My University Experience

Pirate Party in Freshers Week

So you might be going to uni depending on grades or whether you've made your mind up yet about wanting to go yet, and it's a pretty big decision. Thousands of pounds of debt and potentially living with flatmates from hell it can swing either way for your university experience. As my university experience is drawing to a close I thought I'd just give a brief snapshot of what it's been like for anyone curious as to know what it's like.

I've spent the last three years living in Birmingham, studying for a BAhons in Fashion Business and Promotion at BCU. I got my fourth choice of halls that were about 45 minutes away from my campus and not as modern as the ones I had wanted and the campus itself was dated, small and really lacking what you would expect from an arts building. I chose this course because of the diversity it offered; I knew I wanted to go into fashion but I wasn't really sure what I wanted to do. The course has shown me that I massively enjoy marketing and events management and I now feel that I have much more direction to my life.

Despite not getting the halls I wanted I got very lucky and fell into a really great crowd of people and have made friends that I intend to keep for the rest of my life whether they like it or not. Halls is a different experience for everyone; some get the short straw and end up living with people that if they're lucky they just plain don't like or ever see, or if they're unlucky are messy, rude, loud, obnoxious and just frankly horrible people. However on the other hand you could end up living with people who are clean, considerate, a great laugh and an even better friend. University's will tend to place people in flats with others that are on similar courses to them so that you'll have something in common with each other. Sometimes this works out, sometimes not so much.

Halloween 2012

My halls experience had a few blips (boys who didn't clean and noisy neighbours) but all in all I got incredibly lucky in comparison to others as I was also living with two people that I still live with now I just like them that much. Before moving to Birmingham I didn't have as much freedom as I craved so moving was a huge deal for me; I couldn't wait to make my life my own. My halls were massive with four different blocks and the one I was in was 17 floors high. Being on the 16th floor I had an amazing view over Birmingham that I still miss but because the place was so big it could feel a little lonely at times, especially if your friends have all gone home for the weekend. The overall experience was amazing; I loved the freedom and being so close to everyone I wanted to see and having an ensuite bathroom and basically just doing whatever I wanted to do.

The view from my bedroom window in halls

Having an easy life in halls can make the world of difference to how you view being at university in general - if you hate being there then you're probably going to hate going to lectures and having to do work. Once freshers is done and dusted and life is no longer 14 nights out in a row (I absolutely could not do that now and I have no idea how I did it) and it all starts to get a bit serious, the shine of being at uni can wear off and the real work part kicks in. I think it's quite common to have thoughts of dropping out within your first year but honestly don't do this on a whim! Unless you're really unhappy and have thought it through thoroughly don't drop out, just stick it out until the end of first year and if you still feel the same then have a chat with your parents or lecturers and see what they suggest. Maybe a different course or different uni would be a better option.

In my second year we were moved to a new campus that is a state of the art super modern building that looks more like an art gallery than a uni and it's great. It's made the course feel much more professional and serious and is almost inspirational in comparison to the old campus. The course itself has improved massively since I first joined - at the end of every term we've had feedback sessions with our tutors are generally our suggestions are listened to. At the end of the day we're the ones this degree really affects and I now feel much more prepared to go into the big bad marketing industry.

I also moved into a great house with five other girls for my second year which has been an amazing experience and one I'll never forget. As you'd expect there have been tensions and emotional days between the six of us but I wouldn't change it even if I could. Just moving to a house with friends changed my university experience as well; I started enjoying it much more as it's more communal and homely. We decided to stay in the house for our third year as well and have all supported each other through our dissertations and final major projects - I honestly think I'd have gone crazy without them. My first two years didn't count so everything rides on this third year which is a very scary prospect as one of our projects is worth 50% of our grade.

My wonderful housies

Third year has been as stressful as we were warned. I'm not a particularly stressful person, generally I'm pretty laid back and just think that what happens happens however there were nights when I'd wake up in a cold sweat worrying that I hadn't done enough. It's easy to be hard on yourself and think you haven't worked as hard as you could have and that you can do better - I walk away from everything I do thinking the exact same thing. Sometimes it's true and sometimes it isn't. Now that my three years are coming to an end I appreciate everything that being here has taught me regardless of whether that came about through positive or negative situations.

To sum up: I have had the best three years of my life. I couldn't imagine having done it with more amazing people or experiences.

So to you nearly freshers, almost second years and soon to be third years - just keep going. Uni is a challenge but it's meant to be, throw yourself into it and embrace it. It's a cliche to say it but those three years will go faster than you could even imagine and before you know it you're pretending to be an adult with a bunch of other people who are also pretending to be adults.

Listening to: The One - Kodaline