps to prepare us for the 2nd year in university in our various courses. At the end of our study period at the ISC we gain an undergraduate certificate which enables us enter the main university.

Location

The ISC is located in the Cottrell building which is a very beautiful building with nice view of the hills and the Stirling castle.

University facilities

Apart from benefiting from the ISC facilities we also have full access to the main universities facilities such as the IT services, the main library and various student bodies.

Academic progress

The lecturers keep track of our progress all the time in order to ensure that we get good grades at the end of our programme which will enable us to enter second Year University. We are given a lot of assignments and assessments which help us to know how we are progressing in our various courses.

In conclusion, I am now studying the basics of software engineering which cover a lot of different subjects. I wanted to study banking and finance but I decided to do something more challenging. The teachers are very helpful and give extra help when we need it. They is very stiff competition in our classes which persuades me to study and work even harder. I have learnt a lot from being an ISC student at the University of Stirling and when I go back to my home country I will take the skills I learn from here to go and contribute to the on going development.