Braving the first few weeks of third year here at Edinburgh has been interesting to say the least. By this time in the university experience you would expect to have everything figured out. But, if you are anything like me, that couldn’t be farther from the truth. Maybe you thought third year meant a new sense of maturity and certainly an immunity from the dreaded freshers’ flu. So far, I am neither mature nor excluded from the outbreak of the flu.
Third year does not automatically guarantee that feeling of ‘settled-in’ that we had hoped. Many of us have moved flats and are adjusting to a new space or even new flatmates. Others have changed courses and are dealing with new subject matters, new tutors, and new teaching styles. Almost all of us are facing fewer contact hours and a sudden heightened independence. Friendships are evolving, adapting, and have even scattered across the globe for their year abroad. I am slowly starting to realise the only constant to life at university is change.
Seemingly, third year is about being able to balance a lot of spinning plates – from an increased uni workload (with the weight of honours attached to it) and a lot more independence over our time, to juggling part-time work with social commitments. At times this seems almost impossible.
Being in third year, it can feel very daunting to try new things. I thought that third year was too late to be joining new societies, or speaking to new people after lectures. So, when my flatmates invited me to join the new LLC netball team, I felt very anxious. I was sure everyone was going to be a fresher, and that no one was looking for friends as late in the game as third year. Fortunately, I was proved very wrong. Not only did we meet a lot of people in our year and on our courses, but everyone (no matter the year group) was looking to connect and make friends. So, don’t be a sceptic like I was. Take the leap to join the society you’ve been eyeing up since freshers week, or go out for coffee with the person you’ve never seen outside of a tutorial.
Ultimately, it’s our decision how we handle the increasing independence and other numerous changes of the third year. University is, for many of us, one of the few opportunities we will get to have so much freedom to experience so many different things, and it is up to us to use this precious time to experiment and have fun and not take life too seriously (well maybe apart from exams). My advice to anyone feeling the mounting pressure is that no matter how much the workload may be, keep making time for your friends, your hobbies, and yourself.
Photo by Mark Chan for The Student.
