When discussing first-year students at the start of their university career, we often focus on the same few things:

It’s their first time in higher education. Their first time living away from home. Their first time washing their own socks. The list is endless.

And for many, that’s true. It is their time to break free from their comfort zone. And that is something to be proud of.

But for some students, like myself… the story starts a little differently

You’ve lived away already – this will be easy (or will it?)

My first time living away from home wasn’t at university. It was during my gap year – when I found myself travelling alone, volunteering with Camp Canada. I was surrounded by people I didn’t know, in a place I didn’t understand, doing work I had never done before.

And yet… I learned. I adapted. I built connections. I figured things out, one unfamiliar at a time.

So, when I arrived at university, it felt like I was going full circle. Starting again. Repeating those same challenges – just in a different setting.

And I discovered that having travelled down a road once does not mean you are automatically comfortable doing it again without a map.

My experience isn’t unique. Many mature students experience this feeling too. Yes, they may have lived alone for years. They may have worked in a dozen different roles, built careers, raised children, gained life experience most of us can only imagine.

But even with all of that… university is still new. It’s still unfamiliar. It still demands courage, vulnerability, and a willingness to start from the beginning.

We’re all navigating circles, just different ones.

Everyone’s journey is a valid one

University is not just an opportunity for young people to experience change. It is an opportunity – full stop. An opportunity to grow, to fail, fumble, and recover.

University reshapes who you are – or alternatively, helps you to discover who you’ve always been. No matter where you have come from, how old you are, what you have lived through… You belong here.

As is often the case, you might well encounter people who (for whatever reason) don’t agree with the way your journey began. They will point out all the ways you should have approached, not just education, but life as a whole.

But I firmly believe that assumptions, prejudice, and judgment cannot make you feel inferior without your consent. So I’ll tell you again your journey doesn’t need to look a certain way, you don’t need to be a certain type of student.

Sometimes, the only way to fulfil your potential is to ignore expectation and choose a path unique to you. To trust that your circle – even if it loops, twists, or doubles back – is still leading somewhere meaningful.

So, whether this is your first time, your second time, or your full-circle moment…This is your opportunity. Take it.

And don’t let anyone, the doubtful or the dismal, tell you otherwise.