Journey of a Muslim

Hi there, if you are looking for GREAT education at a prestigious university, one with a warm and friendly community, but without the hectic and rushing city life, here is your answer. University of Southampton. Keep on scrolling down and see what awaits YOU here.


Facilities

The university campus style means that you will have to move around a bit, from one building to another to attend your lectures. But this sure does give you some breathing space after a lecture and it is not tiring at all since all of the buildings are within walking distance. And you will also notice just how diverse the university community can be. As you walks to your next lecture you’d see irish, canadians, arabs, africans, chinese, thai, korean and even other malaysians walking around as well, going to their own lectures.

In term of facilities, the university goes to great lengths in trying to give what the student wants. For example in sport the Southampton University is very proud of the Jubilee Sports Centre which is a state-of-the-art £8.5 million complex, located next to the Students’ Union on the Highfield Campus. It includes a six-lane 25-metre swimming pool, a split-level gym with 140 fitness stations - one of the largest facilities of any UK university, a magnificent eight-court sports hall, used for badminton, netball, volleyball and basketball. It is the only hall in the region suitable for international basketball matches. There is also a second sports hall which is used for five-a-side football, cricket, handball, frisbee and roller hockey. There is room for any sport that you like here. One of the quickest ways to make friend is through sport. So feel free to join any games. There is also an open field at Stoneham where we (the Malaysian student) play touch-rugby, football and volley ball. This is where the undergrads and postgrads of Southampton University really get to know each other.

The university strongly believes that Arts play an essential role in linking the University to the local and regional communities in Southampton and Winchester. Highfield Campus hosts three internationally celebrated arts venues;
1. The Nuffield Theatre
2. The Turner Sims Concert Hall
3. The John Hansard Gallery
The Hartley Library is a great place to study with a wide range of materials (books, journal, and research thesis), wi-fi services, lots of computer, it simply create a condusive environment to study.

And not to forget there is also a prayer room complete with a toilet and wudu’ facilities for us Muslim to perform our daily solat in Jemaah. It can be use 24 hours so even though the Subh is around 4 am in the morning during May onwards you can still go to the ‘surau’ and find a Jemaah praying there. The Friday prayer is usually conducted in a larger hall just upstairs.

Course

Southampton is certainly famous with it Engineering courses, as you can see big names like, IBM, SONY, Rolls Royce, and even the UK Navy army invest are huge amount of money for the university research and facilities. You will be amaze at the people you can meet here for example the internet founder Tim Bernes Lee works here. So for you guys who are coming to study engineering you can rest assured that University of Southampton is definitely one of the best in UK. For your first and second year you will learn the core subject that is sort of building a good foundation of your engineering knowledge before you embark on your own path during your 3rd and 4th year studies.

Engineering courses are not your only option at Southampton. The university does have a large portion of Malaysian students studying economics and actuary science, medicine was famous a few years ago and also a lot of Maths teacher came to Southampton as well.

Is it difficult? Are there going to be lots of new things?

Well it sure is tough otherwise there is not much point entering university. But worry not. As long as you don’t skip too much lecture, do your assignments and reports, a little bit of revision, I’m sure you will be fine. You will have the time to adjust yourself to the new university learning method and timetable. And if you really feel you need help, the seniors are always around and more than happy to give a few tips.

Accommodation

The University offers more than 5000 places in 20 halls of residence and is one of the largest providers of accommodation to students in the UK.

Usually for the first year the student will opt to stay at the halls. The most famous hall is the House of Montifiore at Wessex Lane. The bus service from Montifiore to university is every 10 minutes. How much is the bus fare? Don't worry about it! It is included in the accommodation fee. You can use the bus service to go to the city centre as well. That is why most of the first year students choose to stay in the halls.

If you want to stay in the house, there are lots of houses available to students around the university area. Usually the postgraduates live in such places.

Life as a Muslim

As there is a large number of Muslim community here in Southampton it is only natural that there is an Islamic association. It is known as the Southampton ISOC (Islamic society). It is a very active society with the aim of taking care of the muslims at welfare, creating an environment of unity, catering to spiritual needs of Muslim students and also encourage learning and discussion about Islam. They have weekly Islamic circles, sports sessions and involved in interfaith.

In term of daily prayer, there is always a jemaah for every prayer time every day. After Maghrib usually there will be a 10-30 minutes of lesson from a Doctor who happens to have very deep knowledge about Islam as well. Grab this chance to share your opinion in Islam with others from all over the world and also increase your understanding towards this wonderful Deen.

Halal Food

Well, getting Halal food is not very difficult here. Just within 6 minutes of walking from the university you will see a selection of Halal fast food restaurant. Mainly they serve kebab, chicken and fries. The price are reasonable.

In terms of Halal meat the Portswood and St Mary area have big store that offer you not just Halal meat but also the ingredients that you need to cook your favorite dishes.

Malaysian Community

The Malaysian Student Association (MSA) of Southampton is the body that is usually in charge of holding events for the Malaysians in Southampton.
A lot of activity was planned throughout the year such as BBQ, Sports and Family Day, football, bowling, trips and many more.."

What to Prepare

- all the usual stuff likes, visa application,Medical check-up,Passport, etc
- Quran,ma’thurat,qiblah compass
- white light bulb: standart size and screw (most bulbs here in UK are screw type).
- one piece of jacket/sweater is sufficient. You will get your chance to do some shopping here once you arrive.
- thermal wear - 1-2 pieces.
- instants paste and malaysian groceries : various cubes (chicken, tomyam, ikan bilis etc), dried food (cili kering, udang kering,ikan bilis), curry powder, herbs & spices (cinnamon etc) these food can be found here but a bit too expensive compared to malaysia and sometime it just don't feel like Malaysia brand :P



Contact Person

Brother:

Nama: Muhammad Imran Ishak
Email: muhdimran90@yahoo.com
Phone No: +447706976427 or 0163891916
Course: Electrical Engineering
School: ECS



Sisters:

Nama: Nur Izzaty Rosni
email: eezzaty56@yahoo.com
phone : +447598762830 or 0199263634
Course : Mathematics
School : school of mathematics

Nama: Nurul Asyikeen Shaukat Ali
email: asyikeenshaukat@yahoo.com
Phone : +447510868239 or 0134271747
Course : Mathematics
School : School of Mathematics