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Just a little note before I start, this post is going to be long, there's no images, just me ranting - grab a cuppa and I hope you enjoy)
I'm just starting my third year at university - studying English Literature. Going into my second week, I accepted that there would be A LOT of work that would start piling up and don't get me wrong, I can handle it. But there are some situations that I can't deal with.
I have social anxiety so some tasks that are given seem impossible for me. Like today; in one of my English optional courses, I ended up leaving an hour before the end of the seminar purely because I was absolutely terrified of having to work with people that I don't know (and frankly, a lot of the people in my lectures aren't all that nice). It got to the point where I thought "are they going to be secretly judging me?" "What if I say something wrong?" All of these questions were going round in my head. As a result of this, I ended up coming home.
Back in 2012 when I first started uni, I had all of these expectations - imagine a film that focuses on a university in America (Legally Blonde, So Undercover... I can't think of anymore) but I expected it to be like that - late night partying, the British equivalent of sororities and fraternities, instantly making new friends that I would supposedly have for the rest of my life... But so far, none of this has happened.
Now they were right with one thing: university is a helluva lot harder than college, mentally and emotionally. You're constantly surrounded by people in your lectures and seminars that are evidently smarter than you (N: talking from my own experience) and they know it too; which is I hardly ever raise my hand to answer anything in seminars.
The work schedule is gruelling. This year I've been quite lucky and only have to go in 3 days a week. But that doesn't mean that the work load has gone down. I'm already planning projects, presentations (which is stressing me out even more because I HATE talking in front of people) and essays - their word counts have up to over 3500 words in each! So yeah, I think it's safe to say I'm stressed already.
I could go on all day about what I don't like about university life but all I really want for you to get out of this post is to just think about the reason you're planning on going to university. I, for one was pretty much pressured into going to university. All of my friends were applying, my teachers looked down on me when I mentioned to them that I wasn't thinking of applying so in the end, I almost felt obliged to actually apply. I just can't wait for this year to be over so I can go to work full-time.
Don't feel pressured into going to university just because of your friends, teachers and even your parents. No one can write your life for you. Only you can do that. Follow the path that you want to walk down.
The best road, is the one you choose.
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