I've maybe wrote this post ten times already but I just don't know how to word everything or maybe its just because I don't write that many personal posts on here but I know a lot of people will be starting University either this week or next and I know that if I had of had someone to talk to about University two years ago, I would have been much more prepared and relaxed so here's a bit about my University experience.
Back in 2012, seems a while ago now I stressed about not getting into University, probably more than I should have but I really wanted to carry on with education and luckily I got the grades. Within the first week I was ready to call it quits on University in general, since I wasn't living in halls I didn't know anyone and I'm shy enough anyway so I spent a lot of time being quiet and reading and then running for a train and I just wasn't enjoying myself at all. Luckily enough our course had a 3 day residential and over that time I made friends with my roommate, a girl who literally lived down the road from me (like I mean five minutes), we were both fairly alike and she was travelling for the next year like me, what a match! After that the two of us made about 8/9 new friends and I was suddenly happy & ready to start my second week of University, plus I wouldn't have to make that 3 hour daily train journey on my own.
The classes themselves were interesting, the lecturers were more than helpful and although it was a struggle at times (maths and statistics are not my strong point) I finished my first semester with good grades. The only thing I'd been lacking in is going out for nights out like some of my other friends, however in the second semester I found a balance and I used to stay in one of my friends houses for 2 days and I went out at night too and we also paid our deposit for our second year house, as I really wanted to get a balance of living away at least one year so we were all excited for second year as well, Soon enough it was exam time and I finished off first year with a 2:1 feeling quite proud with what I'd achieved, I know its the Christmas holidays and you don't want to revise but it does pay off!
Second year was almost right around the corner and it was exciting to be moving away, buying new things, living without parents and all that. Our house was gorgeous, not what you'd expect from a student house in the slightest and we were a ten minute walk away from the beach, what more could we want. For freshers we went out four nights out of the five and from then on we went out nearly every Tuesday and Wednesday night and successfully made it into class the next day at 9am without resembling a zombie, well I didn't, my friends not so much. The classes were more challenging than the first year and the work load was definitely a lot more but if you managed your time well and stayed organised, a planner is essential, then you weren't stressing 2 hours before the deadline - unless the printer in the library brakes and then all hell breaks loose, trust me!
I was definitely pushed out of my comfort zone a lot more, think presentations in front of 60/70 odd people and I'm really not one for public speaking but in the end I was proud I was able to do so and that felt much better. The second semester we went on a fieldtrip to Cyprus that I posted about at the time and that brought the whole class together and we all bonded even more than we had done in the past two years which was lovely, a night of karaoke with the lecturers did happen. In May it was exam time and I was stressed beyond belief, I didn't have as much time to revise as I would have liked and I came out of my exam thinking I'd failed but when the results came out in July it turned out I hadn't, in fact I was given an award for achieving the best results in my year so that just shows if you're still organised, prioritise your work when you have free time instead of taking mid afternoon naps and revise you can still go out for drinks two nights a week and get good grades, so that myth that you can't is a big lie. It's up to you how well you do, no one else.
And currently, I should be at Freshers and preparing for my final year of University with about half of my class but instead I'm typing here and I don't honestly know what I'm doing for the next year, its a little worrying yes but I'm coping. I'll be doing a placement year and if I thought I was going to be out of my comfort zone with a class presentation, I'll definitely be out of it now. I'm not sure where exactly I'm going at the minute, heck I haven't even sent my student finance away but I'm glad to have had an extra year before going into my final year, essays, my dissertation and yet more essays. Soon enough it'll be time for graduation and I'm not ready for that. University has given me so many wonderful experiences so far and I'm so glad after that first week that I was able to stick it out. I didn't live in halls and still made friends, don't panic you will. I went out and enjoyed myself with the social aspect of uni and still got good grades. I didn't travel too far away for University and I've had a mix of living there and at home. The only thing I would change is getting involved in more clubs and societies but I'm not beating myself up about it.
I'm sorry that this is such a lengthy post, I really am but I know a lot of people are just starting University and reading something like this might help, if you've made it to the end, thanks :) Also if you have any questions at all about University, even if you think its a silly one, don't be scared to ask, as I said I'd rather have been able to ask someone two years ago than know nothing. Just don't stress!
Thank you for reading, Jenny xo
P.s if you do have questions, don't hesitate to comment or even email me if you don't want to publically, I'll try and help as much as I can :)
