Going into second year, you hear a lot of conflicting opinions. Some people tell you that it was the best year of their degree, while others have horror stories about too much work or awful housemates. Personally, I think it’s nice to come back to uni and feel confident in your surroundings – knowing Durham better means you can skip those awkward growing pains and just get on with it, and it’s fun to live in a different place. I finally explored the fabled Gilesgate Tesco, something I could never be bothered with in first year (although Lidl is the only place that makes sense for a big shop). There can be awkward adjustments that come with living with different people, and everyone’s experience with housing varies – you discover sometimes that you can be great friends with someone but shouldn’t necessarily live with them.
The biggest change I have noticed so far in second year has to do with my parents. Every time I talk to one of them, the first question they ask me is about what I’m doing to secure a job. Have I applied to internships? Have I thought about law, consulting, teaching? Doing an academic degree means I have a wide range of options available to me, but the main problem is that I don’t know what I want to be when I grow up, something I feel like a lot of people can relate to. It seems like, overnight, everyone has decided on internships and mentors and summer plans, when I can’t even figure out what to eat for dinner. Hopefully, I will eventually figure it out, but in the meantime it’s important to remember to be patient with yourself – everyone is stressed and scrambling for a step in the right direction, even though it can seem like they know what they’re doing.
Alongside this change, your academics suddenly become much more important. Although as a fresher the work can feel important, this year it actually is, counting towards your final degree. That can feel scary, and I think that one of the most important things you can do in first year is to figure out a study system and essay style that works for you. I don’t have time to play around with my writing style this year, especially not on top of all the career-related things I’m supposed to have started thinking about, and it’s hard to juggle the academics and extracurriculars. Ultimately, we are here for a degree, and it’s necessary to prioritise your time and energy, although it can definitely be tricky.
Socially, too, there are differences from first year. Living out means making more of an effort to see friends that were a constant part of life in first year, something I feel is especially true of catered colleges, where meals are guaranteed times for socialising. However, living out means I appreciate my time with my friends even more when I do see them. Not being in college also means we don’t have to contend with the horrors of circuit laundry, and I never have to go to college brunch deathly hungover again. Instead, we have to figure out how to make our fridge stop leaking, and defy physics by having four people share one very tiny kitchen. Living out makes us feel more adult, and although it appears to come with never-ending chores, it’s nice to have complete control over our movements. House parties have been great, and although the trek up the Gilesgate hill after a Jimmy’s trip is nothing short of torture, one benefit of Durham is that nothing is really that far away. Having friends come to stay is a lot easier when everyone isn’t squished into a teeny college bedroom, and again, makes us feel more adult compared to the sleepover vibes of first year.
It’s important to remember that there is no one university experience. Everyone’s situation is unique, but at the end of the day, I think that a large part of uni is what you make of it, and I am looking forward to the rest of my time at Durham.
Image: Auld School Librarian on Flickr