My Third Year at University: A Reflection
I'm back, yes, it isn't Friday but I thought I'd surprise you all with an extra post this week! Today I'm going to reflect on my third and final year as a student at De Montfort University. If you have been following my blog for some time, you'll know that I did one of these posts where I reflected on both my first and second year at university, I'll leave a link below for you just in case you want to read those and catch up on my three year journey in a nut shell basically! But for now, lets talk about the last ten months of my time as a university student.
My third year at university has been quite different to that of the previous two. Mainly because I moved back home during this academic year having decided I would commute to Leicester from my home city of Nottingham. It seemed to make sense after a bad house sharing experience as well as it being a massive money saver! With Leicester only being a half an hour train ride away, it seemed like a pretty good idea to me!
So to start with, I'd be awake at the crack of dawn, 6am most of the time in order to be in Leicester, sat in a lecture theatre at 9am! It may sound early to some of you reading this, but it really wasn't and I got used to the early starts eventually. I'd be on the train at 8am during the winter, wrapped up in a big scarf, a cosy coat and woollen gloves, whilst juggling a coffee and my train ticket in one hand, and holding onto the stair railings with the other. I had it all figured out after a couple of weeks and before I knew it, I looked the same as any other commuter who was making their way to London (where my train terminated) at that time in the morning.
If you're still at university, particularly if you're going into your third or final year of studies, you may have been told that the third year is by far the busiest and also the hardest year throughout the entirety of your degree. Let me tell you that they aren't wrong. I was prepared for my last year to be anything but a breeze, but it still proved to be challenging, as it would for anyone I'd expect. It eventually became months and months of non stop researching, writing, redrafting, meetings, presentations, library sessions, lectures and seminars, if I wasn't on the university campus, or in the library, I'd be doing something which contributed to my work. I didn't really have much of a social life, which again is to be expected. However, having received the results I did, it was worth not going for cocktails with the girls, lunch with my mum or the cinema with my boyfriend, and if you have a strong support network, then no one should have a problem with you taking the time out to focus on the work required to gain a good degree classification.
I had a lot to deal with this year which happened outside of university, including a family bereavement (which also occurred during my second year at university) and a work related issue which I won't go into, however that took months of work and preparation in order to win my argument, and that took me away from university work as well.
All in all, I haven't really had an easy ride at university for multiple reasons, (if you've read my first and second year reflection posts then you'll understand why) but my family, friends and boyfriend have been so supportive, which gave me the strength to push through and do the best that I could do! So when I got the result I did, everyone was so proud of me! It was the first time I have ever felt an incredible sense of pride. It is probably my greatest achievement to date, and I still can't quite believe I did it!
So that's the end. A short and sweet end to an otherwise busy and hectic ten months. But it's all done and I have come out of the other end a different person. I have changed for the better, done an immense amount of growing up, gained life experiences in more ways than one, and at 23 years old, I have finally got a degree! Go me!
Good luck to all of you who are starting uni in September, to those of you going into your second year and those going into your third year. Your time at university doesn't last long at all, so make your time there count, doing amazing things and meet wonderful people, believe me, they're out there!
Thank you for reading my third and final reflection of university, and I will see next time! Over and out.
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