This week ex-LC pupil, Eden Pettigrew, came back to talk with us about her second year studying at university.

On an average weekday, Eden gets up at around 8am. Depending if she’s feeling athletic she may go for a run but it has been cold lately so not so much this winter. On a busy day, she will normally have two or three lectures and with her Geology studies, she will have two to three hours in the labs.

“In the lab we just go in look at hand samples and answer questions about them. After uni, depending on the roster, I may have to cook dinner. It’s great when I don't have to because when you get home from a long day it's great to have a meal cooked for you.”

She lives with 3 others in a flat in Sockburn.

“Sam, the guy, is in his 3rd year of Engineering so he’s pretty full on, just studying constantly, Brooklyn is doing 4th-year speech and language pathology, which is pretty cool, she’s about to start her first placement, and Ayla is taking a wee break from her English degree and teaching qualification. It’s a pretty cool mix of people. Living with a mix of people with different studies makes for interesting conversations. I get reminded not to clear my throat a lot from Brooklyn. It's bad for our speech she tells me.”

In her lectures, she can have up to 60 other students with her, and in the labs there will be about 15 to 20 other students.

“It's good because most of the work we have to do I get completed in my lab slots. We do have a few field trips and in the holidays, which is great fun. We had a six-day field trip north of the Waiau Valley last break. It was so cool, we had to map the entire Valley and all the rock units and so on. We used some electronic equipment but most of it was just by hand and note-taking. We were working in groups of four so we were able to compile notes together and even discuss with other groups what we found, but ultimately we completed it individually. It's pretty cool. It’s my favorite part of the subject.”

Initially, Eden enrolled in Engineering and her first year was mostly taken up with physics and math lectures. But by the end of the year, she had come to realize she was much more interested in her optional lectures she had taken that focused on Geology.

“I felt that Physics and Maths are run very differently to Geology. I didn't get a chance to make many friends first year, partly because I was living in New Brighton but also partly because of the type of study involved in the heavier science and math courses. Most of the people taking Physics and Maths are Engineers and live in the halls and they're all very young first-years, and the subject is quite competitive. But in Geology, it is a good mix of adults and young people who have been out in the world and stuff. So it’s a bit more laid back and collegial because everyone who's in it is quite passionate and love the outdoors.”

We asked her if there was any advice she had for anyone planning to head to university next year.

“Yeh, just be sure to take a few interest courses. Even if you’ve got your heart set on one thing, just try dabbling in two or three subjects where you’ve thought, oh I’ve always wanted to try that. Because that’s what I did and I ended up really liking it. Don’t just focus on one thing in your first year, try a few things, you never know what might just grab you and get you excited.”