I had the wonderful opportunity to interview Sophie Matthews. She’s a really cool gal.
Name: Sophie Matthews
Age: 20
Zodiac sign: Cancer
Gender pronouns: She/Her
Relationship status: Forever single
HC: Where are you from and how is it different from Falmouth?
SM: I’m from Swindon in Wiltshire. I guess the major difference is it’s very much a town; there is no beach and you probably have to drive for a bit to get to anywhere as scenic as the Cornish coast! People don’t think too much about Swindon which I think is sad. It’s got a lot of history and I’m really fond of my home town!
HC: What course do you do?
SM: I’m in my second year of English with Creative Writing.
HC: What’s your favourite colour?
SM: Green? I always feel like people are judging your colour choices like it exposes some great secret about you!
HC: What societies are you in or how are you involved in the uni?
SM: I was part of the Christian Union last year and I’m in a few mailing lists and Facebook pages. I am also a Student Mentor, so, I’m part of a team that runs events and answers queries from the first years in our course. It’s nice to do something voluntary and give back to the community, that’s a thing that has always been important to me.
HC: What advice can you offer freshers on your course?
SM: Keep calm! I think a lot of students come into the English courses thinking that they are expected to have read all the classics and the complete reading list but that just is not realistic! I don’t think any course expects you to get all firsts as soon as soon as you turn up; university is a learning curve and you need to give yourself time to get into the swing of things.
HC: What are some of the things you’ve learned after being at uni for a for a little over a year?
SM: I think I’ve mainly realised that I should have a lot more faith in myself. The whole prospect of having to be independent spooked me at first until I realised I actually knew a lot more than I thought. Also I’ve learnt a lot from my course that applies to a lot more than literature, I think I’ve become a lot more aware of the presence of the media in our lives.
HC: What is your favourite part about your course?
SM: I really enjoy the creative writing modules, being given a prompt and just coming back to peer-review with everyone else and seeing how creative everyone is is lovely. There are just so many passionate people around and it’s really inspiring. The reading lists have also helped me to widen my reading tastes, there is a unit next semester which has a lot of BAME writers which I’m excited about.
HC: If you could be any animal what would you be?
SM: Oh no, that’s a difficult question! I’m probably a sloth: I try to be chill as much as possible and take things slow.
HC: Who are some of your favourite music artists?
SM: I’ve got quite an eclectic taste in music so I’ll probably listen to anything you put on. I listen to a lot of 70s/80s music as that’s what I grew up listening to and I also listen to art pop. When Guardians of the Galaxy came out I listened to the soundtrack endlessly for weeks! I’ve just checked my most played on iTunes and it says David Bowie, Laura Marling and Gotye are my top three most played.
HC: What’s the most bizarre thing that has happened to you at uni?
SM: I’m sure there are loads of things but I can’t think of anything in particular right now. Maybe the fact that the uni is taking on more students than it has room for? That is definitely a bizarre thing to see happen!
HC: What’s something that you’re looking forward to?
SM: The Christmas holidays! As much as I love uni, not having a reading week has really worn me down and I haven’t been home since early September. I owe my sister a birthday meal from October and I’m just looking forward to not having deadlines looming over me!
HC: If you had the option of trying out a different course at uni, which would you choose?
SM: I did Art at A Level so I’d be quite interested to do an art course but I’m also aware of how much work it is and I’m such a perfectionist it always took forever for me to do a single piece! I live with a Film student and she always comes back from lectures having seen some really cool films so I would like to try that out too.
Thanks so much for taking the time to have a chat with me, Sophie!