back in ireland and going to UCC

illpuppy

hello. this year i will be attending UCC to study General Arts. im irish born but have lived in the philippines for the past 9 years (im 21 now). im returning to ireland to go to college but will hopefully be able to return to the philippines after my study is complete. im now in ireland and living with my aunt and uncle and although they're great (i mean i love them to bits) they are totally clueless when it comes to all this college madness. last friday we spent the day phoning places for accomodation. back in the philippines it is rare to stay on the campus and most people commute. but i decided to come back to ireland for the full irish experience.

but now im starting to wonder have i made the right decision. i have about a million questions but i'll try to be brief.

-accomodation
im sure it's not too late to find a place but what is the deal with sharing rooms? the only places that are left are the places with sharing rooms or single places where i have to live by myself. i don't want to live on my own.

-social clubs??
ive been reading the UCC guide and it talks about the various social clubs. although ive lived in ireland for most of my life, my teen years were spent in the philippines so im a bit out of the loop when it comes to socialising. that is to say that things here are very different from where ive come from. are these social clubs a good place to go and make friends or are they basically the last resort for losers?

-socialising in general??
ive worked it out from talking to my cousins here that this is how it's going to go. i go to college and live in an apartment with people i don't know and just be friends with them. but what if they all already know each other and just don't want anything to do with me? in the philippines college works like this: if you stay in a dorm then you are there with people you've never met before. the thing you have in common is money.
apparently the lectures here have around 100 people in them? how are you even supposed to talk to people without looking like a total idiot?

-racism
when i left here i never experienced racism that much apart from the odd comment now and then but my cousins are telling me that in the last few years foreign workers (including filipinos) are entering this country at a high rate and this has led to some sort of backlash against them. i don't know how much of that is true but i don't want people to shun me just because i look a little different.

-age
am i too old (21 turning 22 in december) to be going to college and living the college life or am i just kidding myself here?


that's it really. i hope to have a nice stay here in ireland and hopefully i will be able to make a few good friends.

1huge1

I can only answer some parts but i'll do my best.

As for accomodation the leaving cert results come out on wednesday the 13th of august so a lot of people will be changing their accomodation that they might of booked so a lot of places beocme available, contact the accomodations office at UCC and put your name down and theres a good chance you could get a single room.

Racism, well didn't you say you were borin in ireland? if you look irish sure you wont have any problem in that department, if you are part filipino well then im sure you wont have much of a problem either, cork has become a very multi cultural place but you will still sometimes get the odd drunken fool but its rarely happens and I would not worry about it.

As for your age, 21 would not be a problem in the slightest.

KnifeWRENCH

illpuppy wrote: »

-accomodation
im sure it's not too late to find a place but what is the deal with sharing rooms? the only places that are left are the places with sharing rooms or single places where i have to live by myself. i don't want to live on my own.

After August 13th more places will become available, because Leaving Cert students who booked accomodation may not have gotten their choice.
Best thing to do is talk to Accomodation Office:
http://www.ucc.ie/en/asa/

illpuppy wrote:

-social clubs??
ive been reading the UCC guide and it talks about the various social clubs. although ive lived in ireland for most of my life, my teen years were spent in the philippines so im a bit out of the loop when it comes to socialising. that is to say that things here are very different from where ive come from. are these social clubs a good place to go and make friends or are they basically the last resort for losers?

"last resort for losers"? Absolutely not. If that's your attitude then you won't make friends.
You should join a few clubs or societies which match your interests and you will meet new people with similar interests.

illpuppy wrote:

-socialising in general??
ive worked it out from talking to my cousins here that this is how it's going to go. i go to college and live in an apartment with people i don't know and just be friends with them. but what if they all already know each other and just don't want anything to do with me? in the philippines college works like this: if you stay in a dorm then you are there with people you've never met before. the thing you have in common is money.
apparently the lectures here have around 100 people in them? how are you even supposed to talk to people without looking like a total idiot?

This can be a problem - if you do Arts then there are 100+ students in some lectures. I don't do Arts so I don't know how hard it is to talk to people. All I can say is just try your best to talk to new people.

illpuppy wrote:

-racism
when i left here i never experienced racism that much apart from the odd comment now and then but my cousins are telling me that in the last few years foreign workers (including filipinos) are entering this country at a high rate and this has led to some sort of backlash against them. i don't know how much of that is true but i don't want people to shun me just because i look a little different.

