My Second Year University Experience

Last year I did two university themed posts – my first year experience as university and some freshers’ week tips. I’ve been unsure for a while about whether I wanted to do a second year post, second year is not at all as exciting as starting university for the first time – but what’s a lifestyle blog, if you feel restrained about talking about your life…

 

Second year started off amazingly – I was moving out of halls and living in a flat with three of my closest friends. I had an investment banking internship secured within two weeks of starting university (skipped the second year application filling stress), was reconnecting with all my friends post summer that may have been out of London or England, and although I wasn’t going out as much as I did first year, I still enjoyed a good number of nights out in the early weeks of second year. Four weeks into second year, I met my boyfriend. It’s funny, because I’d spent so much of my late first year days feeling sad about all my friends having boyfriends (literally all of them) and me being single; we’ve all been there before. The day I met (well “met met”, as in, started seeing) my boyfriend, I woke up and said to myself, “you know what? I don’t care anymore. I’m just gonna have a good time,” – the day I said that, and stopped crying about being single, I was no longer single.

These are the two main differences between first and second year; first of all, second year is just way harder. I THOUGHT I knew what hard work was first year? I really didn’t have a clue. Second of all, second year is a bit more of a reality check. I say this quite a lot – first year was a bubble. It was a bubble that existed within the confines of your halls, and the bubble was full of excitement, happiness and “OMG LOOK AT ALL THESE PEOPLE I’VE MET!!” Second year was more of an understanding of who out of ‘all those people you met’, you really, truly value.

Second term, I picked it up a notch. I was studying a lot more, got a role as an editor for my university’s newspaper and was busy with student ambassador and committee roles. Second term was when that first year bubble popped; it took me a long time to accept that some of my friendships from my first year at uni had genuinely changed, and an even longer time to accept that they were never going to change back, but once I did and learned who to value in my life, I felt as though I had been freeeeeeed.

Third term brought exam season. This meant 3am shifts in the library, tons of folders and stacks of past papers. And after all of that – I got three 2.1s and one 1st. The same 2.1 I got last year when I barely put in any work. It took me a lot of time to accept that too. It’s silly to be upset with a 2.1, but there’s also nothing wrong with aiming for the highest. Second year definitely takes first year up a notch, and as disappointed as I was, there was many things I know I could’ve done a lot better, and I will do better next year. My dream of getting a first is still not out of the window.

All in all, second year was a year a learned a lot. It was the first year I’ve actually sat and asked myself what I actually want – what kind of person I want to be, where I see myself going in life. I’ve always lived in this educational box, and I’ve always been too scared to look beyond education to my actual future and career because I know that education is what I ‘do well’. I study hard, I get my grades, it’s all good. I’ve always done the right things, applied to internships, networked, whatever it is you’re supposed to do; but it’s only been this year that I’ve actually started to think about my life properly and where I see myself. This year I’ve also jumped on this wave of self development. I honestly believe every day should be a day you’re trying to make yourself a better person, in absolutely anything. Developing myself has suddenly become such a huge part of my mind set I want to share it with everyyyyyone. My boyfriend has made big differences to my life in that he’s made me see what important – if it wasn’t for him I wouldn’t never started to (really) try and develop myself, I would never have popped my head out of my box of education and into the future and it probably would’ve taken me a lot longer to branch out with my blog, redesign it and start taking better quality outfit photos.

It’s crazy how much things can change in a year. Comparing my first year post to this post – I feel like a totally different person. But you know what… I’m really starting to like the person I’m becoming.