Luke Chadwick

I have always been interested in computers and wanted to go into a career related to that. I wasn’t able to do computer science for GCSE until year 9. Because I enjoyed that subject in my final 2 years for GCSE and in my 2 years in sixth form I wanted to continue the subject in university. I found that doing computer science gave me challenges that were hard enough to be difficult but not so hard that I found it impossible. A degree in computer science seemed like the perfect fit for me.

I chose to study at Edge Hill because I loved the campus, as well as the accommodation and the facilities available in the Tech Hub. The campus made the university stand out compared to others I looked at because I liked how everything was close to each other and the fact it was not in the middle of a city, but also not too far to walk into Ormskirk. I didn’t know where I was going to go to university but after I saw the CAVE and how up to date the computers were compared to other universities, I knew that Edge Hill was the right choice. After seeing the accommodation that validated my choice because it just had everything I was looking for in what I wanted for accommodation.

While at Edge Hill I have improved my teamwork and communication skills, because I have taken part in multiple group projects on my course which required me to build on my skills. I also improved my problem-solving skills by a lot from the challenges that were set in seminars as well as on coursework. There have been lots of opportunities to improve my skills whilst on this degree.

The most memorable moment of my degree so far was a week before the deadline for a group project, we booked a room in the Catalyst and spent almost all day in there working with each other until we were sure that it was ready to be submitted. It was memorable because we were all talking together so it felt like it didn’t take any time at all. The Catalyst is my favourite place on campus. It is open almost all the time, which means I can even go in the middle of the night to get my work done!

My favourite thing about my degree is all of the different programming languages that I have learned as part of the course. When I started at university I only knew a bit of python, but I have since learned a lot more of it as well as other languages which I have used in coursework that I have been set. Learning these has also helped me to work on my own personal projects to experiment with what I have learned.

The support system is really good at Edge Hill, I can always go to someone such as my personal tutor if I ever need help with anything. I meet with my personal tutor multiple times a year to discuss how my course is going and what I should do next. Whenever I have had a problem and been stuck I have been able to ask my seminar tutors or lecturers for help. And I have been able to talk to various other people around the university who have either helped me or pointed me to people who could help.

The one piece of advice I would give to someone considering my course at Edge Hill would be not to give up, the course can get difficult at times but there is always a way to solve any problem you are given, and you can always get help from other people. Edge hill has supported me during my degree a lot with there being lots of opportunities to improve my skills and go to people for help. My goal has always been to go into a career in Computer Science but I have never been sure which role to go into, but I am now aiming to go into a general Computer Science role so I can decide from there if that is best suited for me or if a specific area is better for me.