Hello again,

This week seems to be the week of big decisions. Not only must I start to give serious attention to my application to do a masters degree but I am also currently on a train to find a place to live after my time here ends. This has made me reflect on how quickly my time at university has passed.

It’s not uncommon for people to tell you that university is your first taste of independence or real adult life, and whilst this is partly true, it is also a bubble. You live in a strange world where stress builds in 10 week blocks, in which weekends no longer seem to exist as you’re expected to go out in the middle of the week and then catch up with work on a Saturday and your versions of old and young refer to being first year or third year, instead of children or the elderly (which you barely see on campus and sometimes forget exist).

First year is spent being bewildered and trying to fit in, in my case badly, under the belief that if you don’t live the university life portrayed to you in American Pie then you’re boring. I quickly gave up when I realised that I liked my solitude and a night in gaming with just a few close friends was not only preferable but much cheaper than spending every night jiggling awkwardly in a club.

Second year is more about time management than anything else. Once you have settled with a constructed family of friends your main concerns are finding ways to spend any time with them, a luxury which rapidly diminishes after first year, and orchestrating a full day on campus without a cosy room to retreat to between lectures. Second year is also where you begin to think about what you want to do, but only very loosely, as it’s likely to have changed or developed since you picked your degree. As opposed to thinking of job titles or companies you ask yourself much broader questions. What are you interested in? Do you want to work in that area? What type of lifestyle do you want after university?

Third year comes along and dangles a huge needle over the bubble and all you can do is attempt to work out what bit of real life you will cling to when it bursts. Then the specific questions get asked and you are expected to have an answer. What job in what company are you applying for? Where and how are you funding your masters degree? Have you found a place to live or even already put a deposit on it?

At this point I am grateful for the occasional meetings with my academic tutor who has really helped me to focus on what I want to do and how to do it, a task that otherwise felt daunting and would have been put off until much too late, hence why I find myself applying for a Masters Degree in Philosophy and Economics and on a train to look at housing. My advice is to really make use of the resources and opportunities you are given at university, there is always some lecture or workshop going on that will help you with these big decisions so that when the time comes you have a strong direction.