Until September of my first year at Edinburgh, I considered myself confident and outgoing, able to speak to anyone about anything. But upon moving into Pollock Halls, my notion of myself crumbled.
In this place filled with ultra confident and ultra outgoing ex-boarding schoolers (who somehow already knew each other?!) I quickly became shy, introverted, and frankly felt uncomfortable.
It seemed like I couldn’t compete for friendship as everyone was in this elite private school network, where friendships had been established before university even started.
My time in Pollock was certainly not a highlight, and in retrospect, I desperately needed someone to give me some advice. So, if you are a state-schooler struggling in Pollock, here are things I wish I’d known.
The biggest thing I got wrong about Pollock was my own attitude towards it. Whilst there are stuck-up people with superiority complexes in Pollock, the majority are in fact social, open, and looking for friends! It’s easy to get stuck in a mentality that you do not fit in with the Pollock crowd, but this is a defeatist perspective. If you are welcoming, congenial, and non-judgemental you will make friends.
Personally, I found making friends with course mates far easier than meeting people in my corridor, as there was already something in common to chat about. Be confident and push the friendships beyond class hours; get coffee, work through assignments together, or go to the pub after class. These friends will be essential in fourth year, when you’re all collectively losing your minds over deadlines and dissertations!
Only in my second year did I attend any society, and this is one of my biggest regrets. Societies are designed to facilitate friendships. People go to societies aligned with their interests, so you are bound to find someone who shares your hobbies and values. Go to societies you genuinely enjoy, and you will find people you genuinely connect with.
Despite spending my time in Pollock hating it, I now live with my best friends, who, ironically, were all in Pollock too. We didn’t meet there and still joke about the horrors of first year to this day. But the point is, my closest friends were there all along—I just met them elsewhere. You may not love the people in your corridor, and might spend weeks feeling out of place, but that does not mean you won’t find your people.
Image by Ulia Makoveeva for The Student
