Until I had actually stepped foot on AUB Campus, I didn’t think I’d be going to university at all. I’d spent Year 13 ignoring the UCAS applications, going to as few university Open Days as possible and enjoying my time in blissful ignorance.
My journey to being a part of the AUB community 100% relied upon the Clearing process. My original plan was to take a gap year to study a fifth A-Level. My friends were baffled at that, and it’s safe to say my school thought I was a bit insane. But hey, it was what I wanted to do. I was happy with that decision.
Happy. That is, until I found out it would cost me over £900 just to sit the exams. I’d rang every local school but there was simply nowhere to go. With that, the dream of a fifth A-Level died, and I was faced with 440 days of doing absolutely nothing. I had to do something. I couldn’t just sit around, find a small local job in a café or on the beach. I wanted to study. I wanted to learn, engage myself with academics, create art and enjoy the whole university experience. That’s where Clearing stepped in.
Nobody ever really talks about Clearing – it seems to be a secret little process, often overlooked. In my case, I hadn’t even heard of it before my mother told me about it in late August. I had good enough results to get in, and after a period of umming and ahhing about applying, I just decided whatever, let’s call to check if there’s space on the courses I wanted to do!
Judging by the fact you’re reading this – there was!
I checked availability for both Photography and Creative Writing and ended up applying to both. The whole process was surprisingly easy: a five-minute call, some email exchanges and there I was – applying to university! The whole concept that I’d become so ignorant towards just six months before was now in my hands, and to be completely honest was a lot easier than I expected.
I chose BA (Hons) Creative Writing, meaning I now had to write a personal statement and then send the application across to finally apply for a real university course. I did have to ask for an extension since they only gave me 48 hours to send my personal statement, and I personally felt that I needed more time to write one that truly reflected me, so my advice would be to prepare that a lot sooner.
I was ready now to wait… a whole, long… 10 hours! It was incredibly fast and extremely easy, and I’m almost glad I went through Clearing rather than directly applying, as the process was fully complete within a week or so. After acceptance, I had to sort my student loans and the financial aspects of university, and thanks to Martin Lewis for help on that front.
AUB has been the perfect destination for me. I’m a BCP local anyway, so for my first year, staying at home has been a great experience and removed a lot of stress, but hearing from others who took the same route I did from further afield, they’ve been just as happy.
More than anything, I found a community at AUB that I’d been missing. The campus is vibrant and creative, full of people who fit into the same box I once thought I occupied alone. Within the first week, I’d already made friends on my course, and even a few from others. I’ve been able to participate in so many things I hadn’t considered before, from writing outdoors and crafting a screenplay to going to independent theatre shows and performances. Life at AUB has been exciting, creatively fulfilling, and overall, very stimulating – I don’t regret a thing coming here.
I’ve realised after reflecting on my first year at AUB and writing this that I’ve gained a lot of confidence in both sharing my ideas and receiving feedback from others, and I’m so pleased with my decision to study here. AUB has been there to foster my growth, and I’ve loved the freedom that my course brings; being fully coursework-based means I’ve not had to worry about exam revision, instead hours upon hours of drafting, writing, re-writing and editing. It’s been such a pleasure to study at AUB, and I have to thank the Clearing process for all of it. Without it, I wouldn’t have had the best year of my life.
