Since coming back to uni for second year, there has been a lot going on – settling into studies, applying for industrial placements – even moving house!
So, I wanted to take some time out and reflect on my experience of coming back for second year, how its compares to my first-year, and think about how I feel about my experience here as a whole – the good and the bad (spoiler: there’s a bit of both, and I think that’s normal).
Thinking back to last year
Last year, I found the first semester quite difficult – everything changed at the same time, leaving me with; a new room, new friends, in a new area, living a new way of life, and a new way of learning. Trying to juggle all these was intense and meant that I spent the first few months reiterating the line all students have said to themselves – ‘I just need to wait and get to Christmas’.
By second semester, things were easier. I had made friends, got through my first set of exams and finally felt more comfortable in my surroundings. By the end of first year, I realised how much I loved uni – all the different experiences that had changed me led to me understanding more about myself than ever before.
The big return – I’m in my second year!
This year, I think I was subconsciously nervous about returning to uni. Would I feel the same things that I did last year? Would uni be different? How close would I be to the people I hadn’t seen in months? So far, it’s been a rollercoaster. I like going out, have enjoyed seeing my friends and like the freedom that comes with being back here rather than at home.
On the other hand, I have had a lot of work to do, on top of placement applications and tests to prepare for. Catching up on lectures has, predictably, fallen to the wayside. Not to mention the fact that I moved house. I wanted to live in Fallowfield, an area that was closer to all my friends, with better and with more amenities. The move caused me quite a bit of stress – but now, a month on, I am glad that I did it.
Finally, everything is, more or less, sorting itself out, and it feels like I’m better prepared and equipped to tackle second year head-on. However, I haven’t quite been able to shake the lingering nervous feelings I had last year.
Different, but right for me
When I was younger, I loved reading and many of the books I read involved students and school life. This meant that ever since I was young, I have had this very specific, idealised image of uni, and what it would be like, in my head. The discrepancy between this cinematic-like vision of uni and the reality has had more of an impact on me than I’d like to admit. Even now, I’m still wondering if I made the right decisions, and what my life might have been like at other universities.
Universities like Oxbridge are the epitome of the version of uni painted by the books that I read. One of my closest friends has just started at Oxford uni, and I would be lying if I said I haven’t felt a very unexpected, yet real, pang of jealousy at the thought of her living the life of those books! I guess part of this really stems from the fact that I’m coming to terms with the fact that, for the first time, it feels like my childhood friends and I are now on very different paths.
Despite all of this, I wouldn’t dream of changing my decision to go to Manchester. The time I have spent here so far has been interesting, exciting and fun. Yes, I’ve spent a lot of time being nervous and stressed, but, I’ve grown so much as a person and found friends and settled.
The whole experience has been nothing like I thought it would be, which I am both glad and disappointed about. But slowly, ‘home’ has shifted from the place I grew up in, to a city that felt huge and overwhelming just over a year ago.
A place where I feel like I’m a proper adult and I’m really living my life.