The Hard Parts of Starting At University (And How to Make Them Easier)
Congratulations! You got into a great university and are about to begin studying a subject you love. Beginning student life is a fantastic time in so many ways, and you should be really excited about the years ahead. But we’d be lying if we said starting at university was entirely without its difficulties and it’s best to prepare for some of the tougher times you may face. Here are some of the challenges students may find themselves up against during their first year of university, and our advice on how to overcome them.
Leaving home
Unless you’re starting university locally, chances are this is your first time away from home. That’s big. Leaving home can be very overwhelming. You’re in an unfamiliar town, you’re away from the people you love, and you’re forced to take many of your relationships into a different medium (welcome back to daily zoom calls). But flying the nest is a rite of passage everyone goes through, and there are definitely ways of making it easier.
It’s important to understand that homesickness is totally normal. Everyone misses home from time to time and if, occasionally, all you want to do is go back to your room and video call your family, go with it. However, try to avoid doing this too frequently - maybe limiting it to a couple of times a week - to give yourself a chance to settle in and make friends. And take the time to get to know your area so it’ll feel less intimidating. Track down all the cosiest coffee shops for you to hide out in with a book when you need a break from the campus craziness.
Independence
Hand in hand with leaving behind your family and friends comes the adult-shaped independence that you’re forced to embrace very quickly. While this can be exciting, there will certainly be moments when you’ll inevitably pine for your mum’s home cooked meals and the days when household budgeting was, quite simply, someone else’s problem. Living away from home for the first time is an adjustment, and the weight of this newfound responsibility can feel pretty heavy sometimes. But setting aside some time to organise your week might well be all you need to start making this adulting thing work for you.
We recommend investing in a diary or planner (ideally a physical one but there are tons of apps out there that’ll do the job equally well) where you can note down any important dates, deadlines, and reminders. Taking the time to budget is also a vital part of being a student. Other rituals, such as meal planning and establishing a cleaning rota, are good to try out as well so you can see what works for you. Anything that makes your week slightly more regimented will be a useful counterpoint to the whirlwind that your first year of university will often prove to be.
Making new friends
If the fear of meeting new people is what has been on your mind more than anything else in the run-up to starting at university, believe us - you’re not alone. Being dropped headfirst into a new social scene is a truly intimidating prospect for the majority of school leavers, particularly the more introverted among them. The good news is that everyone’s in the same boat and will most likely be just as unsure as you in the beginning.
The classic tips that you’ll probably have heard before include leaving your door open as you move into your accommodation so that your new flatmates can pop in and say hello, saying yes to any invite you receive and making a concerted effort to break out of your comfort zone. While this can be great advice, remember to give yourself grace during this period. Yes, be as open-minded as you can and soak up what will likely be the most social time of your life so far. But if, mid-freshers week, your instincts are telling you to get into bed and watch Netflix instead of going to a bar, don’t fight it. There will be plenty of time to make friends in all sorts of different contexts and taking care of yourself when it all gets a bit much is just as important.
Work
When you’re in a freshers frenzy, it can be easy to forget that you’ve come to university to learn. But it’ll catch up with you soon enough, and you may well be a little overwhelmed by how different the academic part of university is from school. This will, in large part, be due to the turbocharged amount of reading you’ll suddenly be expected to complete, particularly if you’re a humanities student. Let’s say you’re studying English Literature. You may have had to read 1-2 books per term during your A-levels; now it’s at least two per week. And that’s not counting the extra theory you’re expected to cover alongside it. Quite apart from the sheer volume of required reading, the level of academic criticism you’ll engage with will be a lot higher and more intellectually rigorous. (We can’t promise you won’t need a dictionary close at hand in the first few months!)
The main piece of advice we can give you is to maintain a level of consistency with your study. While yes, university will bring you many new social experiences that should, by all means, be soaked up, you’re first and foremost there to learn, so work needs to be a priority. Make sure you’re structuring your day in a way that allows you to be productive. For example, while it can be tempting to stay in halls all day, a change of scene can be very refreshing. So, suss out your favourite spot in the library asap. Developing a healthy work-life balance is the way to go and this does not involve procrastination and leaving essay-writing to the last minute, however tempting. For tips on how to maintain your focus and get the most out of your study time, check out our recent blog.
Flexibility
It might seem strange to list flexibility as a difficulty. But part of the reason that the step-up from A-levels to university can seem so intimidating is that work suddenly takes on a completely new form. Gone are the days of being micromanaged by teachers, and having your day timetabled down to the last hour. While free time might feel amazing at first, it can also be a little overwhelming to realise that you’re now exclusively in charge of managing your time. As a student, you’re the one responsible for your own study and it’s up to you how seriously you take it.
And, again, the key to making this new independent study life work for you is organisation. Set yourself your own deadlines and make sure you’re planning in advance where necessary (there’s nothing worse than realising you have a seminar in a couple days and you haven’t even ordered the set text, much less read it).
It’s also important to get used to the new relationship you have with staff. Lecturers’ roles are different to teachers’. If there are areas that you are unsure about, it’s your responsibility to chase up your lecturers. Remember: teaching is not academics’ only job. They are also researchers and have a lot of their own work to be getting on with. So, if you have questions for them, you’ll need to make an appointment with them during their office hours. These appointments won’t be very long so prepare what you want to ask them in advance and be as concise as possible.
Good luck!
Don’t get us wrong; university is overall a positive experience for the vast majority of students. But those first few weeks come with inevitable challenges and it’s best to be prepared for them. And remember: if you’re finding it really tough, most universities have mental health officers for you to talk to. Don’t suffer in silence - seek them out and have a chat about what they can offer.