The end of Uni // L'uni, c'est fini — YOU CAN'T BE MY VALENTINE

The End of Uni.

Last spring when I was sitting in a Law and Literature Lecture, my professor asked us to go around the room and tell the class whether if we had to do law school all over again, we would. Most answered yes, because even though it was the hardest thing they’d ever had to do, it shaped them into who they were now, and they all wouldn’t give that up.

Law School – and any kind of demanding degree that will make you question whether you actually have a brain multiple times – will change you. It will make you second guess yourself, learn, and even despair at some points. Last year, I was so tired of Law that I decided I wanted a career in fashion.

I came into university after obtaining my A-levels (well, the French equivalent) with a speciality in science subjects and maths, which put a knot in my stomach for years. These stressed me out so much I only had one thing in mind – give them up as soon as I reached university. So when I started Law, the only way I saw the degree was that yes, it would be hard, but it wouldn’t be maths hard.

Oh boy, was I wrong.

Until you’ve sat in a lecture full of Law students who will always make it look like they understand everything and you’re the only one who’s lost, with a lecturer that doesn’t speak your maternal language and has a very strange accent (American TV shows didn’t prepare me for the variety of British accents), you can’t prepare for how hard university learning is going to be.

At graduation, the Chancellor spoke about humility, and how much of it you needed to learn. That’s exactly what being on a four year course will push you to do – be humble. Start again, over and over. There isn’t a chance in the world that you will make it if you think you’ve got it all figured out.

I think more than the simple studying, the hours that you will go through in Uni where you are left to your own devices teach you how to think. About yourself, about your relationships with others and maybe even about what it wrong with your life. This is how you grow. How you change.

I came into uni crying my eyes out because I had forgotten, within the space of a Nice-Heathrow flight, why I decided to pick the rainiest country on earth when I’d been raised in the Riviera. I cried for 3 weeks. But lucky for me I met my best friend on the second day, and she didn’t let go of me. Over the years, she’s helped me more than anyone else in my life.

The hours you’ll spend alone studying will push you to think about why you’re doing all of this – so much so that you’ll probably drop out in your head a couple hundred times. Studying something so hard will make you hate the subject. But I think after you come out of it, you won’t remember these times – you’ll remember the most interesting lectures and discussions.

I was lucky to come to England. I came into a world of people who had backgrounds that were so far away from mine. I learned from a lot of the people around me. You may think you’re already quite open minded, that you’d never say anything to offend anyone. Well I thought so too. And it turns out I still had a lot to learn.

So here are 5 pieces of advice you should follow, if you’re going to uni for the first time, starting again, or even just moving to a new place that scares you:

1. Go out, sign up to societies, meet new people

I joined Thai boxing in Second year. That’s how badly I wanted to make friends.
All jokes aside – if your flat isn’t your type of crowd, or even if it is, having people around you is so important; and you never know who you could meet.

2. Don’t be afraid of looking dumb

Asking questions in a seminar? What a great idea. I must have done it like 3 times. In fourth year. Start earlier kids. No one understands everything.

3. Never believe a Law Student when they say they haven’t studied yet

Law students lie. Everything is a competition. Not all the time. They aren’t bad human beings – they just want that training contract very very badly.

4. It’s alright to feel down

Just because “these are the best years of your life”, according to every single adult you will talk to, doesn’t mean there are no really hard times to go through at uni. Uni is the final stage of your growth, the biggest change you’ll go through. So if you feel sad, if you feel like everything is out of control, it is normal. Talk to the university counsellor, your local call centre or better yet – your friends, who will probably be going through the same thing.

5. If you degree isn’t your passion, it’s okay.

Changing paths is doable nowadays. You were 18 when you picked what you wanted to do for the rest of your life, so if you need to reevaluate – leave uni, change courses, start working, then it’s okay. No one has the right answers straight away.

I do want to thank every single person who’s made this possible – from my parents, who saved up money when I was a kid to let me go to university, to my best friends, to the friends I made in my year “abroad” in Paris, to the best friends I lived with in second year, and last, but not least, to the whole of Flat 3, my love, who’s made fourth year my best one at uni - and, of course, the one guy who’s been there for me through every step of it.

Did you like this article? Tell me below in the comments section! I know i’ve been away for a little bit but I’m coming back with some great content you will love. See you here next Sunday at 3 pm. In the meantime, you can follow my daily life on my instagram by clicking the pictures below!