At an urban university

Age: 18

College or University:
At the University of Wales, Swansea studying English and Geography. My career aim is to become a primary school teacher.

Moving to the city:
It was a big culture shock! It was the little things that hit home. I could go out to different places more than once a week, and the prices here are much cheaper than in Cornwall. Also, Cornwall can be quite a narrow-minded place, whereas here you’ve got people from all kinds of backgrounds.

Why Swansea:
I wanted to leave Cornwall, because it’s too small and suffocating - I wanted to break out and look around. I thought about going to Brunel University, but that had too much concrete. Aberystwyth University was too far the other way, too quiet. I found Swansea was just right. The best thing is the nightlife. There was only 1 club in Redruth - there are so many to choose from here! Also, you’d get asked for your ID a lot in Cornwall because there’s so much underage drinking which doesn’t happen here.

Negatives:
There is no crime in my part of Cornwall, whereas there’s a lot of it about in Swansea. I’d walk anywhere at home and feel safe, but I wouldn’t walk up a quiet footpath alone in Swansea, even in daylight.

Positives:
It’s great living with so many people. I’m in the student village, so it’s great just to wander about and bump into friends. At home we lived on a farm and I was miles away from my friends.

It’s much freer here because at home everyone knows each other, so if you did anything wrong, everyone would know about it. Here, hardly anyone knows you, so you can do what you like.

Moving to Wales:
I can’t see too many differences here. The language isn’t an issue, and the only other difference I can see are the bilingual road signs. I’ll probably go back to Cornwall after my degree, but for the moment it’s great to be living here.