5 things I learnt during Second Year

1. Having your own house > Halls

Although I enjoyed living in halls having your own cozy house feels so special. It's so comforting to know that you can pig out in front of the sofa and watch TV with your housemates after you’ve finished lectures for the day or when you’re hungover after a night out. Sometimes it’s nice to be in each other's company without feeling the need to talk to one another. Also having a double bed and being able to wash your clothes without going outside to use communal washing machines is definitely something I’ll never take for granted.

2. Don’t feel guilty about going home for the weekend if you feel like you need a break from university

I definitely had quite a few down days throughout second year and felt like I needed a change of scenery and a big hug from my mum. During first year I refused to ever go home because I hated the thought of missing out at uni. However, this year I took much better care of myself. One weekend I went home to see my family and spend some time with my friends from home as I knew they would cheer me up. The next evening I went to visit my best friend who went to university in Oxford as I had really missed her. When I returned to university the next day I felt so refreshed and like myself again which made the next few weeks of university so much easier to tackle.

3. Take full advantage of your lectures starting late in the day

During my first term of second year myself and my best friend and course mate Beth both began lectures at 2 pm on Tuesdays. Although Monday nights in Nottingham are not the best night clubbing wise, we still decided to make it a weekly ritual that we would go out together every Monday night as we would have more time to sleep off our hangovers the next morning. I am so glad we made good use of this time as due to corona it's very uncertain as to when clubs will reopen, therefore I’m so pleased we enjoyed our nights out as much as we could.

4. Keep an eye out for student union jobs

Getting a job within the student union has definitely been one of my highlights of second year - as sad as that sounds! At the end of first year I applied to work in one of the student union stores and luckily got accepted. I began working at the very beginning of second year and there have been so many benefits to this job.

First off, I was able to meet so many new people as there are roughly 80 students working within this store. It has been so lovely being able to talk to third years and receive advice from them and simply hear about the university experiences of others.

More so, as someone who only had 8 contact hours a week I was really worried about not using my time correctly and spending too much time alone and being sad for no reason - which is something I did a lot of first year. Having a job which made me get up and get out of the house really helped me keep my mind busy. This job was also ideal as I could do as many hours as I wanted, which is perfect for uni students who are trying to balance essays and lectures as well.

Lastly, since getting a job I have been a lot less stressed regarding money. During first year I was living off money that I had saved up on my gap year and this money ran out a while before the end of the academic year. Having a small but steady income throughout second year really put my mind at ease as I knew I had money coming in every month.

5. Visit your friends who go to different universities

Throughout first year I was awful at travelling and visiting my friends at their own universities. I realised how special I would feel when my friends came to visit me in Nottingham so I was determined to repay the favour during second year. I visited my friend Kate who goes to university in Manchester for her 21st and had such a fun evening. She had a big house party and it was so nice being about to chat with some of her friends. I also visited my friend Cleo for her 22nd in Kent. Cleo had visited me in Nottingham during first year so she was the number one person on my list to go and visit. I finally got to experience a night out in Kent with her which was so much fun. It was also so interesting experiencing uni life at unis other than my own.

Love Lola x