First Year Uni - New skills, new friends, and a coffee addiction!

My first year of university has ended all too soon….yet not soon enough….and has finished just as it began, with a bundle of mixed emotions.

I began my first year overwhelmingly excited, but terrified by the prospect of the never-ending campus and the stampede of older students who seemed to know exactly what they were doing. Trying to defrost my brain after the HSC summer holiday, my first few weeks are a blurred memory of juggling the campus map, choosing from what seemed like millions of subjects, over-eagerly reading ahead and learning the ropes of the envied uni lifestyle.

I finished my last exam breathing a sigh of relief and with a sense of achievement. The disappointment that the year had come to an abrupt close - just as I was getting into the swing of uni life - was far outweighed by the freedom of the university summer break. Now I’m waiting for my final results with a strange sense of idleness, with my fingers crossed (with superglue!) but with confidence that I studied more than I thought was humanly possible.

I have achieved some significant milestones in my first year, including my well-overdue discovery of public transport, learning that results are actually directly contingent on hours of studying (who would have thought!) and that coffee is the key to surviving 8am stats tutes and late night study. Although my first year was somewhat frantic, I think it equipped me with all the essential lessons I needed to thrive at uni. I’ve become more accustomed to the fast paced uni style of learning, learnt the standard of work required and know where to turn if I’m struggling.

The thought of entering second year is exciting as my cohort takes its first step up the food chain. I’m in my element now. Uniforms and chronic HSC sleep deprivation are happily a thing of the past and now striking a balance between the academic and social dimensions of uni life has become routine. I’m looking forward to beginning studying subjects for my majors next year and being able to focus on the areas of study I am intrigued in. I’ve surprised myself in emerging from my first year not just intact, but with confidence in my new skills and knowledge, a love for studying at the University of Sydney, a passion for Commerce, many new friends and perhaps inevitably, a caffeine addiction.