The university is great, the facilities and people really make it what it is. The course is great, for anyone considering studying Russian I'd recommend applying to Leeds.

Personally, I love the University's campus: the obvious care and and upkeep that goes into the presentation of the outside and inside student areas makes the campus feel like a safe bubble outside of the arguably less safe city of Leeds. I think that Leeds is a great place to study for the friendly atmosphere of the place: there always seems to be student union people and staff around to engage with, both on an academic and personal level. I especially like the utilities that the University of Leeds provides: the amount of libraries and study spaces is so impressive. It has been interesting getting to know which study areas are the quieter ones, and which are the more social ones.

I so appreciate the in-person teaching in lectures and seminars now, especially in retrospect of Covid and my first year studying mainly online. I really like that the university decided to continue to upload lectures online to view for students who missed one here and there, too. I find that the university is very accommodating in its flexibility with blended learning and engagement. I would say that the QR codes in lecture halls are a bit difficult to engage with as the posters are a bit few and far between, and its not possible to take a photo to access the link every time. However, my course is very engaging, and my seminars are always relevant to the work that was set for the week. The structure of the course, in terms of lectures, is also well put together as they cover upcoming course content a week in advance. In my opinion, this makes the lectures feel like a light introduction to my reading, and this makes the course less intimidating because I feel that I gain some contextual and analytical knowledge about my course before I study the material.

I had a very mixed first year experience in my Halls. My room was spacious and practical, it had modern and clean facilities, and the area was incredibly safe. I felt very much like my room was a home from home in the initial very scary time of first year. However, I had asked to be placed in a quiet hall, and this was not the case. Sharing with eight other people was a nightmare for noise and mess, and I had a lot of problems with getting enough sleep due to the disruption. Montague Burton was did take into account my diet information, however. As someone who listed 'vegan' for their diet requirements/ preferences, I was placed with eight people, four of whom were vegan or plant-based, and two who were vegetarian. I really liked the feel of the area of Montague Burton, too. The green space in the bubble-like area of the enclosed halls made the place feel looked-after.