15 June 2014

University; First Year Experience

So here we are at the end of my first year of university, it is absolutely insane how fast it has gone by and now I'm rather scared for the next two years flying by as fast as first year has! Here's an insight into my experience and some tips for if you're starting university this year, or are planning on it for the future. I'll try and keep it short and concise, although you probably know, that is not my forte. 

Quick run down; I'm studying Psychology at the University of Sunderland, living at home and making an hour and half commute each way. Hopefully next year I'll be moving to Northumbria, which I didn't originally get the grades for, to minimise that tedious commute time. I would say my first year has been a very up and down experience; I've felt awfully lonely at times and there has been many occasions that I've felt like giving up and quitting, whether that has been because of the loneliness, because I was struggling with the workload or because I simply just didn't feel quite right. However, I have enjoyed the majority of the course content, the university itself is pretty decent and I have met some great friends, even if they aren't on my course which has led to some great nights. 

DECISIONS, DECISIONS;
What course to do? What university to go to? Stay at home or move away? It's quite an overwhelming time having to make so many life impacting decisions. The only advice I can give you is to THINK very carefully, weigh up all of the pros and cons to each university and to each course. I was a bit silly when it came to making choices, I applied to the same course at 5 different universities, two which are close to home and three which are too far away for me to have stayed at home. However, I kind of knew that I didn't want to move out, I just naively hoped to have been successful for the two closer universities but I did think at some point that if I did get into those that were away, maybe I would give moving out a chance. Typically, I received interviews for the three that were away which I soon rejected after confirming the decision to stay at home. I was left with two choices, both of which were declined. There I was with no offers feeling completely useless, but then fortunately I was offered alternate courses and then went on to get the grades for Sunderland, before changing courses again! If I was to do it all over again, I would apply for a variety of courses at the universities closest to me to maximise chances of an offer and so I could definitely stay at home, because I wasn't really set on studying a certain course. Explore your options.

I would suggest visiting all of the possible universities on your list multiple times at different times of the week to really get a feel of the place, use student forums and talk to others about their experiences. Research the student satisfaction rates and make sure you know what kind of assignments you'll be doing and what you'll be covering in lectures and seminars to see if it suits you and your interests. Not only should you explore the campus, but also the city, as it is where you'll be living for three years if all goes well. 

My decision to stay at home wasn't for anything specific, just the fact that I didn't think I'd be able to cope in a different city within a different environment with different people. I don't have a lot of confidence and the thought scared me. In all honesty, I also didn't want to leave my family and boyfriend at home. Do I regret not moving out? Not really. I know I've saved a lot of money, I have my family, boyfriend and all of my home comforts right with me and I do have the opportunity to stay at my friends flat whenever I want too, she made the decision to move into halls and loves it; the flatmates get on so well together and they have so much fun, I've made great friends with them so it's always nice to visit and live a bit of that life although I don't think I could do it for too long. I do have moments though, when I see how much fun they get up to, that I think maybe I am missing out and maybe it would've been great for me to explore a new city and meet new people. It can also be difficult when your friends from home are away at uni, or when you live in another city and want to socialise with people from university due to travel etc. There's definitely pros and cons, weigh them up and do what's right for YOU
GET INVOLVED
Like I said, I lack confidence and first year was quite lonely for me due to a lack of friends on my course. This is quite a bitter sweet thing as a lot of the time, I do enjoy my own company and I wasn't too bothered about sitting at a computer by myself during breaks, it allowed me to catch up on blogs, do some online shopping or, maybe, work on assignments. I also enjoyed the quiet travel time, just me and my headphones. However, when I witnessed others in groups chatting and looking happy that made me feel down and I would think why can't I have that. Apart from the fact that I'm just not very good at making friends, I had joined the single honours course late after beginning uni as a combined subjects student therefore I experienced a different orientation week than the single honours students. It seemed like a lot of them made friends in this week or were already in groups of friends from school. I did end up making friends with someone from my sixth form who was on my course, we hadn't spoken in sixth form but I'm pleased we did at uni. It just shows that you can end up making friends with people you wouldn't usually expect too, I think university makes you realise how important being non-judgemental is and everyone gets treat equally, whereas in school 'labels' were much more of a thing. 

My advice is to get involved in everything that interests you and be open minded. There wasn't any course specific events at my uni which was a shame but there's freshers and other student events/nights out. I'm lucky to have two of my best friends living in halls in the city so I was able to join them for freshers (which was SO much fun), even if you bring someone along from home, it's likely they'll have to pay a little but it means you can enjoy freshers too and not miss out. Societies are a great way to meet like minded people too and I wish I'd got involved in some of them. Aim for first year to be a year of having fun, experiencing new things and meeting new people and take advantage of what the uni offers. For most courses, first year doesn't count, it's just a way to get everyone up to the same place so you don't need to stress too much about assignments.

Rachael x
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14 comments

  1. I think this post is great! I really needed this advice back when I was deciding on what to do next. I think it's so important to THINK - as you put it, in capitals. I feel like sometimes we can rush this decision or are forced to rush that we don't take the time to really understand what it is we want to do. Great post!

    Yasmeen

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    1. Thank you so much Yasmeen, I completely agree, I know I felt rushed and I feel like I definitely didn't think it through properly!

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  2. Oh man first year in college is so much fun!!!! Yes.. totally open mindedness is the key!

    francesca
    FrankVinyl

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    1. I'm pleased you enjoyed it! Definitely, being open minded helps so much in lots of aspects of uni!

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  3. I'm (hopefully) going to uni in September so this was a greeat post :)
    Eleanor -
    https://elesaurusrawr.blogspot.com/

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    1. Good luck, I'm sure you WILL be going to uni :)

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  4. Great post. Love your blog.
    I'm your new follower now, hope that you check my blog.

    style-mepretty.blogspot.com

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  5. You've shared some excellent advice. I think it's easy to get bogged down by what everybody else wants from you, rather than what you want.

    I'm currently on my second gap year and I'll be going back to third year without any of the friends I made. I'm terrified but I know I'll settle right back in and make new friends really quickly. Time goes so fast at university. It's scary, really!

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    1. Aw thank you, I couldn't agree more, whatever you do has to be for you. Ooh that sounds exciting, I wish I'd taken a gap year! Good luck for third year and yes, so so scary!

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  6. That is such a lovely post! I completely agree - starting university is very very daunting. I just finished my first year, too, and it took me a while to get used to it. I'm really enjoying it now but I think especially in the first term everyone can feel quite lonely at times so getting involved is definitely the most important thing! :)

    blogjustabubble.blogspot.com

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    1. Thank you very much, I totally agree, it's such a scary transition from school or college. I'm pleased you're enjoying it now though that's good! x

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