The Fallacies of First Year
‘You’re gonna have the time of your life’, ‘Just think of all the friends you’re gonna meet’, ‘halls are the sickest thing everrr!’. If you’ve just started first year, no doubt you’ll have heard all of these things and more. You start Fresher’s week with high hopes, expecting to meet amazing new people, to go on the best nights out and to get stuck right into university life. Don’t get me wrong, some people do hit the jackpot, but for a lot of us this just isn’t the case. Maybe you turn up to your new flat – dingier than expected and no one’s in, or your new flatmates seem completely different to you. Seeing a group of laughing first years you might feel a stab of envy, thinking ‘that could have been me’. The week continues with terrible hangovers after terrible overcrowded nights with people you’ve become overly fast friends with despite your differences. And you think, right, well – is this it? This is what all the fuss is about, this is what I’ve been waiting for since Year 11? GREAT!
But do not fear, don’t pin all your hopes on first semester – the best is yet to come! If you don’t like your flat, try joining a society, meet people on your course, be open to new experiences and new people and you will find your place, it will just take time. Try to always maintain a positive mental attitude. If you put positivity into the world, I guarantee you will get positivity back. And hey, if your flat really isn’t working out, move sooner rather than later. Your happiness should be the most important thing to you. But let me just say, one of the main things that uni has taught me is not to judge people for the clothes they wear, the nights they go to, or the way they speak. Don’t get caught up in clique nonsense; don’t be afraid of difference.
The reason everyone says first year is so good is because they only remember the good bits. They forget the uncertainties, the self-doubt, the self-esteem hit, and the luck-of-the-draw flatmates. By the end of the year they think they were always friends with their best friends. But it doesn’t happen overnight! Make the most of life: if something is truly wrong then change it, but if something is just not quite right then keep at it… everything happens for a reason and you will find happiness if you are open to looking for it.
Phrase of the week: Stick at it!
by Freya Thompson
Photo @her_campus_leeds