Take two: switching course and finding happiness at university

As I return to Warwick this year, I’ll be beginning my first year of a PhD in French, and I’m very excited about it. I loved my MA and my BA, and it’s hard to imagine ever doing anything else. But when I came to Warwick many years ago, I was excited to finally be finished with A-level French, and more than ready to get started on a course that had been my dream for years – an MMath (Master of Mathematics) in Mathematics and Statistics. Obviously, things didn’t pan out quite as I’d expected.

I’ve always loved Maths, and I always wanted to go to Warwick (I was so set on it that it was my firm choice immediately, and then I genuinely picked my insurance choice out of a hat). I’d been doing loads of bonus reading in anticipation and I’d been scanning through the module list, planning all of my years out well in advance. I was ready – bring on Maths.

Lectures became something I dreaded, rather than anticipated

They say that your first year at uni never quite pans out as you expect, but I was shocked – given my excitement and the sheer quality of Maths at Warwick – how poor the experience was. I hated the impersonal nature of 300-strong lectures, where it felt like lecturers were just disinterestedly reciting material at you (and, in some cases, they were – several modules saw the lecturers merely read out the revision guide). I struggled to make friends, particularly as I found that the mostly international cohort kept to themselves. Lectures became something I dreaded, rather than anticipated.

The big deal-breaker was the lack of support on offer. There was some quite high-level stuff thrown at us and I wasn’t prepared for all of it – if you fell behind, you essentially couldn’t up. I had several revision seminars, but they were helmed by a Chinese postgrad and the rest of the class was Chinese – if he got stuck explaining something, he would speak in Chinese for the majority, despite my protests. This happened fairly frequently. I would have spoken to someone in the department if there was anyone I could have turned to.

I grew to hate my degree, but I still loved Warwick, the friends I’d made here and the societies I’d become part of

I grew to hate my degree, but I still loved Warwick, the friends I’d made here and the societies I’d become part of. And, the more I thought about it, the more I realised that the solution to my problem was obvious – I needed to change course.

I used to go to the Duck pub quiz, and a friend there was a French and German student. She would describe the things she was doing in her modules, and it sounded markedly more enjoyable than the crushing Maths awaiting me. I was lucky that I had taken a wide variety of A-levels (not just sciences), so I fit the grade requirements for French. I found the email of the undergraduate admissions tutor and dropped her a line asking if I could meet about changing course.

There’s no shame in changing course if that’s what will make you happy, and it can pay off

Fortunately, she was incredibly lovely and everything was sorted out very quickly – I had to get some forms signed and re-enrol at the start of the following year, and that was about it. I was worried that a year away from French would see me unable to follow anything, only to be told that a module would bring everyone to the same level. The intake was roughly 80 and linguists proved more open and friendly – the department was warm and welcoming in a way that Maths simply never was.

Changing course shouldn’t be a solution to every difficulty and, if you really love your subject, it’s often worth soldiering through. I’ve had issues in French, too, but even in my worst moments, I’ve never regretted the change. Before you come to uni, it’s hard to really know if you’re truly studying what you want to study, or if you’ll gel with the department. There’s no shame in changing course if that’s what will make you happy, and it can pay off – trust me, I would know.