Positive Open Day experience opened up new world to WGU student

Date: 2021

A Wrexham Glyndwr student has shared their story of being inspired to go to university thanks to their experience at an Open Day.

For prospective students, as well as being an opportunity to see and find out more about a university, Open Days can be potentially daunting.

The university might be in a place you are unfamiliar with, where you do not know anyone. Or if you are returning to education after a long period of time, the academic world itself can seem a little overwhelming.

Wrexham Glyndwr prides itself on accessibility and inclusion, which is a key feature of Open Days at the University, and something which struck a chord with current student Chris Fielding when they attended one a few years ago.

Chris, from Rochdale in Lancashire, is a student on the Youth and Community Work Degree course, and says they were unsure about whether the University was right for them until their visit to Glyndwr.

They said: “I went to an Open Day in 2018 and I really liked it.

“I liked the size of the campus. I didn’t want to go to an across-city university as I have mobility issues, so I liked the accessibility of the campus.

“I liked the nature, the little rock garden in front of ‘K’ block, the trees, the plant bays.

“The staff were friendly and I got to talk to my course leader and she didn’t rush me at all, she answered all of my questions. She was really reassuring to my mum as well because my mum was worried about me going to university.”

“I’d been to Glyndwr a couple of times before for Comic Con so I already had an idea of the layout, but it was different to go there and look at it as somewhere I could go for education.”

Chris added that the friendliness and approachability of Glyndwr’s Student Ambassadors played a key part in their positive experience on the day.

They said: “Student Ambassadors helped me find where things were. It could have been overwhelming as you’ve got all the programmes in the Sports Centre, so a Student Ambassador noticed I was confused and checked I was alright and showed me to Youth Work.

“I thought it was really cool that there were Student Ambassadors. I had been to an Open Day at another university and I did not enjoy it at all, it was very commercial.

Since that Open Day, Chris says they have not looked back and that their experience as a student since has matched up to their Open Day visit.

The inclusive nature of Glyndwr and the level of support they have received has lived up to expectations.

Chris added: “I think inclusion is really good at Glyndwr. As a disabled student I think this was the perfect university to go to because, I have my Learning Plan, maybe a couple more tutorials with my tutors than maybe a regular student would.”

“It’s been a really positive learning experience which has made me enjoy education as I didn’t before – I didn’t enjoy high school, I really struggled with GCSE’s, didn’t want to do A Levels because I didn’t think it was for me.  

“I did four years in a vocational college, then decided I wanted to do Youth Work and Community Work, so I started looking around and was encouraged to look at a university degree and I found this one. I’ve got no regrets, I’m really happy.”

For more information and upcoming open day dates, visit our Open Days page.