Frey

Why did you choose to come to Surrey?

I chose to come to Surrey because when I was in the process of looking at other universities, Surrey stood head and shoulders above the rest as the course seemed much more interesting and it honestly felt like I was going to come out of doing the degree with a wider range of skills and knowledge. In addition to this, their support schemes looked very solid and this has really benefited me as a student with dyslexia. The facilities like the library, synth labs and mac labs are all top tier for their equipment and spaces that can be used for studying. 

Finally, the university's clubs and societies are really good with me joining the Karting Society which has been brilliant to continue my hobby at university as well as have this to balance out leisure time and study time.

How have you been finding your first year so far?

After finishing the first semester, I've so far found life at university very good as already I've felt that I have learnt a lot and progressed as a person as well as an artist. Having learnt how to use various new pieces of software and actually find out new things about software that I already used has been very fun. 

I've enjoyed the independence that has come with being a university student as this has made my day to day routines be much more efficient and has made me feel like as each day goes on that I have achieved a lot. Now that the first round of assessments are out of the way, I am looking forward to what semester two brings so that I can continue to add to my portfolio of work and skills.

Is university life as you expected it would be?

I don't think university life has been what I expected it to be in a positive way as initially when arriving I thought that having to remember to do all these things with becoming independent would be a bit overwhelming and on top of that having to live with 14 people in halls would be chaos. However, I quickly found that this isn't the case at all. Living with 14 people has been really fun as you create your own little community in your halls. Having to manage workloads along side day to day task has been fine and mostly stress-free. Also, I thought that freshers' week and other social events would be slightly less fun for me as I'm quite used to staying in my comfort zone but it turns out that now I am very outgoing and enjoy social events and meeting new people.

What is the most interesting thing you've worked on so far?

So far, I have found our Sound Design module to be the most interesting to work on as learning how to use the Cardinal VCV rack has been very interesting and exciting. To learn how different modules all work and how they all affect each other once wired up. 

It's very cool to be able to produce music using this software without the use of a DAW and adding in layers of randomness to a song. I have also enjoyed the various briefs given to us for our Creating Electronic Music module as it has made me think outside the box when creating music and has also allowed me to explore different genres that I previously may not have liked or even heard of. 

Have you surprised yourself in any way this year?

I have surprised myself this year as I have been able to get myself involved in a lot more different things than I expected that I would. 

I've also been more experimental with my work and have been able to apply techniques I've learnt at university into my own personal work. I did have doubts about some modules that I wasn't particularly strong in but have come out with grades better than what I expected. 

I think also the relationships that I have made with people have surprised me as I feel like some of my new friends I have made while at university feel like my friends that I have known for years.