Making life-altering decisions is never, and has never, been easy, hindered also by being expected to make said decisions from such a young age. From picking the qualifications you want to study from the age of thirteen, and again at sixteen, knowing what subject you want to be your soul focus in life, knowing you may be with that decision for a long time, it is a tremendous amount of pressure for not-yet fully developed minds, and to add to that, the difficult choice to live university life from the comfort of your home town, or the take the intimidating leap of faith and move away.
University in itself can be so incredibly petrifying for the vast majority of young applicants, and as a second-year student, I feel that it is the duty of the current pre-graduate population to help ease the minds of those that have nerves or anxieties about the same things that we have experienced.
Whether you’re in the middle of applications or auditions for universities, or you’ve just finished your first term as a fresher and you feel as though you are anywhere on the scale of mildly panicked or absolutely terrified, just know, there are always people that will have felt exactly the same way, you are never alone in this feeling. I dealt with, and still often do, a great deal of anxiety surrounding university, and there are several ways to combat this.
Over the first term of my second year, I have been finding out from my peers at Plymouth Marjon University, and friends from others, the top tips they have picked up to choosing your course, its location, surviving – and maybe even enjoying – your first year at university, as well as their own experiences
Studying at home – Student at Plymouth Marjon University
Whether it’s on A Level results day, or getting your certificates from college, finding out which universities have accepted you is a rewarding but challenging experience, as the world lets you celebrate for about five minutes before hounding you to confirm your place at the university of your choosing. As someone who was planning on moving away but changed my mind due to not feeling that it was the right thing for me, and circumstances within my family, I already knew that I was heading to Marjon on results day when my place was secure. Circumstances can change, I would suggest trying to keep an open mind and fully weigh your options up before results day arrives to avoid any more stress on the day. Studying in my hometown has been undoubtedly the right decision for me, allowing me to stay close to my family, make friends with some of the loveliest fellow journalists, keep the job I had during my A Levels, and thrive in the introverted natural habitat that is my bedroom with enough books to stock a medium-sized library. In the wise words of lyrical genius, and general icon Noah Kahan, “It’s okay to stay,” and that is exactly what I, and one of my peers did.
“I chose to study at Marjon purely because it was close to home. At the point of starting uni, I had a personal issue and decided staying local was the best choice for me with my mental state and as Marjon was the only uni within my travelling distance that provided a journalism course, I decided it was the best fit. It also meant I was able to continue with driving (lessons) as that was my main goal, I was able to continue working my job.”
“I was lucky to find incredibly good friends at uni and live the uni experience within my comfort zone, the socialisation side of it wasn’t a tricky thing to have whilst still having the comfort of home and my prior friends.”
When asked if they would do anything differently about their first year of university, the student said that they would consider living on campus, their experience of living at home to study has been for the majority positive and comfortable, and feels that it is right for them.
Moving away to study – Student at Falmouth University
Moving away from home can be such an alarming and fear-inducing concept to think about when you’re freshly eighteen, or older, and you’ve potentially not yet experienced living without your family. For many, making friends is a struggle, and having the confidence to put yourself out there feels like a necessity when you move to a new town, with new people, but an important thing to remember to ease your mind is that almost everyone will be feeling this way, and almost everyone that claims they don’t is almost certainly lying, to both you and themselves.
Originally one of my first-choice universities, Falmouth university is a beach-side campus full of beauty, in both its embrace of nature and its soul, possibly one of the only in the country where you can go straight from a lecture to surfing on the beach with an ice-cold Rattler. Whilst it was not the right path for me, it is without a doubt still a gorgeous environment, as told by one of its own second year students.
“Falmouth is a lovely location with so much to offer, it has the classic Cornish village feeling while still being big and near lots. I was drawn to how close it was to the water and beaches, as I could continue to surf, snorkel and dive.”
“My first year went well, living in halls gave me lots of opportunity to meet lots of new people and build friendships. Although Falmouth is small, there were still lots of social opportunities, going out to pubs and local music bars. I got to experience so much while still meeting so many people, lots of which had similar interests and goals I had which made it easy to connect.”
“I wouldn’t say I was particularly worried until the move-in day came, I was excited for new opportunities and being in a new place. I was anxious about being in a shared room and who my roommate would be but looking back on it, it wasn’t that bad, and I made it work, making sure I still had my own time and space. There wasn’t much stress about moving away as I was comfortable with the idea of being away from my parents knowing they can come see me whenever and I can hop on a train if needed. I would encourage everyone to move away for uni, it brings so many new opportunities and it’s a fun adventure that I feel like everyone should experience.”
A final piece of advice from the Falmouth student for prospective applicants looking to move away, “I would recommend going to the uni first and making sure you like it and the city it’s in, and that you are passionate about the course. I feel like that made it slightly easier for me to move away as I was so excited about the course and being in Falmouth.”
The bottom line is, the world is absolutely your oyster, as cliché as that is, and you should feel comfortable enough to do whatever feels right for you. So take that path, move to that city, stay where you’re happiest, and to quote another lyrical genius, Taylor Swift speaking at a graduation, “The scary news is, you’re on your own now. But the cool news is, you’re on your own now. We are led on our gut instincts, our intuition, our desires and fears, our scars and our dreams. As long as we are fortunate enough to be breathing, we will breathe in, breathe through, breathe deep, and breathe out.”
Nice story Bri – and great advice from La Swift…