This blog post is a kind of follow on from the previous blog post that I have published (if you haven’t seen it yet, you should go check it out) however, as promised this blog post will consist of talking through all three years truthfully with my personal experience from the moment university started, right up until the end.
Year One
As mentioned in my previous blog post, moving to London was quite sudden, I had moved to a big city knowing absolutely nobody and it was quite daunting. During the process of moving to London, I had joined a Facebook uni freshers group page for that starting year and had looked through the posts in that group to try and find other people who were also on the same course as me. I found a few people who were also doing Criminology (Policing) and had added them and got briefly speaking with them a few weeks before uni started. I was at work and on my lunch break I had received a message from Hannah who said she was also doing Criminology, to which I was so relieved she had messaged me. We got to know a bit about one another and I had found out that her boyfriend also lived in the same town as me which was so cool.
As also mentioned in the previous blog, I got a flat in a student accommodation living with 3 boys and 1 other girl, we were all doing different courses at different uni’s in London. When moving day arrived, this is when I was able to finally see where I would be living. Once all my stuff was moved in and I said goodbye to my family, I pretty much met a couple of my flat mates already by this point which was just the general introducing ourselves to one another. Although throughout the year, one of the male flat mates living in my flat, I literally only met him like twice briefly when he went to cook a pizza in the shared oven and that’s not even an exhaduration. Myself and my flat mates were convinced he didn’t live there anymore as none of us ever saw him, it was so weird! I remember clearly my dinner for the first evening living in my flat was a pot noodle because I was too nervous to cook a proper meal when I hadn’t met all of my flat mates yet aha! However, I was super happy with my room and the flat itself and was just excited to get started with uni.
The first day of uni arrived which is mainly known as an ‘freshers week’ which is basically an introduction to the course and the course leaders whilst having various other events also happening such as freshers fair (who doesn’t love a good freebie!). In my opinion, I feel like the expectations of freshers week is kinda overrated for what it actually is. When people hear the word “uni” I’m pretty sure they think of getting completely wasted not just in freshers week but constantly throughout uni. Which is why many people are so familiar with hearing the term “drunk students”. This isn’t always the case, don’t get me wrong, in first year there is always time to go out drinking but there still needs to be a fine balance between going out drinking and cracking down and actually getting on with the coursework that has been set for the uni course. I only went out probably about twice during freshers week purely because I’ve never been one to constantly go out and get drunk which is completely okay as it’s not for everyone.
Anyway, myself and Hannah had arranged to meet before our first introduction lecture as we were both nervous and by having each other it made that day SO much more easier and bearable. I honestly do not think I would have been able to get through that first day at uni without Hannah. However, because Hannah originally was going to do Criminology just on its own whereas I was doing Criminology (policing) this meant we had to be separated for an hour or so as it was two different courses. Hannah did change to the course I was doing for second and third year (which I’ll explain in more detail later on) but Hannah had got to know a girl called Abi whilst we were separated, who I then also got to meet once we met up again for lunch that day.
Because Hannah and Abi were doing a different course to me in first year, this meant I was barely in any lectures/seminars with them but we still met up on our breaks instead. I did then also become friends with a group of guys and one girl who were on my Criminology (policing) course which was nice as a few of them I already had on facebook and had already spoken to before uni had started. Hannah and Abi knew of the friends that I had made from my course but hadn’t properly met them until towards the end of first year where we had all become one massive group of friends. This was so much better as it meant we could all spend time together rather than me going off and spending more time with one friendship group and less time with the others.
Mainly in first year it was myself, Hannah and Abi as we spent a lot of time together. Looking back now, first year was actually really easy regarding the lectures/seminars and the actual modules themselves. The essay’s/presentations that need to be completed in first year was a kind of taster into the course itself, as all the grades that we had received in first year did not count towards our final grade (only second and third year grades did). First year was not stressful at all really, the work load was manageable to do and it was just mainly about getting used to uni itself with learning how to submit the work etc. Honestly first year of uni was such a good year purely because it had made me realise how independent I could be and it was exciting to live in the city.
Year Two
So second year of uni was a bit more of a step up from first year. I was still living in the same student accommodation but I wasn’t really feeling like having to share a flat with four other people again so I made the decision to live in a studio flat by myself which was so much more pricey but thankfully the rent was manageable. Even though I was living in a flat by myself, I wasn’t alone as I still had friends that I made from first year who still lived in the same building as me also, which was so nice. I remember before uni had even started, I invited Hannah over to my studio flat and we had a wine and fajita night whilst having a sing song to many classic throwback childhood songs such as Justin Bieber, High School Musical and of course Hannah Montana which if anyone knows us, will know our hype for Hannah Montana songs aha!
