Leeds, a great city to study and live

When I was joining the University, I was expecting highly of the well-known student city as I had heard and researched a lot about it. On arrival, I was blown away as what I saw exceeded my expectations by far.

Here are some of the things I saw and loved about the school and the city:

1.    Quality Education and high class facilities

Education is the reason I came to the United Kingdom and hence has to be the most important factor. My course, Mechatronics and Robotics, is mainly technical and hence to gain a good learning experience, I need to study in a good university. The University of Leeds is a prestigious university and the engineering department is outstanding. The Mechanical engineering department was ranked first in the country by The Guardian showing student satisfaction and high quality education. The laboratories have state of the art facilities which make researching and experiments easy to perform and projects easy to accomplish. The lecture theatres are fitted with projectors and cameras to record lectures which allow the students to go through them after class and before exams hence making studying much better for students. The lecturers are skilled and provide students with clear and understandable information, which is hard to achieve in Engineering, and engage the students in question and answer sessions to clarify what some students haven’t properly understood.

Overall, studying is a good experience in the university.

2.    Restaurants

What’s a great city without great food? There are a wide variety of restaurants offering various cuisines from many different cultures including Nigerian, Mexican, Caribbean, Vietnamese, Chinese, Italian and many more. You can either go alone or with friends to the Trinity kitchen and other restaurants located within the Trinity mall to satisfy your taste buds in Nandos, TGI Fridays, Hand-made burgers, just to mention a few, or head over to various street shops, pubs and fast food restaurants located around the city and near campus like Subway, Charcos, Barburrito, Dry dock and Wetherspoons. The student union also offers a great selection of food offered in pubs and shops which are convenient for a quick lunch break in between classes.

If you’re feeling lazy and want to binge watch series at home, that also covered as you can order food to be delivered to your house by calling restaurants, ordering online or using mobile apps like JUST EAT and DELIVEROO which offer great and fast services to get food to your doorstep in no time.

3.    Transport

The ease of transport is one of my favourite things about the city. With a day pass worth four pounds for buses, you can travel to almost any destination within the city from any bus stop. It’s convenient as buses have their own lanes which help a lot in avoiding traffic during rush hour.

Taxis are convenient for getting to specific destinations like a friend’s house and always available on the streets like the black and white cabs offered by the City council. Advance bookings can also be made using services like Uber and Amber which are fast and cost effective.

For long journeys to different cities, the Leeds train station and the Leeds Bradford Airport are easy and convenient ways to travel as they are fast and have good security as the city considers the safety of the people. Planning of trips can be made by use of sites and apps like Student Universe for cheap flights and National Rail for train tickets.

4.    Nightlife

The City comes to life at night. The presence of many students, upcoming events, good transport and a wide selection of clubs makes a night in Leeds an experience never to be forgotten. From Pop music to Afro beats, from hip-hop to rock music, every night always has an event so you can never expect to be let down because of boredom. Call lane in Leeds is popular due to the presence of many clubs with student events offering discounts on drinks and entry fees. There are different sections that offer different types or music to satisfy various preferences and some clubs offer nights were only specific music is played to give a good experience to the selected music lovers.

One of my favourite places is The Leeds Safari club which is owned by Kenyans and always gives me a nostalgic feeling when I go there because of the music and the food offered, a Kenyan favourite called ‘Nyama Choma’ which means Roasted meat.

5.    Attractions and Chill spots

Two thing a good city always needs is a place to relax and a place to admire. Leeds has both of these and are diverse so it’s hard to get bored or fail to relax in the city. The city is not only a student city, but also a tourist attraction site. There is rich history to satisfy the explorer side within us with the presence of the Kirkstall Abbey, which is one of the finest remaining medieval Cistercian abbeys in the whole of Britain. The Royal Armoires museum allows you to explore arms and armour from across the world and throughout time all in a single building. The Leeds City museum lets you explore and find Egyptian Mummies Fossils, and even meet the Leeds Tiger.

For a good time to relax especially during sunny days in spring and summer, parks around the city are available where friends can just go and have a good time with food and speakers to enjoy their music and a good picnic. Hyde Park, the host of the Guy Fawkes Night firework display, is a large park with many trees, an open area and even a skate park full of graffiti where talents express their art freely for people to see. The open area gives a good breeze and the ice-cream trucks moving around helps cool down when it gets too hot. Roundhay Park is one of the biggest parks in Europe and has a great scenery for spectacular photos with a lake for recreational activities. It is always full of people even during winter because of the bright skies and snowy paths.

Hope you’re all enjoying your summer holiday.

And as always, Thanks for reading