# University



## The Punisher (Mar 24, 2016)

Since I'm attending University next year could you guys post your experience and what you went through in university?
What you liked and disliked.


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## Bear95 (Nov 2, 2015)

Abdullah98 said:


> Since I'm attending University next year could you guys post your experience and what you went through in university?
> What you liked and disliked.


Where are you going to University? I go to university in Leeds, UK but I am currently on a study abroad year in Copenhagen. Here are a few points about my experience. Firstly, it is extremely hard at times being at university as someone who suffers from social anxiety. Everyone is always so keen to go out and party and thus make you feel bad when you would rather not join in (big groups of loud, confident, drunk students is not a good situation for a social anxiety sufferer). I really struggled with the pressure to conform to this student party-goer stereotype because a lot of people view you as boring. But, I have come to realise now that there is nothing wrong with not enjoying those situations. For me, cooking a meal alone or with my best friend is far better  If you're one to shy away from the parties then just remember that quiet nights in are just as good (better in my opinion) and that there are lots of other people out there who think the same  Also, if you really enjoy your subject of study then there is plenty of work to be getting on with! I would recommend doing some volunteering whilst you're at university. It kept me busy and thus away from the pressures to go out. Volunteering is great for people suffering from SA because you don't have the pressure of needing to impress an authoritative figure since all the help you give is appreciated  It isn't always easy but I have learned so much since being at university (not just academically) and gained so much independence being away from home. I am more than happy to answer any specific questions you have so drop me a message if you want to


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## The Punisher (Mar 24, 2016)

Bear95 said:


> Abdullah98 said:
> 
> 
> > Since I'm attending University next year could you guys post your experience and what you went through in university?
> ...


I still haven't decided where to go,I got accepted into a scholarship program that will pay my university fees in return I have take a year off and prepare for the SAT's AP and many other stuff to get accepted into MIT or any top 20 university.
I don't drink or smoke I want to live a healthy life  so that won't be a problem on the other hand I will totally volunteer to do some activities!
Thank you for sharing!


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## ggvirus (Dec 19, 2015)

Well first year was the hardest for me with anxiety and everything, but university experience helped me a lot. At my 4th year I feel more confident and all. The most important thing is to do something, try to communicate and you will find some interesting people. The best thing about university that there is so much different people so you will always find someone who share same interests. The most important thing is not to sit at home all the time and just go out there


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## Str (Jun 4, 2013)

After almost 5 years of university, my experience has been very variable, though I think I could've gotten more out of it maybe. Some relevant background information: I see myself as having mild social anxiety, but that too is very variable, and I feel like the last few years it's been more of a light general anxiety/ depression during certain times, but I've never been officially diagnosed.

I can just make a list of my personal experience with the goods and bads of uni.

Good:
- I've found a couple of people with similar interests, and even made some friends
- the courses have more overlap with my interests than highschool
- I have a better overview of the things I'm good or bad at
- some of the student activities were genuinely fun
- there's a lot of freedom
- people seem to bully much less than in highschool

Bad:
- there's a lot of own responsibility, especially in planning
- can't handle what I'm studying
- I still live with my parents, and I have to travel a pretty long time every day
- no idea what I want to do when I start working
- also have no idea what work will be like
- lagging behind makes it almost impossible to catch up again for me
- the stereotype students made me lose some interest in socializing

All in all, it really depends on what you can get out of it, which differs per person. My tip is to study something that you would still be interested in 10 years later.


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## The Punisher (Mar 24, 2016)

Str said:


> After almost 5 years of university, my experience has been very variable, though I think I could've gotten more out of it maybe. Some relevant background information: I see myself as having mild social anxiety, but that too is very variable, and I feel like the last few years it's been more of a light general anxiety/ depression during certain times, but I've never been officially diagnosed.
> 
> I can just make a list of my personal experience with the goods and bads of uni.
> 
> ...


Thanks for sharing


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## Ithendra (May 8, 2016)

I'm nearly halfway through my third and final year of university.

*Positives

*+ I love my degree. Am studying for a BA in Communication, which is ironic considering that I have SAD. But it's a very interesting course and I've enjoyed it immensely.
+ Getting to set my own schedule. For the most part I've been able to schedule my classes so that I can eat and study between my lectures and tutorials. Some of my subjects haven't allowed for this but they've been in the minority.
+ My assignments are interesting. For instance, this semester I'm writing a personal cultural history as my second assignment for my core subject, and next semester I'm hoping to create a training module about the Dewey Decimal Classification System as the capstone project for my major. I've also built websites, written a research article about the podcast _Welcome To Night Vale_, and done a group presentation about communication regulation in Australia.

*Negatives*

+ The commute. I live two and a half hours by bus and train from university, so sometimes I have to leave home before the sun's up. Which also means I end up getting home after dark.
+ Being around so many people. There's around 37,000 students enrolled at my university, and some of my lectures have had hundreds of students in them. As you can probably guess, other people tend to make me a bit nervous.
+ Group assignments. These are utter hell for me. Especially the ones that involve having to talk in front of my tutorial groups.

