Becoming a University Student
I have officially survived my first term at university! Thinking back on the past 12 weeks, it is crazy how much has changed in what feels like such a short time. I remember the mixture of excitement and nervousness as I moved into my new home, and the outright fear of walking in alone to my first ever lecture and knowing nobody in the room. What was easy in that moment to forget, was the fact that everybody was in the same situation and after only a couple of days I had made friends and it no longer seemed terrifying to turn up to lectures. Another thing I quickly realised is that people are not judging you but are actually super friendly. Even now at the end of this term, when I meet someone on my course who I have not already met, I feel confident to strike up a conversation.
One thing about my course is that you have to do a LOT of group work. For 181MC we completed weekly tasks and for 105MC we had one big final task, however, even though group work can be the most stressful thing ever, it is a wonderful way to meet new people and make lots of friends. Knowing that next term I will be doing more group work with students I probably have not met yet, now seems exciting, as I will meet a new range of individuals. Although this does not take away the inevitable stress that will occur due to group work, whatever problems arise, I now feel confident that with everyone’s wide ranging skills it will be possible to overcome.
Another factor that really helped me settle into university was joining societies. I am part of Source Media on the TV, Radio and News Platforms, I am also in the university Book Club and Christian Union. By joining a range of societies I have met and become friends with students from different years, studying a variety of courses, that otherwise I would never have met. Source Media also helps me improve my media skills and helps to build my confidence.
On top of joining societies, I spent Sundays going around different churches in Coventry, to find one which made me feel at home. I met so many friendly and kind hearted people, who made my first few weekends much nicer and felt I had visited most of the churches in the city. Having now settled at Lower Ford Baptist church I feel I am a part of a community, as everyone is so welcoming and the church has a large student base which again allows me to connect with people I otherwise might not have met, from Coventry University and also from Warwick University.
Before coming to university I assumed balancing studying, attending lectures, socialising, getting fit, and doing adult tasks like cooking, cleaning and paying bills, would be easy! Well it is safe to say I was wrong about that. It feels like a constant juggling act and my success at coping in the first couple of weeks was not great. However, now I feel confident in striking a balance that suits me (even though it still takes me getting through my entire wardrobe before I decide it is time to do laundry). I feel this is something you cannot prepare for, because although at home you might have to do chores on top of your school work, having to be responsible for everything all of a sudden, is a huge learning curve. Yet this increased responsibility has definitely benefited me forcing me to take charge of all aspects of my life and encouraging to be organised.
It was hard not being with my family and not seeing my friends everyday, but making a new life at university is not as hard as people imagine and it is easy to adapt to a new routine. I honestly expected the worst coming to university. I assumed would be homesick and that everything would be terrifying, however this was not the case and I think that coming to university was one of the best decisions I have ever made. I would not change a single thing about my first term or my overall experience because I have loved every moment of it. So for anyone who is about to start university, just remember that everyone else is in the same situation and everyone wants to do well and make friends, and remember everything will work out, even if it is difficult at the start. Also time at university flies by. My first day at university feels like only yesterday but when I think back on it and realise how much has changed since then, it is just insane.
