I thought to write about my University experience. How I thought it’d be easy getting in and how I also thought life there was also easy based on what I heard and saw. Back in secondary school, I used to smile while scrolling though my feed on Instagram. People made it look and sound easy. The Instagram posts tagged #graduation #UniLifeIsFun. I wanted to go there.
I thought getting in was the hardest part. I studied like mad for the exams, sacrificed my precious sleep and screen time, and prayed like never before.
And finally, the admission came, I screamed so loud the neighbors thought we’d hit the jackpot. I believed that day, I’d made it.
My first week on campus felt like freedom, one I’d never had before. No assembly, no uniform, no nosy teachers. I was alone and I had my own space, something I’ve always wanted – privacy. I thought this was the life.
And then it began. Lectures started.
I don’t know what shocked me more. The 7am classes? The 100 pages pdfs? Or the lecturer who thought we’d learnt everything already. One of them literally walked in, passed some heavy materials to read and left.
The hostel? Was nothing like home. Water only ran when the power was on. I shared a room with 7 strangers who couldn’t quite get the concept of being quiet. And cooking? Between finding it hard to turn on a stove and chasing off rats, even noodles became a fancy meal.
Assignments were grouped. I found it hard to communicate with my course mates, afraid I might say something out of subject.
I started skipping meals for classes, loosing sleep to revise for tests the lecturers never talked about till few hours before the D-day. I’d only been there for a month and I already thought the people who tagged University life as being fun, lives were probably built different.
I managed to stay on top of my notes, I even joined a study group so I wouldn’t cry over carryovers. My scores weren’t good but there weren’t bad either. I couldn’t tell this to my parents. I wanted to try harder. But university has a way of humbling a person. My phone got bad, I had an issue with a document I went over to different offices to help sort it out.
I missed a 20-mark test to get my document sorted. I was too scared to ask for notes or materials. I was way behind. If I kept this on, it’d have a bad ending for me. University wasn’t as easy as it looks.
I started asking questions in class, even if I stuttered. I went for tutorials and joined online classes. University was still hard, but not as before. I made friends, an important aspect to keep yourself lively and going. I was finally getting a hang of it, it wasn’t as stressful as it all started. And I started having fun. My own kind of fun.
I realized I just needed time to adjust to the environment and the people, and when I did, it was less worry. I’m still here, still learning. But I know better now. And I know the next semester would be better.
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