After graduating with a BSc Computer Science from the University of Roehampton, Dexter Rowland reflects on balancing his studies with full-time work, putting his computing skills into practice and sharing what he learned with students earlier in their Roehampton journey. 

Sharing his experience with other Computing students 

Towards the end of his degree, Dexter had the opportunity to present his final-year project to Level 4 and Level 5 students, giving them an insight into what they could expect as they progressed through the course. 

“After completing my final-year project, I had the opportunity to present to Level 4 and Level 5 summer students, showing them my final product and providing advice on how to pick a topic and effectively manage their time.” 

The final-year project demonstration days also gave Foundation Year students the opportunity to see what students further into their degrees had created. 

“I spent time showing them the technologies they will be using and what they can achieve over their next three years.” 

For Dexter, the experience was an opportunity not only to showcase his own work, but also to demonstrate how the knowledge and skills developed throughout a Computer Science degree can come together in a practical project. 

Putting Computing skills into practice at work 

Alongside studying at Roehampton, Dexter worked full-time as a hospitality manager throughout his three-year degree. 

Rather than keeping his studies and professional life separate, he found opportunities to apply what he was learning directly to his work. 

“The skills learned and projects undertaken as part of my studies translated into my full-time job. Data visualisation and machine learning skills provided insights and improved my time management.” 

Being able to balance the two was important throughout his degree. With contact hours taking place over three days, predominantly during the morning and early afternoon, Dexter was able to fit his studies around his evening work. 

“The timetable structure worked very well. I was able to balance my work with my studies with little to no conflict with my evening work.” 

Bringing three years of learning together 

Looking back, the final-year project stands out as one of the most rewarding parts of Dexter’s Computer Science degree. 

The project gave him the chance to draw together skills from across the course and create something of his own. 

“The final-year project structure was one of the most rewarding parts of the whole university experience. It provided the opportunity to bring everything that has been learned over the three years into one practical, physical project. 

“Applying database skills, machine learning concepts, application development and software engineering concepts made me feel proud of what I had achieved during my time at Roehampton.” 

It was that opportunity to understand how technology works and then use it to create something that originally attracted Dexter to Computer Science. 

“Computer Science as a topic appealed to me because of the sense of control that comes along with it. Being able to know how to make a system do exactly what you want it to do provides a sense of power.” 

Roehampton’s campus and its connections to central London were also important factors when deciding where to study. 

Preparing for life after university 

As Dexter approached graduation, he also made use of the support available through Roehampton’s Careers Service. 

A one-to-one CV session helped him understand what to prioritise when applying for graduate roles, while he also used Handshake to explore vacancies. 

Employability activities embedded within the wider student experience provided further opportunities to prepare for the workplace. 

“Lecturers promoted lots of employability workshops during Employability Week and during final-year project sessions. These included interview skills, hackathons, webinars, training sessions and Q&A sessions.” 

Beyond his studies, moving away from home and becoming more independent was another important part of Dexter’s university experience. 

“I found the independence of living away from home incredibly rewarding, not just learning self-reliance, but learning how to live with other people.” 

Having now graduated, Dexter can look back on three years in which he balanced university with a full-time job, applied his new skills in the workplace and used his final project to help students following behind him see what they could achieve. 

Find out more about studying AI, Cyber Security and Computing at the University of Roehampton.