I have just finished my 2nd year of university and I’m feeling really soppy and reflective. I know that before I decided to go to university, I was looking for something like this where someone would give an honest review of their time at uni so that’s what I’m going to do.
This year has been the most challenging and rewarding time of my life. I study Accounting & Finance (I love it) but it’s a very demanding subject. I lived in a house with my friends from halls which was a challenge in itself. I think the issue was that we all had different demands and deadlines which meant when some had deadlines, others wanted to be noisy and vice versa which lead to clashes. I still love them all dearly but I’m glad to live with course friends next year who will all have the same demands as me.
1st Semester: I did a lot of individual study in 1st semester but the biggest challenge was balancing my search for an internship with my workload. There’s actually a lot of behind the scenes work that goes with applying to companies. Filling in an application form takes hours as you need to get across your genuine interest and show your competency, then preparing for telephone interviews, face to face interviews. Attending assessment centres. It all takes time and sometimes missing some university. What helped me was remembering that my end goal is to find a job in my field after graduation. Using this time for advancing my employability was still a productive use of my time. I persevered and I got one and managed to pass all of my exams.
2nd Semester: A HUGE learning curve, I had to do 2 group projects which were very interesting experiences. One of my groups was amazing, we all worked really well together and there weren’t any free riders. The other group, however, did not go as smoothly. Members of the team simply refused to contribute which was frustrating but in life, there are people who free ride. At the end of the day, the job needs to be done and I think dealing with this bad experience taught me a lot and will help me in the long run.
I don’t have any pictures of me in the library (my second home) but in reality you will spend a lot of your time there, reading textbooks and researching. I think actually enjoying my subject makes the work not feel like work.
Overall I had an amazing year. I’m that much closer to my dream job and have managed to land myself an internship with a great company. I’ve learnt a lot and made/ strengthened friendships. Here’s to the future and hoping it’s bright
Teru xx