Before I get deep and chat about my uni experience I just want to say a massive thankyou for all the amazing feedback i've been getting and all the supportive comments and requests for blog posts. This is something I really enjoy doing and i'm so happy you're all loving my content! One of my requested posts was to explain my first year of uni, how I got on, what it's like etc so im just going to explain a few things and how I personally got on. Everyone's experience is different but a feel a few qualities people who have experienced uni will understand the struggle and laugh about similar experiences i've had. I'm going to be mentioning a lot of people that have made my first year so special so well done if you get a shout out.
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Ok. So before I even began uni. I was the least independent person you'd ever of met. I literally couldn't do anything on my own. I would literally drag people to just come to places with me even if it was just to the other side of the room. I never really liked my own company and I constantly needed to be surrounded by people. In another way.. I was needy ahah! I remember when I went for a uni interview with my friend Livvy and I literally couldn't even go to the car in the car park at the hotel we were staying at to get tampons.. which was literally down a floor. I was literally cacking myself thinking I wasn't going to last till christmas and that I was going to hate every second and I would never find friends that matched to my friends from home and it was going to be a disaster. Luckily before I started uni I joined a load of facebook pages and group chats with people who would be staying in the same block of flats with me so I was familiar with faces and became friendly with people I could potentially be living with. This really annoying boy called Lewis kept messaging me loads so I finally decided to let him be friends with me (this is 100% sarcastic Lew is my best friend at uni) I was so lucky to find someone before uni that I knew i'd click with.
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Moving in day was so nerveracking but I had the worst hangover ever and too busy concentrating on not throwing up on the 4 hour car journey to uni, to even think of uni itself. I settled in pretty easy but saying bye to mum was probably the worst I ever felt, my little comfort blanket from the world wasn't going to be down the road or in the same house.. she was 4 hours away in a car. I didn't sleep well at all my first night just because when i'm in somewhere i'm not familiar with I can never sleep and the fact that my accommodation was a psychiatric hospital before it was halls really shit me up. Freshers week was a weird week. I got to meet loads of new friends but the events we went to were 'school disco like' but it was just jokes because everyone knew it was crap but it weirdly made it so good?? I didn't really venture out and make loads of new friends apart from Lewis and his flat because I was still the needy, shy (yes, I can be shy sometimes) person. When it came to actually having my first lesson I was SO anxious. I don't really do well around new people unless i'm really drunk, and luckily when I started college before uni I already knew someone (shout out Beckie J) but being a southerner in a very northern town I was really scared people wasn't going to like me because I had the 'posh' voice and I didn't want people thinking I was really stuck up.
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Luckily I made some really fun, amazing friends throughout the year and i'm so lucky to be going in with an amazing group of friends for second year. The first day was probably the biggest game changer for me, because I had to take the lead and try and be as confident as 'drunk Ellie' so I put myself out there and was asking people what their names were and where they were from etc. I felt so middle school like 'hey what's your name, my name's Ellie' but honestly I think people grow to like you more if you're more confident because then they have a stronger character to 'cling' onto. I know that's how I felt with Beckie in college because she was so confident and outgoing and thats when needy Ellie needed someone like that.
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Joining a social was also something that took a lot for me to do but i'm SO glad I did it. I decided to join cheerleading. I remember looking at SU page and looking at them all and kinda deciding what type of fresher I was going to be. The majority of my friends I go out with on student night and also just doing things like going for drinks or meals are with my cheer squad. They are all amazing, talented, crazy people that i'm going to be friends with for the rest of my life. I really enjoy the sport and I do it with all of my best friends.
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As for living arrangements and my flat mates. I was for sure out of my comfort zone. They are all really amazing people in their own way they just aren't 'my people.' The only terrifying thing with not knowing who you're going to live with for the next year of your life (which goes SO quickly) is that they could just not be your people. They're all super friendly and lovely but they might just not have the same interests as you so you don't bond with them. I didn't see it as a worry, as I did get one with a few of them (the others didn't talk to me) I just didn't bond with them. Still to this day if i saw a few I would say hello and maybe go for a drink with them to catch up on things but that's probably it. With someone who has very high cleaning standards, being with messy people can really 'annoy' you. We apparently had a ghost who didnt clean their pots after using them and it was always Mr nobody which for someone who really likes having a clean kitchen did wind me up and caused a lot of conversations in our group chat about cleanliness.
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Over all, doing this 'adult life' at uni is by far my biggest achievement and the best thing i've ever done. I've met some amazing people, best friends, boyfriend, tutors, my work family, cheer family. I would do it all over a thousand times. It's not a smooth ride but you have people surrounding you to support you highs and lows and they really do become family. If you're having worries about uni or having second thoughts. It's natural because you'll be out of your comfort zone and that's what scares people. Uni isn't for everyone I admit but how do you know unless you give it go?
If anyone has any further questions feel free to drop me a message
Much love
Ellie ♡
