Students' and Parents' Experiences
A New Era
I still remember the night before results. I couldn´t sleep, I stayed up all night, thinking, what it would be like if I got in - me, at the University of Sheffield. This felt like a dream, didn´t feel real at all. But then when I found out the following morning that I had been accepted, it was amazing, a brand new era was about to begin, not just for me, but for all my friends too. I´m from Leicester, a fairly small city, where everyone knows each other, Very tightly knit I´d say. I´d grown to love Leicester, but I wanted something different, I knew Sheffield was the change I was looking for.
Arriving in Sheffield was really emotional, my mum, dad, brother and gran all came along to settle me in, I am really close to my family especially my gran. I´d visit her every night, to see if she was ok, and I´d never really been away from my parents either. When I first arrived in Sheffield I remember thinking how hilly it was which was so different to what I was used to. I was really excited to just get out and explore, see what was around and get my bearings sorted.
My accommodation was more than I could ask for; it had only just beenbuilt and everything was brand new. It felt like a hotel, nothing like I´d imagined.
My parents finally left and everything seemed quite dead, I was really sad, but then there was a knock on my door –it was my room mates, they´d come round to introduce themselves, and I smiled. I knew Sheffield was going to be amazing, and 6 weeks later, here I am -settled in, having an amazing time.
I´ve met dozens of people, who are all different. People from Birmingham, Bradford, Manchester…even Kenya! The good thing about Sheffield is the mix: I´ve met people from all over the world. University life is shaping me for the real world – it´s moulding me into who I am, turning me into an adult. Having to cook for myself is something I never thought I could do: it was always something my parents used to laugh about but now, here I am, cooking, cleaning and even doing my own laundry. I try to go home every other weekend, and it´s great to be there but now, I look forward to going back to Sheffield after the weekend – I´m growing to love it here.
Minakshi Hansrani
Pure Mathematics
First Year