Some Misconceptions About Uni
When most people think 'Uni', they think; partying, freshers week, lots of holidays, getting drunk, making friends, with the occasional bit of work.
When I think of 'Uni', I think; Work, Work, Work, presentations, social anxiety, general anxiety, depression, stress, travelling, overwhelming amounts of dates and deadlines, stupid systems.
If you've been following my uni experience so far, you'll know how much I have struggled. I didn't go to any freshers events, purely because my anxiety was stopping me and honestly, my unis freshers events may as well not exist they are THAT BAD! I do feel like I have missed out on that part and I haven't been able to experience uni in the same way that my friends have, but at the end of the day uni for me is not about getting drunk, it is about getting a degree. I can get drunk for the rest of my life if I really wanted to!
There are SO many misconceptions about uni and it really pigs me off (Is that even a saying... no?! Well it is now). The elderly, kids, anyone who hasn't actually experienced uni will think that all us students do is party, eat crap, sleep, cause trouble and then do a little bit of work on the side; that's if we can be bothered to move from our beds that are clearly surrounded by endless amounts of pizza boxes and bottles, of course *rolls eyes*.
I can for one tell you that yes there are students that are like this and honestly, they may as well not go to uni BUT, there are people like me out there who are actually at uni to do their degree and succeed. When I mention on Twitter etc that I need a break, I usually get backlash like "Uni students get loads of time off" "You don't need a break, all you do is get drunk and party" "You have chosen to go to uni, you shouldn't be given breaks".... the endless list goes on. However, this is ALL wrong. Yes, I have chosen to go to uni therefore I'm not entitled to a break but you could say the same about a job; you've chosen to do that job therefore you knew that you wouldn't get loads of breaks. All I'm saying is that WE ALL NEED A BREAK!
Monday morning of this week, I got up ready to go to uni, Rich was here ready to take me and BAM, anxiety took over and I had a massive breakdown shall we say. I just could not do it. I couldn't face the day. Doing anything in life with a mental illness alongside that is bloody hard and there are days upon days where I just can't do it. For me, social anxiety is a big thing and in my course you have to do A LOT and I mean a lot of presentations; this is one main thing that I have struggled with. My anxiety eats me up, wears me out, makes me feel so vulnerable that in fact it does effect my work ethic. I could get hours and hours of sleep but I will still wake up in the morning feeling exhausted because, my mind has got 10 million things to think about and hundreds of deadlines to meet.
I go to uni 3 days a week and on all the other days, no I am not partying, lying around doing nothing with my life. I am in fact spending every single minute of my waking day doing work and even if I'm not doing my work and I am giving myself the break that I desperately need, I spend every second of that 'break' being eaten alive by anxiety/depression and guilt from not doing work. PFffttt what am I even saying, in these 'breaks' I'm getting on with blogging and YouTube to meet all the deadlines I have with companies.
Ok so back to my original point... yes we do get long summer breaks and christmas breaks but in those 'breaks' we are working to pay off all the debt etc, we are doing work experience/ Internships to gain that experience alongside our degree and we are also planning for the year of uni ahead. Yes I have chosen to go to uni but that does not mean I find it a walk in the park. Yes I know life gets harder and I am not prepared to grow up yet, but let me face my battles one step at a time please. Yes students party and get drunk but there are some out there like me who spend every minute of the day doing their work to get their degree. Yes there are students who spend every day off in bed watching Netflix but there are students like me who spend every day off, catching up on all the work in order to meet the deadlines and succeed.
I don't know how to conclude this post or where it is even going but all I'm trying to say is; not all students are lazy, party animals who do not care about their degree. Believe it or not, there are students like myself who do not go out and party all the time and who actually get all of their work done.
When I think of 'Uni', I think; Work, Work, Work, presentations, social anxiety, general anxiety, depression, stress, travelling, overwhelming amounts of dates and deadlines, stupid systems.
If you've been following my uni experience so far, you'll know how much I have struggled. I didn't go to any freshers events, purely because my anxiety was stopping me and honestly, my unis freshers events may as well not exist they are THAT BAD! I do feel like I have missed out on that part and I haven't been able to experience uni in the same way that my friends have, but at the end of the day uni for me is not about getting drunk, it is about getting a degree. I can get drunk for the rest of my life if I really wanted to!
There are SO many misconceptions about uni and it really pigs me off (Is that even a saying... no?! Well it is now). The elderly, kids, anyone who hasn't actually experienced uni will think that all us students do is party, eat crap, sleep, cause trouble and then do a little bit of work on the side; that's if we can be bothered to move from our beds that are clearly surrounded by endless amounts of pizza boxes and bottles, of course *rolls eyes*.
I can for one tell you that yes there are students that are like this and honestly, they may as well not go to uni BUT, there are people like me out there who are actually at uni to do their degree and succeed. When I mention on Twitter etc that I need a break, I usually get backlash like "Uni students get loads of time off" "You don't need a break, all you do is get drunk and party" "You have chosen to go to uni, you shouldn't be given breaks".... the endless list goes on. However, this is ALL wrong. Yes, I have chosen to go to uni therefore I'm not entitled to a break but you could say the same about a job; you've chosen to do that job therefore you knew that you wouldn't get loads of breaks. All I'm saying is that WE ALL NEED A BREAK!
Monday morning of this week, I got up ready to go to uni, Rich was here ready to take me and BAM, anxiety took over and I had a massive breakdown shall we say. I just could not do it. I couldn't face the day. Doing anything in life with a mental illness alongside that is bloody hard and there are days upon days where I just can't do it. For me, social anxiety is a big thing and in my course you have to do A LOT and I mean a lot of presentations; this is one main thing that I have struggled with. My anxiety eats me up, wears me out, makes me feel so vulnerable that in fact it does effect my work ethic. I could get hours and hours of sleep but I will still wake up in the morning feeling exhausted because, my mind has got 10 million things to think about and hundreds of deadlines to meet.
I go to uni 3 days a week and on all the other days, no I am not partying, lying around doing nothing with my life. I am in fact spending every single minute of my waking day doing work and even if I'm not doing my work and I am giving myself the break that I desperately need, I spend every second of that 'break' being eaten alive by anxiety/depression and guilt from not doing work. PFffttt what am I even saying, in these 'breaks' I'm getting on with blogging and YouTube to meet all the deadlines I have with companies.
Ok so back to my original point... yes we do get long summer breaks and christmas breaks but in those 'breaks' we are working to pay off all the debt etc, we are doing work experience/ Internships to gain that experience alongside our degree and we are also planning for the year of uni ahead. Yes I have chosen to go to uni but that does not mean I find it a walk in the park. Yes I know life gets harder and I am not prepared to grow up yet, but let me face my battles one step at a time please. Yes students party and get drunk but there are some out there like me who spend every minute of the day doing their work to get their degree. Yes there are students who spend every day off in bed watching Netflix but there are students like me who spend every day off, catching up on all the work in order to meet the deadlines and succeed.
I don't know how to conclude this post or where it is even going but all I'm trying to say is; not all students are lazy, party animals who do not care about their degree. Believe it or not, there are students like myself who do not go out and party all the time and who actually get all of their work done.
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