I like the balance of city and country life, with how close the peaks are its very easy to get outside into nature

Being a mentee last year made me want to help a student this year to help reassure them about any worries whether academic or more general worries.

Elizabeth Gerken

BA History

Why did you choose to study at Sheffield?

I choose to study at Sheffield for two reasons. Firstly because the course content looked so interesting and diverse, with a range of modules on offer instead of just mainly modern modules. Secondly, the open day made me want to study at Sheffield because of how helpful everyone was at the university, and also because the feel of the city.

Has your experience so far been what you expected?

My experience so far has been a bit different because of the Covid-19 pandemic, but all the professors and staff have been really helpful and the course is very interesting so it has still been good. This year I have been able to do more with my friends as I am more settled and confident.

What do you particularly enjoy about your degree programme?

I particularly enjoy the range of options that we are given in the degree programme, how even in our core options we are still given a range of choices. For example, last year in Paths from Antiquity to Modernity we were allowed to choose which podcast we wanted to write an essay on, giving us the choice to write about what we are interested in. Then this year, the optional modules are even more diverse allowing us to learn about periods that we might not have had the option to do otherwise.

What modules are you studying this year? Are there any modules that you have particularly enjoyed during your degree so far and why?

This year I am studying A Comparative History of Revolution, Makers of a New World - Merchants, Scholars and Commoners in Late Medieval Europe, Making History Public and because I am in my third year I am also doing a dissertation. I really enjoyed my document option module of last year in looking at the Medieval Inquisition, where we got to look at sources and to understand the various layers behind them with the inquisitor, the scribe and then the person being questioned all having a voice in the sources. This year I am enjoying my special subject Makers of a New World with the amount of detail we are able to get into when looking at late medieval Europe. I have also enjoyed the comparative History of Revolution, as looking at the different revolutions through broader themes is a nice contrast to the more detail orientated special subject.

If you’ve undertaken any extra-curricular activities, what do you feel these have added to your time here?

In the second half of my second year I took part in the student observation of teaching program, as I thought it could be interesting and useful. And it was as talking to the staff about how they plan their teaching and the information they give to students was useful for my own learning, in being able to see why they teach certain topics in certain ways. It also gave me an opportunity to share with the staff member why certain teaching styles are not so good in a constructive way and see them listen and adapt to your feedback.

What do you like about the University/living in Sheffield?

I like the balance of city and country life, with how close the peaks are its very easy to get outside into nature to get away from work and just take a break and get some exercise. I also like how close everything is with the university and shops and how easy it is to basically walk everywhere, whilst there are also bars and restaurants for a range of dietary requirements to spend time at with friends.