What I Wish I Knew Before Leaving For University
Leaving home for university is a daunting thing. I was so excited and happy to know that I was about to embark on a new chapter in my life. However, I wasn’t expecting the changes that would happen on my journey.
Sometimes friendships don’t last. This was something that I was not prepared for in the slightest. I thought that I would stay with my best friends forever; unfortunately this didn’t happen. Sometimes people just naturally fall out of friendships based on always being busy or the fact that people go in different directions. Although this is sad to think about it happens naturally and sometimes there are things that you can’t control. I still like to think that the best friends I’ve made over the years are always going to be there and maybe someday in the future the relationships can be rekindled.
Homesickness is a real thing but it doesn’t last forever. I was warned before going to university that I might face homesickness but I didn’t actually expect it to happen. But as the first few weeks of my lectures began I began to feel sadder. I missed home so much that I started going home every weekend. This became an issue as it meant that I was missing out on a lot of things when my house mates would hang out on the weekends, I would be at home which meant I missed out on getting to know them. I thought this would go on forever and I even felt like throwing in the towel and going home for good. However; as the months went on these trips home became every other weekend until finally I felt happy to be going back to my accommodation and spent most weekends after that with my housemates.
You actually have to start acting like an adult now. I always thought I was mature for my age but coming to University proved just how much I needed to grow up. Moving away from home proved that I could be more independent as I would have to cook, clean and look after myself. At times this was difficult as laziness took over so I would sometimes skip meals, but of course this led to me feeling ill so I knew I needed to change my ways. I also wasn’t fully aware of how I was now in charge of myself. When living at home and being at school if I ever had an issue it was easy to turn around to my mother and ask for help, now I knew that I needed to sort my own issues out myself as nothing would be done otherwise.
It’s easy to make friends. I always struggled to make friends based on the fact that I was too shy. However, I didn’t realize that because I was coming to a new place it meant that no one would know who I was by association or because of hearing my name before. This meant that I could be myself without them second guessing who I was. This made me realize that any friends I made would actually like me for me and not because it was forced, ultimately making me feel better as I know that these friendships will hopefully last longer.
All in all I don’t think anyone is really prepared for when they come to university, as it’s something new everyone faces and no amount of advice will prepare you enough. But as long as you have an open mind and are ready to face anything head on, you’ll be alright.
With thanks to Louise Parker and Toby M-S.
