University life

They’re back. The sun has returned & with it, the workmen have returned. The cement mixer is turning. Things are busy once more.

 

A couple of days ago a friend asked me how I’d found early life at university. She’d never been to university. She’s watched so many images on the TV news of young people isolated in their halls etc. due to the coronavirus. I found myself thinking since about the whole university experience.

 

So much has changed since I set off to university in 1972. I stayed in hall throughout my time there. These days the youngsters all have their mobile phones & computers, making life so much easier to keep contact with family. When I went, there was one phone in the hall. Contact was by post. But maybe that encouraged a quick development of independence, away from the family.

 

I do not remember Freshers’ Week as such a big deal as it appears today. Okay there was an evening when the various clubs set out their tables & encouraged people to join. I even went along to find out about doing judo, which I had enjoyed as an out-of-school activity & thought I’d continue. But that really was about it.

 

I started university at just 18, a rather shy young girl from a very sheltered background. I knew nobody else going to the same university as me. I remember my father dropping me off at hall & then departing. I was terrified – not that I would have let him know. I was so lonely & homesick. It must have taken me half a term to really settle in.

 

It helped when the course got started. I knew where I was when it came to studying. I was happy with my books & in the library. It was the social side that was difficult.

 

Again I was fairly fortunate. In my hall you sat at the same table for evening meals. I found a space on a table with just three spaces. All the others were second or third years. We three sat at one end & got to know one another. One lass was doing the same subject as me so we tended to attend lectures together. Both the others were Geordies & proud of their north eastern heritage. We became friends which lasted into the final year.

 

My other big discovery was a friend who was more intellectually demanding. So many people I knew were bright & intelligent enough but too scared to ask more fundamental questions about life or its meaning. Occasionally I would escape off to this other friend for an intellectual draught. This person remains a friend to this day, nearly 50 years on.

 

I have no regrets about going to university. I can’t say I ever made full use of my degree. I didn’t pursue a glittering career. However, I do feel I grew as a person. I learnt how to ask the questions. I gained immensely in self-confidence. I feel I have helped others, sometimes using the skills I learnt at university. I feel I became a more valuable member of society & for that I am grateful.