Lucy Robson

1st year

Lucy, from Northern Ireland, is studying Chemical Engineering.

What made you choose Heriot-Watt University?

I loved Edinburgh when I visited, and even though I did not get to go to a Heriot-Watt open day, I had done the virtual tours and saw what it was like through social media. I had Heriot-Watt and Uni of Edinburgh as my top Uni choices, but Heriot-Watt came on top due to its amazing Chemical Engineering course rankings and its location being near both the city and nature.

How did you find transitioning from school to university?

First year has been amazing so far, the jump from a-levels to Uni work is not a huge leap as I did Maths, Chemistry and Physics. All the lectures have had fantastic lecturers who are always happy to answer questions and they have detailed notes online which are so helpful for further study. The transition to living alone was made easy by always having support on campus if you need something, ranging from safeguarding to wellbeing service. Personally, living on my own has given me so much independence and choices to do new activities as well as plan to hang out with my new friends when I want.

What extra-curricular activities have you gotten involved with?

It was so easy to make friends both inside and outside of my course as everyone is in the same boat, during freshers' week I went to many events at the student union and in the city. Within a week I had met everyone in my course and had become Class Rep as well as Society Representative for the ChemEng society. Going to the society events have been so fun, for example we have had Christmas dinners, themed pub crawls, a ceilidh and bowling nights... even paintballing coming up! Through that I have spent time with my course mates as well as the older students of my programme who have given me great advice.

What’s was it like living on campus?

On my first day I got lost and ended up going through the woods to my accommodation which I was not upset about because it ended up being a lovely walk. Campus itself is big and has everything you could want, like multiple cafes and a gym! One of my favourite things about living on campus is that there is a gorgeous canal walk to a centre with food shops, said shops are also only a 15-minute bus ride away. I also love the public transport here, as it is free for young people and there are buses to everywhere in Scotland, as well as buses that run to the campus all night long! Heriot-Watt is also situated near the gorgeous Pentland hills, and you can even walk through Currie from campus to get there!

What’s your experience of living near Edinburgh?

Edinburgh is a beautiful city great for both daytime shopping and nightlife! There isn't really anything you can’t do in and around Edinburgh, including things like climbing and museums. Places I would highly recommend are places like the Dungeons and the national Museum of Scotland. It’s also so much fun to just walk around the old town and see the monuments, small cafes, and the stunning architecture.

Did you travel home often?

I travel home at least once every 2 months, usually by flying from Edinburgh airport to Belfast, but I've also taken the ferry to get my stuff over at the start of the year. It is easy enough to do and there are many ways to get the airport from campus. As a first-year student we are given a travel bursary to go back home, but i also use it to travel around England to visit grandparents and visit the friends I've made here. It's also nice to have some extra money for a cheeky takeaway.

What advice would you give to someone looking to move away from home for university?

Don’t hesitate to put yourself out there, talk to new people, go to events, and explore new interests!