Students' and Parents' Experiences
End of the Long Summer
I turned up for results day this summer regretting that I wouldn´t be able to go to Sheffield. I was sure that I hadn´t performed well enough in my exams, and I was disappointed that my first choice was seemingly out of reach. I had my heart set on coming to Sheffield since visiting the campus on an Open Day months before, and everyone I spoke to about it mentioned what a good reputation it had for English Literature, the subject that I wanted to study.
. It was a huge relief, then, when I found to my surprise that I somehow had the grades to get in, and I couldn´t wait for those next few weeks to pass so that I could get started. But at the end of a long summer spent lying about in front of the cricket, I was suddenly a lot less optimistic. It would be strange to be snapped out of this lazy routine and thrust into academic pursuits again. I was looking forward to my course starting, but apprehensive about the social side of University life. I imagined that everything would be imposed, that I would be forced by the University into uncomfortable socialising sessions.
These worries continued as we drove across that first Saturday. When Dad had left and I had unpacked, I sat nervously on my new bed for a few minutes staring into space. Eventually, plucking up the courage, I wandered out into the kitchen. As people arrived, everyone got talking, helping out with bags and packing the fridge with beer (instant friend-maker). I just felt relieved that other people were as nervous as I was. It´s a cliché, but everyone really is in the same position as you for those first few days. Everyone´s new and no-one´s ever met before, so everyone is as glad of the company as you are. A few hours after arriving, you´ll be trying to remember too many names as you explore your halls and, of course, find your new local. Don´t worry that if you arrive late or take time to settle that you´ll have missed out on meeting people and making friends.
Of my friends now, I met the majority away from my halls, either out in the evening or at lectures. Another of those university clichés with a lot of truth in it is that you´ll make too many friends, not too few. On the academic side, the hardest thing in those initial weeks is to reset your body clock to 8am starts after Intro Week. The lecturers break you in easily at the start, giving you a chance to understand how everything is done differently at University from college or sixth form. At first I tried to do everything, determined to read every book on the suggested reading list, complete all of the tasks set and go out every night as well. Although it might be tempting to approach University life this way at first, you soon settle into the right balance between socialising and study. It´s amazing how quickly you consider Sheffield your home and see yourself as a veteran student.
Before long you´re too busy to think about going home for the weekend, however tempting those clean sheets and big fry-ups are.
Andrew Borrett
English Literature
First Year