UCC is a university which takes quite a lot of international students. The college (and Cork in general) is a very welcoming place and I very much doubt you will face any serious racism.

illpuppy wrote:

-age
am i too old (21 turning 22 in december) to be going to college and living the college life or am i just kidding myself here?

that's it really. i hope to have a nice stay here in ireland and hopefully i will be able to make a few good friends.

21 is absolutely not too old. There will be plenty of 1st students your age and older.

UCC is a great place to study and the students and lecturers (in general) are good people. Hope you enjoy it.

AbitDramatic

The accomodations office are great but also try Daft.ie - in the last week or so a lot of houses with rooms to rent have appeared and some of them are quite cheap! Personally I think the ones on Highfield ave and Magazine Rd are the best in the area because a lot of the owners have been renovating them... Myhome2let.ie also has some good places occasionally. You will most definitely find a place where you do not have to share- the days of shortages are totally over!

-Social clubs-
They are fantastic! (thats all I have to say to be honest!, I've met a lot of really nice people and I am definitely not a loser...)

-Socializing in general-
Well the social clubs etc. help a good bit with the socializing because there are nights out etc.
And with shared accommodation that is a risk you always have to take- last year I ended up sharing with total strangers and we pretty much remained that way- but it was fine...
Arts lectures always have a lot of people in them... But you do have smaller tutorial classes which consist of around 12 people.. I'm pretty good friends with about half of my tutorial class from last year so its a good way of meeting people... even though the lectures are big you will probably find yourself recognizing the rest of your class. Also if you are taking languages the class size tends to be smaller

Racism- I'm not an irish born but I have been living in Ireland for approx. the last ten years... I experience problems in secondary school but have definitely not experienced it in college! In fact I havnt seen any examples of racism in the UCC students... ( I mean there are always exceptions.. But..)

-21?-
Gosh, you make it sound like you are ancient . Really its the perfect time because you are probably still young enough to have a good time and old enough not to sacrifice your education in order to have a good time! (Like I did in First year last year =D)

Anyways! Best of luck!
P.S The best place to socialize in Java City/Coffee Dock in the O'rahilly Building (most commonly known as the ORB). You will practically see the same faces in there all the time.

illpuppy

thanks for the help and advice especially in regards to the accomodation very helpful. thank you.

the reason i asked were social clubs for "losers" was because i didn't or don't want want to come off as naive. ive been back to ireland a few times over the past couple of years and sometimes i would feel childish and goofy. the culture here is a lot more grown-up in regards to socialising and general manners.


i also was worried about my age because from what i have found out most people will be 17, 18 and i am 21!! so i will most likely be living with kids younger than me and i will be more clueless than them. it's a scary thought.

nesf

illpuppy wrote: »

i also was worried about my age because from what i have found out most people will be 17, 18 and i am 21!! so i will most likely be living with kids younger than me and i will be more clueless than them. it's a scary thought.

That's the reason to get involved with societies and clubs, you'll have a better chance of meeting people your own age at them.

midgetflynn

clubs and socs days during Fresher's Week would be one of the best times to decide what to join.all the clubs and societies set up a stand and you can ask questions and sign up there and then.getting there earlier might be better seeing as it can get very crowded

deRanged

I joined a soc in UCC last year and I'm 31! I also wasn't even the oldest person there. College is absolutely full of all sorts of people, young and old, of various ethnicities, from various countries. it's a big old melting pot and so is very friendly and understanding of cultural differences.
Oh - and age has nothing to do with how naive or mature someone is. Just wait for freshers week - most of the people you're assuming will be mature will in fact be puking on their shoes in the old bar.

Once you get here you'll start to find out what sort of thing suits you - there's something for everyone here. You can always chop and change anyway.

illpuppy

thanks again guys. ive been looking at the clubs and societies and there are a few that i would be interested in joining so hopefully i will be able to meet people there.


oh yeah. i called some of the student accomodation places and they said to call back when the results come out because of cancellations. i just have a small question. there are different "villages" (i think that's what you'd call them) and im just wondering about them. as im a bit older id like to maybe stay in accomodation with older people. like are there specific complexes where there are only 1st years or are there places where you would be sharing with mostly 2nd/3rd year students?

*edit*

i was just searching and i found this place called brookfield http://www.brookfieldcork.ie/html/students.html

i think they are houses that offer up to 8 rooms. are these any good and what is the age group like? i figure if i stay in a house then that way it'll be easier to meet lots of people?

Illkillya

Brookfield is good and very close to UCC. It won't be full of 18 year olds. Honestly, you have nothing at all to worry about at 21... if there are 19 and 20 year olds in the house they won't shun you for being old.