First year at Warwick: Expectations vs reality

Moving In

I don’t think anyone really knew what was going on. Through the traffic of stuffed cars and bustle of newcomers with faces shoved deep into maps, I found Arthur Vick, my new home for the next ten months. My room was bigger than expected – a pleasant surprise!

Freshers

While my mates elsewhere had enjoyed a week of nothing but parties, I found out that class would commence two days after arriving. That was my first disappointment. my second was the Copper Rooms, the one location for every single event.

Settling In

Coming to Warwick as a second-time fresher didn’t make it any easier. For some reason, I was more terrified the second time around about the social aspect and settling in. I couldn’t have been more wrong. It was surprisingly easy to connect with people. I wasn’t expecting to find people who would go to such an effort for my birthday, for example. Sitting there, with a caterpillar cake and slightly singed hair, I realised that I couldn’t picture my university experience without these people.

Dirty Kitchens

I always expected that living in a student flat with a shared kitchen would be dirty, but nothing can quite prepare you for the health hazard that it actually is. Wading through filth just to get to the fridge has just become a part of my daily routine, as much as I wish that it wasn’t!

The Time Of Your Life

Before I went to university everyone told me: “University is the best time of your life!” While this is not false, it’s not entirely true either. Time at university is so complex and so rich that reducing it to simply ‘the best time’ seems  inaccurate. We all know the cliché: you’ll find friends for life at university. But it’s true. The reality is that university is hard. It’s three years of stress, lack of sleep and contemplating how much you really need that degree. But you get through it. With the right people around you, it won’t be exactly what you expect, but it might just be better.