Why your second year at university rules
It teaches you a lot
When people talk about university, they often focus on two landmarks: leaving home and graduating.
While these may be pinnacle moments in every student’s life, they’re punctuated by the pitch and tilt of second year. From amazing nights out, to the surge of adrenaline when you realise these marks actually count, this year is perhaps the finest of your university career.
To prove this, let’s have a look at just a few of the mistakes, discoveries and realisations that my friends and I have made since September.
Being housemates changes a friendship
Living together teaches you a lot about your friends.
Having decided to live in a house with friends from my course, I had no previous experience of living with my now housemates.
Experiencing my friends in such close proximity taught me a lot about them: Lucy loves to clean, Ellie only eats curry and noodles and if Hannah had the option to never leave her bed she wouldn’t.
Though for some people, living together has caused some serious tensions, it’s safe to say that having seen each other’s worst side, and knowing how to laugh at ourselves, has only brought us closer together.
Grab opportunities
From Emily who decided to study for a year Canada, to Billy who, in a rather dramatic turn of events, opted to drop out of uni, move to Edinburgh and pursue a career in Bitcoin, it’s safe to say my house really grabbed the bull by the horns when learning this lesson.
Though you may not want to make such drastic life decisions, making the most of all university has to offer you is certainly a lesson I’ve learnt and will apply to everything else I do.
If you’ve had a cough for more than two weeks go to the doctors
Having suffered with a cough that lasted so long my friends have since described it as ‘iconic’ and ‘a defining part of my year’, it’s safe to say I probably should have sought more of a remedy than the occasional honey and lemon.
It’s a surprise that having been spluttering away for a month I didn’t realise I had a pretty bad chest infection and still insisted on attending every night out.
Sometimes it’s time to admit defeat, rest up and remember that there’ll be many more opportunities to attend the same average student club night later in the year.
Fridges need defrosting
There was a lot of confusion in the house when the fridge started freezing the fruit and our ice cream was melting in the freezer. After a few days of precariously balancing all our food at the front of the fridge, a text from our landlord advised us to defrost the freezer.
This was a process I’d only heard my mum discuss with dread but became a part of my life in second year. Maybe this means I’m an adult now.
Take lots of photos
Earlier this year, I was informed that I was one of those old people who shows everyone pictures of their younger self and says ‘look how pretty I was’.
I’m not entirely comfortable with how accurate this is, but I can’t deny that I find the prospect quite appealing. Whether you too want to demonstrate your vanity to your grandchildren, or perhaps say ‘I may not have looked great but look at the fun I was having’, phone cameras have made cherishing your memories easier than ever before.
If you’d like reminders to capture life’s moments, try downloading the One Second Everyday app which lets you capture a second of video every day. Having done this since my birthday in January I’ve captured both mundane and once-in-a-lifetime moments that I can’t wait to show the grandkids.
Though this is just a few of the lessons second year has taught me and my housemates, it’s safe to say that we’re going into third year older, wiser and ready to make the most of our last year at university.