As hand in dates, exams and the eventual celebrations begin to erupt, I’ve asked some of my best friends, all graduating this year, to give Her Campus a quick review of their time at Exeter: the good, the bad and the ugly!
In a nutshell, what’s the best and worst this about your time at University?
Alex: The best thing was definitely meeting my best friends at uni, I’m actually so glad I’m leaving uni with friends I hope will one day be at my wedding! The worst, for me, was the homesickness, it took me the first 2 years to adapt to British/ Exeter culture and deal with missing home.
Ella: Finding people who just get you is 100% the best thing about uni, it can take some time but once you’ve found those few gems, you’re set. Though similarly, the worst bit is when your degree gets in the way of you living your best uni life, balance is key!
Lauren: For me, the best thing has to be the people you meet! It’s very cliché, but the friends you make at uni do become some of your closest friends, it’s a different bond to the people you went to school with. Then the worst, for me anyway, would be the irregular nature of deadlines; one week you’re chilling and the next you’re sleeping in the library!
Tell us one thing our readers should know ‘uni life’ is not like, contrary to how it is portrayed in the media // film // books.
Alex: At school, they told us at uni we’d have all this independence, and be constantly seeing and meeting new people. Yet, in Exeter at least, it still feels like a bigger version of High School, where everyone knows everyone.
Ella: Everyone in the films seems to dress really well, what’s that about? I got to lectures in my pyjamas!
Lauren: I watched Fresh Meat religiously, so I was expecting student houses to be literally disgusting, but surprisingly you can get quite nice, even clean, houses to live in!
What is the biggest lesson you’ve learned while at University?
Alex: The biggest lesson I learned is that you’ve got to give energy towards people who radiate the same energy back,; I spent way too long focusing on people and things that just ended up being a huge waste of my time.
Ella: You just gotta do you.
Lauren: You can’t please everyone, and the earlier you learn that the better, uni is full of all different people and they’re not all gonna be your cup of tea, but that’s okay!!
The one thing you’ll miss the most after you graduate?
Alex: I’ll miss the people, at the end of the day you’ve lived with strangers that have become friends, and then eventually your family, and considering I’ve survived the biggest transitional period of my life so far with people who were once strangers is CRAAAZY!
Ella: Living with my best friends, and knowing that in the grand scheme of things, I don’t really have anything to worry about – treasure that time before real adulthood hits!
Lauren: I will miss the independence and freedom the most, having only a few hours contact time a week, most of your time is spent however you choose, and I’m pretty sure that’s not how the real, post-uni world works!
As I’m sure you can see, the general consensus is people will make and break your uni experience! You’ll meet the best of friends, who hopefully you’ll stay in touch with for life and miss terribly once you leave, but you’ll also be thrown in amongst a fair few you don’t have that sorta connection with, and you have to leg go of trying to be everyone’s best friend, because it will only detract from your experience! Plus, uni is a once in a lifetime experience, the good and the bad, the independence, freedom and loneliness, treasure every bit of it, because once you’re paying council tax and have a 9-5 I assure you, you’ll miss at least a little bit of uni life.