As much as I've loved uni, I'll be glad when my degree is finished and I've graduated. Still another year until that happens. I plan to make the most of my remaining time here, though.


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## Charmander (Sep 5, 2012)

Good: 

- My timetables are usually great, if you like free time, at least compared to the kind of hours you do at school.
- You get to pick your own subject (though you still have to balance out what you find enjoyable and what you can see making a career out of)
- Less judgemental than school, for the most part. The large classes and room sizes have their own positives and negatives depending on what you prefer.
- The commute is actually good for me because it's fairly local. At my last uni I had to get the train, which is a horrible experience in the morning rush hour.
- You can usually leave a lecture whenever you want to, and a lot of unis aren't even overly-strict about attendance. (Mine actually is, but that's only because they keep trying to push for university of the year) 

Bad:

- You obviously have to make the most out of the "free time" later on in the year when your assignment deadlines get closer. 
- The timetables switch every semester, and I've gone from great classes with people I'm comfortable with to ones with horrible lecturers and not knowing anyone.
- Lots of presentation assignments, though that would depend on what course you're doing. In my first attempt at uni I did Forensic Computing and only had to do one presentation, but with this course I have to do a few.
- Not being interested in the 'uni' lifestyle. I often politely accept nightclub tickets that students hand out and then throw them in a bin somewhere out of their eyesight.
- Loads of group assignments, but I actually find them easier to do than the ones at school, because when you don't know each other well you just tend to get on with the work.


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## SunFlower2011 (Nov 30, 2011)

Ithendra said:


> I'm nearly halfway through my third and final year of university.
> 
> *Positives
> 
> ...


What type of job would you have if you get a Communications degree, especially since you have social anxiety?

Good job for getting a degree in Communications. Seems so scary to me! :O


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## SilentLyric (Aug 20, 2012)

the good

-learn about interesting subjects
-sometimes needed for certain jobs or at least before entering grad school
-feel a sense of accomplishment when you do well on a paper or exam
-can meet friends or even a partner there

the bad

- but you will also learn about things you will never need to know ever again
-have to interact with classmates and professor, this is an issue for those with SA
-student debt can be high and make it harder or will at least you will have to do things later because of it (moving out, or buying a house, or getting married, etc.) 
-even after graduation you are not guaranteed a job and might end up working in a job that didn't require a degree in the first place


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## bridgetmc (Apr 11, 2015)

Well its my second year at away from home at Uni and my biggest advice socially is:
*
Join clubs, volunteer, attempt to make friends. And don't give up. *

My biggest regret is letting my anxiety isolate myself and I lost _many_ friendships. In the beginning its easiest, everyone is new, everyone is getting to know each other, and everyone is looking for new friendships. So join the clubs you are interested in and you are bound to meet people you share similar interests with.

Academically don't take on more than you think you can handle. If you know you won't wake up for that 8 am then don't have your first class till 10 am or whatever.

You can always message me if you have any more questions!


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## Ithendra (May 8, 2016)

SunFlower2011 said:


> What type of job would you have if you get a Communications degree, especially since you have social anxiety?
> 
> Good job for getting a degree in Communications. Seems so scary to me! :O


I admit that it's an unusual degree for someone with SAD to take on. In my case it'll qualify me as a librarian. Which is also a bit unusual, because usually you'd have to do a master's degree in information/knowledge management rather than a BA in Communication with a major of Information and Media. We're a bit strange Down Under. :wink2:


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## RedMonster (May 6, 2016)

bridgetmc said:


> Well its my second year at away from home at Uni and my biggest advice socially is:
> *
> Join clubs, volunteer, attempt to make friends. And don't give up. *
> 
> Academically don't take on more than you think you can handle. If you know you won't wake up for that 8 am then don't have your first class till 10 am or whatever.


Definitely agree with this. Don't overload yourself, otherwise you will be miserable. Try planning out your schedule thoroughly with the understanding of what you're capable of. It's always a bad idea to just go with the flow and believe you can handle something without putting in some careful thought. Nobody's going to help you but you, so make sure to take responsibility and take care of yourself.

As long as you take things slowly and use time management, you should definitely have a stress-free time in college. Do the opposite and you're going to be a mess, lol.


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## The Punisher (Mar 24, 2016)

bridgetmc said:


> Well its my second year at away from home at Uni and my biggest advice socially is:
> *
> Join clubs, volunteer, attempt to make friends. And don't give up. *
> 
> ...


Thanks for sharing


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## Greys0n (Mar 30, 2016)

University s the best time in your life. Likearty, girls, booz,cool teachers. Dislike:lack of sleep, borring classes


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## SunFlower2011 (Nov 30, 2011)

Ithendra said:


> I admit that it's an unusual degree for someone with SAD to take on. In my case it'll qualify me as a librarian. Which is also a bit unusual, because usually you'd have to do a master's degree in information/knowledge management rather than a BA in Communication with a major of Information and Media. We're a bit strange Down Under. :wink2:


Librarian is a cool job. Books are great. Props to you. Hope all work out for you on your wonderful adventure!


