Uni: a retrospective

I left for university three years ago a shy, nervous, socially awkward and self-conscious 18-year-old. God knows why anyone would have wanted to speak to me. I was left in a rather dingy looking room (which my mum had complained about for the last hour) and there were lots of tears, hugs and goodbyes….had I made the right choice? A few hours (and bottles of wine) later I was happily chatting away to some girls on my corridor and realised the decision I’d made to come to university was definitely for the best. Now three years later, I’m happy to say I’ve no regrets. Every single funny/painful/embarrassing/dramatic moment has been etched in my brain and the only thing I do regret is that it’s all over. .

Lessons learned

I’ve learnt - cliché though it sounds - that it’s what's on the inside that counts. I never thought I’d end up being best friends with someone who wore dresses like my 80-year-old grandma, is a vegan (I’m a huge carnivore) loves really obscure music, and wears more hairspray than Amy Winehouse. But still, I love her and over the past three years she’s been my agony aunt, second mother and best friend. We’ve only been apart four days and already I’m missing our gossip.

I’ve also learnt that you won’t necessarily stay best of friends with everyone you meet in first year. I was in a catered hall for 600 freshers and on the first night out I must have spoken to nearly everyone there. The next morning as I was walking/half crawling down to breakfast with a blinding hangover, five people who I had no recollection of ever meeting before started talking to me, and for two months I couldn’t remember one of the girl’s names and was too embarrassed to ask.

I’ve learnt that university is not all about the degree, in fact it’s only a tiny part. University is about being independent and standing on your own two feet miles away from home without someone there to pick up the pieces. Of course there will always be times when you need to phone home if something goes seriously wrong but I learnt that most of life’s little dilemmas aren’t as bad as they seem.

University is also a great time for you to experiment with who you are. For some people that means experimenting with their sexuality, clothes, preferences and tastes, opinions and beliefs. Dates? I’ve had a few (hundred), but after learning more about who I am and what I want, university also brought me my boyfriend.

"I thought I was neat, but as a house we'd leave messages for each other in the dust at the top of the stairs..."

I’ve also learnt that maintaining a balance between work and a social life can be tough. I never thought I’d be revising till 4am in the library, leave deadlines to the last moment and still want to go out to celebrate at midday after the deadline, but I do. All that geeky A-level revision technique suddenly goes right down the drain.

I’d also like to think that university will help perfect your culinary skills. I’m definitely noNigella Lawson…but I can actually cook. My attempts at Valentine’s fairy cakes this year may have been flat as a pancake with a distinctly salty taste, but at least I tried. Maybe I do still rely too much on the tried and tested throw-it-all-in-the-wok-and-hope-it-cooks combination but I do know that if I was suddenly left to cook on my own forever more, I wouldn’t actually starve – and I’d get a hot meal every night too.

Uni changes what you thought you knew about yourself, even down to the detail. I’d always thought of myself as a neat freak but have been surprised to find that I’m actually very messy. To be very honest, my student room was probably only hoovered four times a year on average and as a house we’d leave messages for each other in the dust on the top of the stairs.

I’ve also learnt that home life is no longer enough. The club I’ve been to for what feels like the last five hundred years plays the same chart music every night and I’m on first name terms with the bar staff. Maybe I’d have come to this conclusion without university, but now I’m much more aware of the world out there to discover.

Above all, university will help you learn that being you is not so bad. I’ve come to accept my flaws and work with them, rather than against them. Lessons don’t come much more valuable than that.