BA (Hons) English

Anisa

Hi. I’m Anisa. I study English at University of Greenwich at the Maritime Campus. You must be thinking it’s a dull subject right? It. Must. Seem. Like. This. To. You. Most of my friends can’t stand English because they see the typical characteristics of it, e.g. Reading and Writing. Literally, that’s it. But with me, it’s a whole different story… I find it art, I find it something I can express myself with. I find it a tool to become who I am every day.

In my course, I've been reading many different books from different backgrounds, different time of year, basically different everything! But that’s how I learn about my interests. By attending lectures, having discussions in seminars, I was able to break down a 300 page novel to a ‘conversation’ to be able to explain the overall plot and storyline of the story. By studying various themes of stories, I discovered what kind of authors I prefer and what type of novels I enjoy. The one I recently read was ‘The catcher in the Rye’ by J.D Salinger… Love that book. I recommend you read it! Seriously, as I was in my breaks at work, I would read it, and I couldn't stop laughing. It felt like the author was speaking to me and retelling how his journey was. It’s amazing to see how a 300 page novel is retelling events that happened for about 3 days. The pace that gets built up and the description which it consists of, all pull together to create such a moving and interesting novel.

Why I chose English? I've always had this weird fetish for writing. Whether it was poems or plays or just writing, I loved it. I studied Drama in School and I achieved a 100% A* grade in it and for English I got an A! I was ecstatic with the result. In the future I would be interested to take up drama because Drama and English seem to blend well with one another and it is easily relatable to one another. Moreover the teachers that I had for English in School and College, have always been so active and bubbly, which makes me feel that I want to be part of that team, I want to be part of the English faculty! You might be thinking I’m weird right? But it’s always been my passion to become an English teacher and I’m not going to stop till I can succeed in that.

I've just completed my first year, and to be honest, I really enjoyed it. Not only were the lecturers funny (well trying to be, well… they all laugh at a joke and because we don’t understand what the joke is we laugh because of that), but they were extremely helpful with the feedbacks that they give us. They also give us valuable advice on how we can improve our marks. I’m so grateful with the friends that I have made in Uni. That’s probably the main thing that I am happy about. When I first started I didn't know anyone in my lectures or seminars or people that were even around the campus. I mean NO ONE. But I loved it. And on my first day instantly I became well acquainted with my peers. I love meeting new people. It’s a different life for me, and I feel like I become a new me each time.

Through reading other people’s experience allows to form a picture in my head and by me being able to write my experience, allows me to unleash my creative side with the journeys I have been through in life. I believe English does something that no other subject can do, and that is being able to create image through words. Everyone can now take a picture and just show it, but being able to use words in order to bring out the beauty of an image which is created in your mind, that’s something no picture can compare to.