First Year of University - My Experience

Bonjour everyone, how are you all today?

Today's post will be the first of my new series I'm starting on my blog - First Year of University. I have just completed my first year at uni and I wish there was someone to give me proper advice on what to expect so that's what I want to do for people starting this September.

This post is going to be a general overview of my own experience I had throughout first year. I have further planned more posts on different aspects such as clothing, making new friends and learning a new subject as a beginner.

P.S for privacy reasons I do not want to disclose what university I study at but it is in Scotland!

First year for me sounded like a daunting experience but it was honestly one of the best times of my life! I was independent, no longer needed to wear school uniform and I got to study something that I loved my entire time at school - languages. But, like most other students, I had one fear - not making friends in a hurry. I think it's just one of those fears everyone has but honestly, everyone is in the same situation on their first day/week/month of university in first year and eventually, you meet people in the same classes as you and you suddenly have more friends before! I will do a seperate post on making friends.

For those of you that don't know, I study French and Italian at university. French was a no-brainier for me as it was one of my best subjects and one I easily got high marks in. My French teachers were the best I could ever ask for and they had faith in me and pushed me to continue my French studies and I do not regret it one bit! Luckily for me, I knew my French lecturers from when I was at high school as my French teacher used to lecture at the uni I go to and his wife teaches me too! Italian was a bit of a different story. I always wanted to study business (must be an Asian thing!) and when I studied it in my last year at high school I loved it even more. But I know when it came to course selections I needed a back up in case I didn't get into business so I chose another language. My teacher suggested Italian as it is something different and not many people study Italian and although Spanish was another option, I liked the idea of Italian and was accepted to study French and Italian. I have never been so grateful to have been selected because I can tell you know, I hate business subjects at uni level (I also did marketing as my 3rd subject - big mistake!)

If there is one thing I want to warn you about, it is the work load! There is a considerable jump from high school to university in terms of the amount of self study you are required to do as part of your course. I remember being at school and they spoon-feed you everything but at uni, you have to read up on the work before a lecture otherwise, you are fucked!

Another warning is that, if you aren't used to travelling, be prepared to be really tired having to wake up earlier to get the bus/train and getting public transport back home if you plan on taking it. It used to take me almost an hour to get to uni as I used to get the bus to the subway station then the subway until I realised that a bus straight to the city centre was much cheaper and quicker! once you get used to the travelling, the tiredness will reduce.

Overall, I just want to say that 1st year at uni was honestly an experience that I will keep with me forever! I am so excited to start back in September for second year and I hope it will be just as fun as 1st year. Just stay calm and relaxed (not too relaxed) and it will be such a memorable experience which you can share with other people you know who will be starting university the following year.

Hope you all enjoyed this post! I have lots of posts ready to accompany this series on how to survive 1st year of university.

Au Revoir ♥