Another university year is about to begin and as I'm going into my final year, I thought it would be useful to share my experience of second year. You will find lots of posts about freshers and how 'wild and crazy' it can be, but what no blog posts ever say is that first year is a good time to prepare for second year.
It was tough. That's one thing I found out. There were times when I felt down and whilst I wasn't depressed, I certainly felt lonely. It may have been my course, or it may have been the fact that my first year was amazing! Whatever it was, I'm glad to have survived second year and now i shall embrace third year as the final hurdle before finishing my education!
- Second year gets a lot harder
The first thing my course leader said was that second year is the toughest out of the 3. I couldn't understand this. Surely third year, the year that actually counts, is the hardest?
I found first year really easy and felt like it was one big catch up year so that everyone from a variety of different backgrounds is bought to the same educational level. I found that this is true, by the results of my first year exams! Plus it doesn't count so you only need 40% to pass onto second year.
However, second year isn't so easy. I found is extremely tough! So tough that I have experienced many lows. It has gotten to the point where I have considered on more than one occasion of dropping out of uni. I found that I suffered from anxiety as well, which is a first for me. There were a lot of struggles and it certainly did not live up to how good first year was.
My one bit of advice is to power through, no matter how hard it gets. If it doesn't go to plan, you still have third year to make up the grades.
- You won't want to go out as much
I have to say, I partied hard in first year. I frequently went to lectures hungover and going out 2-3 times a week was the normal thing to do. However, this changed dramatically in second year!
With the amount of work, it is impossible, but I also found that I favoured a night in watching Gossip Girl over a night out in a club. This also coincided with me actually suffering from hangovers, which I never used to get in first year. Now, it takes me a whole day to recover, and when you have mountains of work due in, it isn't the most practical idea.
On the plus side, you save a lot of money and live a healtheir lifestyle!
- You will drift away from friends
Living in halls meant you go to know so many people. You will barely speak to these people in second year! I was close to the girls in my flat, but as I didn't live with them in second year, I hardly saw them and when I did it was on a night out so was very brief.
This is just one of life's things. It is a natural occurrence and you will make so many new friends.
- The library will become your best friend
Towards the end of the year, the coursework will start to build up and you will find that staying in the library all day will become a daily occurence. Especially around exam time. You will also find that the library will get so busy that sometimes there won't be a single computer free (depending on your university).
One piece of advice I will give you is to break up your day by going to the gym/going for a walk. You will go insane staring at a computer for 8-10 hours. If you want to remain sane, make sure you do go home.
Libraries are open 24/7 but that doesn't mean you have to live their whilst exams are on, as some people do and you can smell them. Just so you know, most libraries don't have showers.
I am extremely proud of how I handled second year and my exam results surprised me. I worked hard, probably too hard, but at the same time I learnt so much about my personality and learning styles.
Now to do it one final time to complete my degree. Wish me luck!
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