I arrived at Seabraes halls on a warm day in Dundee. The vivid memory of feeling reassured and confident about beginning my university adventure quickly dissipated from me the second I watched the only people who were constant in my life, my parents, leave my hall.
Truth be told, my first month in Dundee was bizarre largely because I was in a foreign city away from family and I had to fend for myself in an environment I was not familiar with. The mental preparation before going to university was not sufficient as I found out that I had no idea of what I was in for until I had to live through the experience.
Making new friends is challenging and it becomes worse when you are confused about everything that is going on around you. I remember the first event for freshers at the union, I was shy and hesitant because of the large amount of people present. I began talking to someone from home I used to play rugby with. He played for my rival school which is ironic because we are flatmates now.
As time went on, I found myself getting into routines which revolved around rugby, studying my programme and socialising. My life progressively started to formulate in contrast to the beginning of the term.
I experienced a few difficulties during my programme, the first and obvious problem was finding the lecture theatres. Locating lecture theatres might seam easy but trust me when I say it’s not, especially if it is the Dalhousie building which can also be referred to as the labyrinth. After exploring the campus with my friends a couple of times during the week, it became more natural and somewhat comfortable because going to lectures (as uninteresting as some of them may be) is also a good means for socialising whilst building your confidence.
It took me a while to get used to the lectures as it was incredibly different from interpersonal classrooms in secondary school to content-based learning at university, and that transition took me a while to become accustomed to. Personally, I think it is a process of trial and error because everyone’s approach to lectures is different. If you go intending to write everything the lecturer says, you might be mistaken. There are different approaches to different courses but my preference would be that of listening to as much information as you can, whilst recording key details, such as assessment criteria, tips on writing essays and information which may be relevant for assignments.
Moving away from academic life, and getting involved in a University society or club was the best decision I made. Meeting like-minded people from different backgrounds and various personalities helped build my confidence to the point where I started feeling settled. I was apprehensive and thought I would not get along with anyone because it has been a while since I tried to make new friends. I have always had good set of friends which I have known for a long time, but honestly, branching out and meeting new people started to grow on me as it gave me diverse perspectives and will be a skill that will be useful all my life.
As time went by, everything started to look great for me, socialising became easier, my confidence grew stronger and I felt satisfied with the programme I selected (Business Management). It was evident to me how important it was to get through those first few challenging days. Change can be daunting but it brings with it growth, development and exciting adventures.
If I were to give one piece of advice to the former apprehensive and shy version of myself who had just arrived at University of Dundee, I would say don’t be scared. Change is constant in life. Embrace everything that comes your way with an open and positive mind because if you don’t take yourself out of your comfort zone, you will miss a lot of opportunities to enjoy yourself and have a great time.