Second Year is Very Nearly Over

My Second Year of university has nearly come to an end. For my Third Year I’m going to be studying abroad in Canada.

This year has flown by, I know that is something of a cliché but it really is true. University years just go by so quickly. It doesn’t feel like it’s been 9 months since I was writing about starting this blog and writing about how I have friends now. Although at the same time when I think back to things I was doing in the first few weeks of first semester that all feels really long ago now! I’ve managed to do a lot of stuff this year. It’s strange how it can be both feel as if it has passed in an instant and like I’ve been here for ages.

I definitely have more friends than I did in first year and I have managed to do more socialising this year. Comparing first year and second year it really is obvious that I have gotten better at making and keeping friends. I’ve also got better at actually doing stuff with my friends, it’s difficult sometimes to get everyone’s schedules to sync up but it can definitely be worth the effort. I’m still a bit awkward with making friends and keeping in touch but I think I’m getting much better. Though I still can’t figure out if I’m an outgoing introvert or a social awkward extrovert!

I think this year my sense of independence has also really developed. It started to develop during first year but it’s even stronger now. Now if I want to do something then I will just do it, even if I have to do it alone. I don’t have a problem with doing stuff on my own. At the end of the day it’s more important to do something that you want to do than not doing because of someone else.

It always disappoints me how things just sort of fade out into the long break at the end of the academic year. I suppose because everyone finishes at different times and then everyone heads home at different times it’s hard to have a complete finish to the academic year or the individual semesters. However that doesn’t stop the way it so often gradually ends and fades away being disappointing.

This really is the end of an era for me as when summer beak comes to its conclusion I won’t be heading back to my usual university, I will be heading to Canada! Obviously I am very excited about my year abroad. For the most part I think I’m more excited than nervous which I guess is a good thing. I’m going to write a few posts over the summer about what I’m looking forward to and how I’m feeling about studying abroad so I won’t go too in depth with that here. However it is weird knowing that in Autumn 2018 when I return to university in England things will be massively different - most of the cohort that I started university with will have graduated!

Second year has generally been a positive experience for me. There’s been some parts that have been bad, hard or difficult but on the whole I think it’s been a good year for me.

Student Life – Avoiding The Student Bubble

It’s pretty much a fact of student life that you get sucked into the ‘student bubble’. Yet –partially because I’m doing it on my terms – I kind of feel like I’ve avoided becoming completely sucked into the ‘student bubble’.

By the ‘student bubble’ I mean the way that some students end up living their life in a way that means more or less everything revolves around university and being a student. I know people who seemingly do things just because that’s what a student is supposed to do rather than their being any sense of independence attached to it. I know people who haven’t explored the city and embraced some of the opportunities that are on our doorstep. Why do some people just seem intent on having a completely generic student experience instead of breaking out of the routine of the ‘student bubble’?

I’m not trying to shame anyone here. I have nothing against routine, I’m a naturally organised person so I enjoy having a routine. For example Monday’s I meet up with my friends for coffee (I’ve talked about that in this post). Tuesday evening is Disney Soc. And every Saturday morning just before 9AM I go out into the city and have my weekly Saturday Shop, (see my haul posts).

In my first year I lived in the off campus accommodation block. At my uni most of the residences are on campus but there’s one block which is in the city at the opposite side of the city centre to the university campus. I think living in the city during first year was a really great thing to happen to me. I’m sure living on campus has lots of benefits but I relished the sense of independence that I had from essentially being left out on my own. Living in the city meant I couldn’t rely on eateries on campus like some students do, I had to learn how to cook (I talked about this previously inanother post). I had to learn the bus system, which might sound like something fairly basic but it’s something that I noticed trips up a lot of second years who lived on campus. Living in the city also meant I got a real appreciate for having the city on my doorstep.

At the end of the day I am a naturally independent person and I do enjoy being a little different and doing it on my terms. I just don’t understand how and why some people let themselves get trapped in the student bubble.