Lectures/Seminars didn’t actually start for second years until the week after freshers week so myself and Hannah attended the freshers fair again (even though we were no longer freshers) purely for the freebies. We also went to one event during freshers week which was the silent disco. Hands down one of the best events I had ever been to ever in my life! It was like going out clubbing but more like a disco version where the music isn’t even playing out loud as its through the headphones that you are wearing, but yet everyone is still singing at the top of their lungs because even if you’re a pretty awful singer (like me) nobody could hear you anyway. Such a good night, although I was slightly heartbroken that the security people stopped the event for kicking out time literally half way through the Grease lightning song, another classic throwback song.
So the week after freshers week was where the lectures/seminars had begun, this week was mainly sessions as an introduction into the modules and getting to meet the module leaders, so that week wasn’t so bad. This was the first official year where every grade I got did actually count towards my final grade so this is where uni became a lot more serious. Second year was quite a rough year for various reasons which I’m not going to go into, but to summarise I just didn’t like being at uni during this year as I was going through a lot of personal issues. However, I stuck it out with the help of my boyfriend and my family which I’m so so so grateful for, otherwise I don’t think I would have got through that year without them.
The work load was manageable because as I said, I focused only on getting the uni work done and to get through that year ready for a long break off for the summer. The one module I had to do in first and second year as I have mentioned in the previous blog was Sociology. Now I can honestly say doing Sociology in second year was awful and so unbelievably difficult in comparison to first year’s Sociology coursework, as this is the part in the year where the module leaders had introduced students to use the software SPSS which even now still baffles me. I honestly don’t think I will ever understand Sociology, its such a complex module to do purely because you are literally doing your own research which can be so difficult.
I also had one exam to do which I was extremely nervous for as I’m more of an essay based person than exams. To be perfectly honest, I didn’t even know that there would be any exams during this degree so this did kind of came as a surprise. However, the person who taught that exam module was honestly amazing (so gutted he left for a different job during third year) but he always replied quickly to any emails or concerns with the coursework and made sure the sessions did actually make sense to us students so that we had actually learnt interesting and important key information that may have been useful for the exam. Which I can confirm everything he taught was so useful for the exam, and I ended up getting a 2:1 with just a few marks off a first. This was one of those proud moments where I was convinced I got the lowest grade possible or that I had failed that exam. But seeing how well I did made me realise that I can achieve amazing results when I put my mind to it, and to stop doubting myself. This exam grade was the last result I was waiting on to see if I had passed second year, so once that came through, it was such a nice way to end a tough year.
Year Three
This third and final year I have to say was honestly the best year out of my whole university experience. I still lived in the same town but moved into a different student accommodation just down the road from my old student accommodation that I used to live in during first and second year. The new student accommodation I had moved into during this year was such an upgrade, this building has a gym/swimming pool just downstairs, plenty of study area’s, common rooms on every floor and even a cinema room like what the hell?! I never knew student accommodations could be this lush. I got a flat with Hannah, we had our own rooms and it was a shared kitchen and bathroom which was so nice. It has been so nice actually sharing a flat with a close friend in comparison to first year where I was basically just sharing a flat with a bunch of strangers.
Myself and Hannah had two other friends from our course who moved into the same building as us a few floors above our flat, so it was nice to have close friends from the course who all lived in the same building. The start of third year was so good, during freshers week, Hannah and I went to a party in our student accommodation which was basically a welcome party to all students. It was a UV party which meant we got to put on cool glow in the dark paint (who doesn’t love a bit of UV paint) anyway, the party itself was alright, the music wasn’t brilliant but towards the end of the night, we met a couple of other people and just chilled with them in a separate common room for the rest of the night which was nice. Just like year one and two, the freshers fair was on which myself and Hannah definitely went to again, as we knew this would be our last ever chance to grab freebies seeing as this was our final year of uni.
The week after freshers week was basically the same as the previous years, to get to meet the module leaders and have an introduction into the actual modules themselves. I remember the first ever dissertation lecture was so scary, especially when we were told we had to have some kind of rough idea by the week after as to what topic we wanted to do our dissertations on. This lecture hit me real hard and made me come to the realisation that my degree really was nearly over. I kind of knew what I wanted to do topic wise, so getting assigned my supervisor was pretty straight forward. The first couple of weekends into the start of uni lessons, myself and others from my uni course plus extra friends went out clubbing in Watford twice which was amazing. The club we went to had a downstairs floor where it’s like serious party music but then they also had an upstairs where they played all the classic throwbacks, S Club 7, Justin Bieber, Mr Brightside, you name it, it was all played. The second time we went clubbing, we all went straight to the upstairs floor and just stayed up there all night, we had a lot of fun having a good sing song to classic throwback songs all night. (I think I can speak for everyone and say that our voices were pretty much gone by the next morning aha)
The semester right up until Christmas was just basically going to all seminars/lectures as there wasn’t really any coursework due apart from like one essay which was due in December. I found it difficult getting back into the routine when writing that essay as we had literally had like 6 months (including the summer holiday) of not having to write any essays so I feel like I started to adjust properly back into essay writing in the semesters after Christmas, so from January onwards. With the build up to Christmas, the traditional WinterWonderland in Hyde Park was back, which I practically go to every single year, particularly since living in London the last 3 years. If you haven’t ever been there yet, I highly recommend it for later on this year! So back in November, Hannah and I, plus two other uni friends had a full day out in central London and we also took a trip to WinterWonderland in the evening when it was all dark and Christmassy. It was such a nice day out and we all had a good laugh.
