It’s been nearly a year since I started as a graduate intern for Hello Future, and around six years since I started my own higher education journey and faced all the challenges and excitement that came with it. From a change in course, a first year put on standby by a pandemic, all the way to a master’s degree, here’s what university threw at me.
For my A-Levels I opted to study History, Sociology, and Psychology. History was and still is my favourite subject, and I knew as early as my GCSEs that I wanted to carry on and study it at university. Throughout Year 12 I went to a lot of different open days, weighing up the modules that different universities offered with the environment that I’d be living and studying in for at least the next three years. One university in particular shot to the top of my list after going to one of their open days. The modules they offered? Right up my street. The city itself? My ideal place to live (I still haven’t left six years later). And luckily enough, and with a bit of hard work, I got the required grades and was off to Lancaster University to study history in September 2019.
Initially, getting used to university was admittedly overwhelming. I was horrendously homesick and, being very introverted, struggled to fit in with other flatmates and course peers that were more outgoing and more akin to the stereotypical uni student. Home was a two-hour train ride down to Wolverhampton, and despite expensive train fares, I often found myself heading back of a weekend in those first few months and wrestling with the idea that maybe university wasn’t for me.
But I loved my course, and Lancaster University had also given me the option to study another minor subject alongside my major. And so alongside history I was also studying politics, which by the end of my first year had seen my degree change to a joint-honours in History and International Relations. I found out just how much I needed the outdoors with hikes in the Lake District, and also found that climbing is one of the most therapeutic sports in the world. And although it took a little while, I started to find friends through my newfound hobbies and through my course, which slowly helped overcome that lonely feeling I had when I first left home.
Covid had cut my first year a bit short, and had made the other two a bit more chaotic than anticipated. But fast forward to 2022 and I was graduating with a first-class honours in History and International Relations. And despite having originally gone to university to study history, had decided to make my dissertation, that last big piece of work as an undergraduate, politics focused. Fast forward again to 2024, after a gap year and then another year studying at Lancaster, and I was graduating again after achieving a master’s with distinction in Politics.
My tips and advice.
- Research, research, research. Open days especially are one of the best ways to get a feeling for what a university is like.
- Don’t be afraid to make the wrong decision. University may seem like a daunting commitment, but there is a lot more flexibility than you might think.
For more advice and helpful resources, you can contact Hello Future or research upcoming events in your area.