What is there to do at Sheffield Hallam Uni?

[Sharp87 10]

this is the most obvious windup ever

[Strix 11]

Oh, I just realised I spelt Sheffield Hallam as 'hallum' after I goggled it. Sorry, I can't spell. I don't normally notice spelling errors and can't remember words too well. That's why I get learning support for dyslexia at college. Spell check usually fixes it for me though. I usually read over everything I type at least 10 times so that people don't mock my spelling but I still make mistakes.

I really hope you don't think I'm mocking. My degree is in engineering, from the very same establishment. I'm a CAD operator, when I'm not being a mum, and you wouldn't BELIEVE the trouble that can be caused by lack of attention to detail in a drawing or design office - seriously!

(there are some highly amusing examples on CADTutor's forum if you register and look through the community bit of the forum that's closed to non-members )

 

I've been watching documentaries on dyslexia when they've cropped up. It's interesting how far beyond 'spelling problems' the condition actually goes. What other symptoms do you have?

[AlasdairG 10]

I really hope you don't think I'm mocking. My degree is in engineering, from the very same establishment. I'm a CAD operator, when I'm not being a mum, and you wouldn't BELIEVE the trouble that can be caused by lack of attention to detail in a drawing or design office - seriously!

(there are some highly amusing examples on CADTutor's forum if you register and look through the community bit of the forum that's closed to non-members )

 

I've been watching documentaries on dyslexia when they've cropped up. It's interesting how far beyond 'spelling problems' the condition actually goes. What other symptoms do you have?

 

That's ok, just people often complain at my spelling and related things so its annoying. Other problems I have are things like sometimes two words next to each other can look identical and then people say they are different they look like the same word to me like some kind of optical illusion. Similarly, sometimes the letters of a word can get rearranged and I don't notice. People typing to me sometimes have to write words in capitals with letters separated by spaces. Another problem is that if I see a big lot of text then it sometimes looks like a blur of confusing shapes until I focus on one particular letter when I start to see the word. I also have a very bad memory. I have been told that that is to do with dyslexia. I have to make lots of lists of everything I have to remember because things don't seem to stay in my head. For example I brought my maths homework to college to hand in and then forgot why I was supposed to go to the maths classroom until I was on the bus going home. It's mostly just things like that. I know of others much worse than me though.

 

Its all just things I can deal with so it's no problem really. I like design because its kinaesthetic so I can focus on it easier. Design & Engineering have always been the only subjects I am interested in. As with many things like dyslexia, it just means you have to work a bit harder. It didn't stop me from getting an A* in GCSE English, I just had to work really hard.

 

As for the mistakes in CAD, these are overcome in industry by standardising and simplifying as much as possible. Rather than the drafter doing the writing and the layouts, they should only have to insert their drawing into a template layout. This reduces the number of errors, people needed to check drawings and overall time. That still doesn't mean that they should be careless. You probably already know about this as its part of lean manufacturing and six sigma, but oh well. My tutors at college have many stories of such things as products being made 100m tall rather than 100mm because of carelessness and a lack of standards, simplification and organisation.

 

Anyway, back to discussing Sheffield...

[AlasdairG 10]

hi, if you like sports and outdoor activities then sheffield will be great for you, there

are lots of clubs and societies and the Peak District on your door step

 

Yes, Sheffield sounds really good. If I don't go to university there then I'll at least go for a holiday some time. It's basically got every extracurricular thing I wan't to do- Fencing, Sailing, outdoor activities and things as previously mentioned.

 

I had a look at Brunel university today and it's basically a strange student bubble town. It is really an educational theme park. It is like staying at Disneyland where you don't need to know what lies past the perimeter. The way it's set up is as if they expect people to never leave campus for the whole time. Brunel has its own high street with shops, restaurants, pubs and a bank. It has its own shopping centre as well. It has its own weekly market on campus. It also has a few massive sports centres on its high street. The buildings in Brunel aren't that nice looking either- big angular blocks, but then I dislike most of modern architecture. They say it's 'Brunel University London' but its actually about an hour from London. Brunel is in Uxbridge. From what I saw, Brunel university is actually bigger than Uxbridge town centre. Uxbridge is a fairly average small town that is just a more concrete version of the town I live in now (Epping). Like Epping, Uxbrige is separated from London by fields and roads connecting residential areas. Living in Uxbridge would be just like living in Epping in terms of getting to London as both are in zone 6. In that case I might as well be at home.

So if you ever want to compare Sheffield with Brunel University London for its student life, Sheffield is better in my opinion, but Brunel is still good because of its facilities and intonational standing.

Edited October 25, 2012 by AlasdairG

[Strix 11]

I can relate to most of that stuff, Alasdair

Do you get as frustrated as I do when somebody just can't visualise something until it's actually built infront of them?

 

Most of the jobs I've worked in have been about bespoke or one off products/constructions though, so there is never room for standardisation, but I know what you're saying

 

Sheffield is a great place to study. It has pretty much all you're asking for (hasn't the union got a website with a list of societies on it?) and probably more besides. For water sports google 'Rother Valley Country Park'.

 

Climbing and walking is something Sheffield is famous for - mainly in the peak district, but it has some great artificial walls too. Don't worry about ages for walking etc. Take a train to Edale and you'll find people of ALL ages out on the hillsides, and in the pubs afterwards. When it snows you'll even find some determined skiers and snowboarders too! (no lifts!). Castleford is probably your best bet for a snow dome - visit Decathlon to sign up for their equipment trial days to get in cheaper. Sadly the dry slope at Sheffield has recently suffered a fire so is no longer open

 

Visit the sports and activities area of this forum for squabbles about which martial arts class/style is best

 

What sort of motorbiking are you interested in? There's speedway at Owlerton

Edited October 25, 2012 by Strix

[AlasdairG 10]

Do you get as frustrated as I do when somebody just can't visualise something until it's actually built infront of them?

 

Yes, exactly. Even my product design teacher at school couldn't visualise something until it was actually built in front of them, but then she was a bit of an idiot who only cared about money. Anyway, that's the importance of a good drawing.