Hi guys my name’s Elizabeth and this is Dilys [Elizabeth’s very cute dog on her lap] and I’ve been asked to speak to you today about my experience studying the joint degree at Warwick and studying in the GSD Department more specifically.

I study GSD and Philosophy as a joint degree and I’d like to start off this video by saying that I literally cannot sing the praises of this Department enough. I’m so thankful that I got the grades to study here and just to be here because I love the Department, I love the staff, I love everything that we learn. It sounds so nerdy but I love going to lectures and just being able to listen to such well-informed and lovely people speak about things that I’m passionate about and that they’re passionate about. I think that that’s definitely my favourite part of the degree is that you’re just studying from and with people who are so like-minded to you and that see this beautiful thing in the world and they want to capture it and learn more about it, and then set it free into the world, and live beyond themselves, and make a positive change for others. That’s definitely my favourite part of the degree by far and if that’s something that makes your soul shine too, you should definitely think about studying GSD because everybody here is just like that. Everybody wants to be the driver of change.

I think that personally doing a joint degree with Philosophy, philosophy is at the foundation of everything. If you think about things, you’re a philosopher. Even if you are saying that you’re a philosopher consciously or even if you’re doing it unconsciously, everybody thinks about: why we’re alive?, what is the meaning of life?, why is the world built the way it is?, why do people act the way they do? It interacts with GSD so closely because GSD is such a holistic degree and it recognises that there is this web/array of all of these ideas, knowledge, people, experiences that go into making sustainable change and that each person has their own unique voice that deserves to be heard. I think that’s something that’s so unique and special about the degree.

One piece of advice I would definitely give any students coming to Warwick would be get to know your Department, especially as you’re so lucky to have GSD as your parent Department because everybody is so lovely. It’s just like having the cool teacher that you were really close to in sixth form. Secondly would be to just throw yourself into every single experience. Even if you think you have a really niche or strange thing you’re interested in, it’s university – no one cares, no one is going to judge you! See it as a fresh start, just do it. So, for example, I do Allotment Society and, as you can see, I’m sat in front of my onions right now… Allotmenting is for grannies, it’s so weird to like that! But, who cares?! We have a whole society for it – everybody is so welcoming, nobody will judge you for anything. Just get stuck into it and just be unapologetically yourself. I think that GSD is definitely something that supports that 100 percent because it recognises that it takes this whole kaleidoscope of people to make the world go round and that there’s beauty in everything. That is something that is so, so intrinsic to GSD, and makes the degree so unique and a pleasure to study.

I hope that this video was okay and I hope to see you around campus next year! Bye.