McGhee in Magee

How I make my drive to uni a little more bearable. Driving to uni might seem like a small part of your day, but I've spent enough time in the car either stuck in traffic or just cruising along that familiar road, to know that it can make or break your day. Sometimes it's peaceful and gives me loads of time to think, but other times it's completely maddening and I'm exhausted before I've even made it to uni (but that's usually just because I haven't given myself enough time to get there).  I've compiled a list of my top 5 tips to help make that journey to classes that little bit easier. 1 - Find Your Perfect Soundtrack.  Pick your poison: an audiobook, your go-to playlist, or a podcast. My drive to campus usually takes around 30-40 minutes (depending on traffic), so I usually opt for a good podcast to keep me company. Some of my favourites right now are The 2 Johnnies Podcast , The Girls Groupchat Podcast , and We Need to Talk with Paul C. Brunson . I usu...

How taking a year out helped me fall back in love with learning.  Welcome back!  So, as the title suggests, back in 2022 I was ready to throw in the towel and give up on education altogether. After pushing through my first year, I'd simply had enough. I decided to hit pause for a while and took a position working with the Civil Service (complete with my cute little office outfits and all). It was a really great year for me: I learned so much, met some amazing people and gained a lot of confidence. But, whilst I loved my job, I knew I didn't want to do it forever. I wanted to study again, I wanted to be doing something I was really truly passionate about, and that's how I ended up here, back in university, this time in Magee, and this time studying Marketing. But I'm getting ahead of myself... so let's rewind.  When you're 18 and finishing A-levels, it felt like school really frowned upon anyone taking a year out, and (for me anyway) you’re almost pressured into ...

 Hello Friends! My name is Toni (McGhee) 😉, and I'm a second year student in Ulster University's (you guessed it) Magee campus. I've created this space to share exactly what it's like to study in the amazing city of Derry.  Here's a little about me: I am a commuter! I live a short 30 min drive from campus, which definitely has its pros and cons. At 22, I'm a little older than most of my classmates, and my path to studying marketing hasn't exactly been straightforward. Back in 2022 I started in Ulster University Belfast studying Textile Art, and Fashion Design. After pushing through my first year I realized it wasn't a very good fit for me and made the difficult decision to step away. After a year of soul-searching and working full-time, I found my way back to university, this time at Magee, studying Marketing, and it's one of the best decisions I've ever made. I know what it's like to juggle (and struggle with) studying, commuting, working a...