Addressing the Challenges

Adapting to your time at university is inevitably an exciting process; but in many ways, this process remains laden with endless minor challenges that you will face in your everyday life. Occasionally, you may find your independence transforming into isolation, your freedom morphing into responsibility, and your liberty mutating as loneliness – and while it remains impossible to entirely eliminate these challenges, you can in many ways strengthen your mental toughness to ease the process of combating them. Thus, in light of this, I have decided to construct this blog to outline the many types of challenges that you may face at university and the most effective means of embracing them. Naturally, challenges remain circumstantial and subjective to individuals in accordance to their identities and previous means of living but I will attempt to keep these challenges general, therefore increasing the chances they can be applied to you. 

Challenge 1 – Homesickness: Regardless of whether you have been living at home all your life or attending a boarding school prior to university, homesickness is indeed one of the most frequently expressed concern by students at university; certain moments may trigger separation anxiety and loneliness; so, it is highly crucial that everyone firstly acknowledges that proper care should be placed in facing your homesickness. Essentially, it is important to make yourself aware of the type of person you are and then alter changes according to that: if you feel placing photos of your family and friends around your dorm, to create a feeling of familiarity, aids the process of adapting to university then that route is reserved for you, whereas, if you feel that disables you from thinking about other things then you can also choose another route. It is also crucial to remember that you are not alone and that expressing your occasional loneliness and homesickness to your friends can prove highly beneficial; construct a safe hub where you can discuss how you feel to people you trust. Generally, I also find spending less time in your room and being outside surrounded by people is also an easy way of keeping your mind occupied and busy, reducing the chances of you feeling alone; and enabling you to truly embrace the university experience.

Challenge 2 – Academics: The academic leap from sixth form to university is indeed one worth addressing: while the course itself may not be incredibly challenging and a drastic jump from your sixth form structure of education, the independence is! There will be no teachers pushing you to complete your reading and plan your essays thoroughly; likewise, there are no detentions to serve as punishment and once you fall into the pattern of skipping classes, it can be highly challenging to dig yourself out of this hole. Consequently, it is highly crucial that you remain organized and responsible: don’t sign up for early morning classes if you know you will not wake up for them and if you do sign up for 9ams, ensure you have an early night and complete your suggested reading. Challenge 3 – Balancing: In many ways, the first year of university is a test to see if you can truly juggle all the attractive society socials and nights out with your learning life. I have written a previous blog outlining useful tips to balance these 2 elements of university life and I highly recommend you to skim through that. Overall, I hope these tips have been helpful and as always if you have any questions please don’t hesitate to reach out.