Semester two had arrived which was into the new year of 2018 and it was such a weird feeling as I literally only had like 4 months left of uni. Again, this semester I only had like two assignments to do as for some reason majority of my essay’s were due in April, plus my dissertation was due 1st May (my official final piece of coursework). I did meet with my dissertation supervisor more at this point as the deadline slowly approached. I also had a presentation to do in front of a whole lecture which was in March and its fair to say, I was so frickin nervous which I knew I would be. I somehow made it through that presentation although, that morning I literally couldn’t eat anything as I thought I would throw up but nevertheless I was so happy with the grade that I got for that presentation considering I was nervous as hell.
To be truthfully honest, April was the worst month.. I have never felt so stressed ever in my life. This was the month where all the final deadlines were hitting me at once and it was literally a full month of non-stop moving to get stuff done. Not only was I having to complete essay’s but I was also having to complete my 7,000 word dissertation and finding the literal time to do that was such a pain. The work load in third year was just a crazy amount to do, I knew it was going to be difficult but third year honestly made me question why I made the decision to go to university, that’s how bad it was. I won’t lie to you, third year probably will test your mental health like it did with me and many other people. Sounds dramatic but that entire month, I was barely eating as I constant felt sick, I couldn’t sleep because my body and brain wouldn’t let me and I genuinely could not look at anymore words. Even if someone had sent me a text message, because it was words I just wasn’t taking any of those words in anymore, my brain had just had enough. Oh and I also looked like complete poo, had the worst bags under my eyes and just looked stressed 24/7 (so apologies to anyone that saw me in that state hahaha)
I was quite surprised at how late the seminars/lectures actually finished so close to the dissertation deadline, I did think we would have a lot longer without any lessons to complete our last few deadlines for that month but we didn’t which meant even though I had tones of work that needed to be done, I still needed to turn up to lectures/seminars which was such a pain at times. The last week of lessons was so emotional though, having to say goodbye to lecturers and other friends and hearing them say “see you at graduation” was so weird to hear. I slowly made my way through the work and submitted the essay’s and from what I remember I’m pretty sure I submitted an essay for a different module like two days before my dissertation deadline where I was doing the final editing of my dissertation. So I was super busy and making sure everything was submitted on time and to the best of my ability considering I was just so done with coursework by this point.
Anyway dissertation deadline day had arrived on 1st May and this day was so important but also a day to remember because it was the official last day of our degree. Myself and Hannah went to the uni library really early that day to proof-read to the best of our ability our work which was so difficult to do when being sleep deprived, we then printed off our dissertations and binded them ready for them to be submitted. Once they were all binded, we immediently went outside the university entrance to take photos with our dissertations (as you can see from the photo at the top of this blog) we then went back to the library to submit our work. It felt like such a weird sensation, when we walked out the library myself and Hannah literally said to each other “what the hell, we have literally finished our degree now, we made it!” Such a proud but emotional day. Even though we were so sleep deprived, we ended up going to a party in our student accomidation with some others on our course that evening to celebrate us all finishing uni forever.
Since finishing my degree
Since finishing my degree nearly a month ago now, I have basically taken this time off to focus on myself mentally as it has taken me quite a while to actually recover from the stress of third year. Even now I feel like I can’t relax until I receive all my grades back from each coursework piece. I’m just waiting on two grades to come back within the next few weeks so once I get those back, I feel like I’ll then finally be able to relax. However, in the meantime I am job hunting for careers related to my degree, I am also looking into finding a driving instructor purely because I think it is about time now that I actually start driving. I probably would have been driving by now but I made the decision to go to university instead which set me back with the whole driving thing, so I’m determined to get my full driving license. I am also flat/house hunting in different areas with my partner which I’m so excited about, we’re hoping to get a place together in the next few months.
So that’s basically all three years of my university experience summed up in detail. I have spoken truthfully on how I found uni and what happened in each year! I was also thinking of doing another blog post linked on from this blog post, where I talk about uni tips that I would suggest to people who are about to start university/thinking of going to uni. Let me know if you guys would like to see something like that 🙂 but I hope you enjoyed reading this blog post! Sorry it’s quite long but I wanted to make sure I didn’t miss anything out throughout my university experience. If anyone has any other suggestions for blog posts that they want me to do, then feel free to comment on this post or send me a message via instagram: chartheblogger
-Char x