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## TheUnspeakable (May 21, 2016)

My first semester of university was last fall, and I do recall it being somewhat of a culture shock, which was intensified by my GAD. The university I attended wasn't very far from my hometown, however, I still got pretty homesick the first couple of weeks living at the student dormitories. I had trouble sleeping, lost interest in my hobbies, and would try to stay out of my dorm room, for I felt out of place being in it. Having a roommate was also sort of provoking. I became somewhat paranoid of my actions--afraid that my new roommate would think I'm weird or crazy. Whenever I was at my desk reading or playing video games I would get nervous whenever he walked by me, I don't know why. He was very nice and would often try to start conversations with me, but I would respond minimally; either with a nod or a one-word response.

Initially, my experience with classes weren't that bad. Prior to starting, I was scared that I would fail or something bad would happen, which seems to be a common fear for incoming freshmen, but within the first 3 weeks, I felt pretty comfortable with the classes and their workload. I was pretty neurotic with my classes. though, like I'd finish assignments a week ahead of their due date out of the fear that I would forget and/or never do them. I would also avoid talking to my academic advisors out of fear that they would scold me for something I am unaware of, which is a TERRIBLE idea and you should not do that. 

As for my social life, I continued to remain quite reclusive. I've always had problems making friends, so yeah. It dragged on. I would see the people my age around me having the times of their lives while I sat in my dorm room doing nothing. It made me feel excommunicated from my social group, which lead to this dreaded sense of not belonging. Now, I didn't have a deep lust to partake in the activities they did, for I did not have much interest. However, being the socially dependent creatures that we are, being excluding with my age group simply made me felt as if I was doing something 'wrong'. Sometimes people would approach me to invite me into some club or activity on campus, which always ended in me walking away swiftly without responding. Fun times.


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## hmweasley (Sep 12, 2013)

There are so many things I could say, but I don't want to recount everything that happened to me. Here are some things I think will be the most useful to you when you start out:

I was incredibly homesick for the first month or so. It got the worst around the second or third week of school. If you decide to live at school (especially if it's a significant drive back home) then you'll want to prepare yourself for that. Even if you don't wind up getting very homesick, it's better to know that you might I think. I'd bring something along that would help you cheer up. That may be a favorite movie to watch or something like that. For me, it was a certain set of songs that I listened to over and over during that first month or so. I should have grown tired of them by the end of that month, but listening to them was one of the few things that helped me feel better during all of that.

I do think my homesickness was particularly bad because of how difficult I found making friends. I did make an effort to make friends, but it was so draining and I longed for my high school friends that I'd already made. Between trying to socialize, adjusting to college classes, and just living away from home for the first time, I felt mentally exhausted a lot, and I think that exacerbated the homesickness.

Speaking of making friends though, go to any welcome week activities your school does! I went to all of them. In my experience, everyone had a friend group by the end of welcome week, and they either made those friends based on who lived in their dorm or from a welcome week activity. (That doesn't mean you can't make friends later. Most of the friendships changed as college went on, but for the first semester of freshmen year especially, most of the friendships were established early in the school year.) I made my first friends in college because I was grouped together with them in one of those activities. Even if the activities themselves seem boring or over the top, they'll force you to interact with people who are also trying to make friends.

Also, if you're going to eat in the dining hall and don't have anyone to eat with, don't freak out to much. In my experience, there are always plenty of people eating alone in the dining hall, even if you feel like you stick out like a sore thumb. The one exception to this is the first day or so because at my school the freshmen moved in before everyone else, and they were trying really hard to sit with someone those first couple of days. I ate with my roommate. There's a good chance that, if you have a roommate, they'll want to talk to you and get to know you, and they'll probably want to eat at least one meal in the dining hall with you so that you can get to know each other. If they don't ask first, it wouldn't be weird at all for you to ask them to if they want to go eat with you, so don't be scared to.

I think this has all been heavily geared towards living on campus, but that's where I had most of my struggles early on in college. The classes were the easy part in comparison.


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## cat001 (Nov 1, 2010)

I will admit that I felt isolated, especially as I had to commute (1h 30m journey) and most of the others lived on campus or close by so really only saw people during or between lectures and didn't really interact much anyway. I've also got mild dyslexia so often felt at a disadvantage and that I could have done this or that a lot better. Saying that, the support I got was excellent! As much as I hated the struggles I also loved what I was learning.

Other things I loved: The 12 day stay on a game reserve in South Africa, the 5 days studying at Edinburgh Zoo, the frequent trips out to other zoos! Also loved the animal unit, wish I took part in the lambing. And off course the lecturer putting up an image of a Tapir or other animal (usually tapirs) on the screen and asking us "what is it" and when we say "Tapir" looking very disappointed and sternly says "NO....it's CUTE".


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