Journey 8 - University

My whole teenage life, I knew I would go to University. And I always knew which one. So in this journey, I am going to talk about the anxiety I went through and how I got on with it, when it came to my decisions this time last year.

As I write this Journey, I have successfully passed First Year with a 2:1, which I was ecstatic with considering my final exam went tits up.

So let’s begin with the start of my journey, picking my options.

As I said, I always knew which University I wanted to go to. Loughborough. I went to visit it in the March after I picked my options and I absolutely loved it. But I had never been to a University before, I didn’t really know anyone that went to University, I am the first in my family to attend University so I really had no one I could turn to for advice on how to do the process.

So I picked my options. I did little to no research on the other Universities I picked which were Bournemouth, Nottingham, Manchester and UCL (lol as if I would get in there).

Well a few months go by and the offers start coming in. I believe Bournemouth was the first to get back and they had offered me a place with conditions I was confident I could meet. Then Loughborough, I remember freaking out, I was crying, telling everyone that I got in, however the conditions were a lot more tough but I was still confident. I obviously got rejected from UCL, and Manchester’s conditions were disgusting. Lastly was Nottingham which was ultimately my second choice. I remember they had emailed saying that so many people had applied for the course that it was going to take a lot longer for them to make a decision. And finally, a week of nervous breakdowns later… they rejected me.

I remember, during this process, I wasn’t terribly anxious because the decision was not entirely up to the Universities, it was a comparison to other applicants as well which you would think would give me more anxiety but it didn’t weirdly.

The anxiety came when I had to do my A level exams. I only had 6. 1 for Criminology, 2 for PE and 3 for Psychology. To calm my anxiety during my exams, I worked my ass off. I revised so much that if I got a bad grade, it wasn't due to my lack of revision and that calmed me down, knowing I had tried my best. I also, believe it or not, would try relaxation techniques the night prior to an exam just to calm my breathing and focus my attention on something else.

Then, the dreaded August 18th. I felt physically sick that whole morning and night prior as I couldn’t sleep. There was no way to calm my anxiety for this day, honestly it was like dooms day. Actually, that’s a lie. I wasn’t entirely confident that I got the grades required for Manchester or even Loughborough so I spent hours in the dull days approaching August 18th to find other courses at other Universities. This was hard, as pretty much my whole teenage life I was set on Loughborough so I struggled to like other courses at other places. I remember I had a very short list of Universities for clearing. There was Nottingham Trent, Portsmouth, Southampton and Leicester.

When I got my grades, I was shaking. I looked at them one at a time and considering I did 3 A Levels, not BTECs, I am very proud of myself. Soon after, UCAS updated and the first thing I saw was that I did not get into Loughborough, so, without panicking, I called their clearing hotline and asked if they had spaces left for any Psychology-type course. None. Then the panic sinked in. What was I going to do? Where was I going to go?

I called up my other clearing Universities and they all gave me a space. So then I had to pick. I knew for some reason that I wanted to go North/Midlands so Portsmouth and Southampton was out. Then I got intimidated by the Nottingham nightlife and that went out of the picture too. So I picked Leicester.

Once you’ve called your clearing hotline and you have a space, all the weight lifts off your shoulders and you can start to imagine your new lifestyle in a new city. Leicester. I had never been to Leicester before, never heard anything about it either. The first time I visited after results day was to the University open day, 4 days before I was due to move in. I did like the University, but then again I had only been to Loughborough so I’m not sure what a good University looks like. “Top 30 University”, must be pretty good then.

Right, here is my very controversial opinion about University accommodations. Now I stayed in the cheapest accommodation the University had to offer, it was £3000, and my maintenance loan covered that. Obviously, the accommodation is cheap for a reason, probably because it’s shared bathrooms, which I didn’t mind, or because it’s a whole bus ride to the campus, which I also didn’t mind because most of the accommodations were. So not only are the facilities quite cheap and frankly sh*t, but there was no social aspect to the accommodation. Let me explain, the fridge was not in the kitchen. No, you read that right, the fridge. Was not. In. The. Kitchen. Oh no, it was in the “common room” which was just a bedroom without a bed and with a sofa instead because a sofa somehow induces sociability. The kitchen was about 2.5 meters long and a metre wide, so only one person could cook in there at once. Now yes, this is my fault for picking the cheapest accommodation but I would say it was falsely advertised.

Moving into Uni and making friends was not as bad as I thought it would be honestly but, I have said this for 5 months now, if I had not met my boyfriend at the end of January 2023, I would’ve dropped out in the next month or 2. The only reason I know so much about Leicester and have been to different places is because my boyfriend has shown me it. At Uni, I was simply waking up, getting a busy bus to campus, watching YouTube in a lecture with a few mates, then get a busy bus back, maybe to go Asda and make myself beans and a chicken kiev before going to sleep at 8:30pm. Honestly it was so boring and repetitive. My friends weren’t the ones to go out and stuff but I am. And sitting on that uncomfortable bed in a cramped room was not a bit of me.

But I start second year in 2 months, I have a Uni house now, I am on the way to getting my dream job whist being at Uni, I won’t be long distance with my boyfriend anymore, it's all going to go well.

So my advice would be if you’re starting your journey to University: make a list of clearing hotlines even if you’re confident you’re going to get the grades you needed. Make a list, UCAS has a list of all the courses for you to pick from as well as their requirements. Do not pick the cheapest accommodation, you will regret it, if you have to spend more money on your accommodation, get a job, it’s not hard to balance studies and work as long as you do it right. Explore your city, most people move to their University’s city after completing their degree, explore it, it’s a once in a lifetime opportunity to go to University and you should take it all in. Go to the Uni nights out and join a society. I do regret not joining a society in my first year, you have themed nights out and make more friends that aren’t just on your course.

That’s it from me, make sure to follow your dreams and I love you all <3