Combatting the ‘I want to drop out By Lottie Murray
Lifestyle
People in my life often ask me why I chose to go to university. After all, there is “so much debt involved”, and I’d be lying if I said I haven’t asked myself that question regularly as well. I usually respond by saying that university has been much more than simply receiving a grade on a piece of paper after three years (minimum) of study. Although people primarily come to university to be awarded with a degree in their chosen area, moving cities/countries/continents completely changes a person’s life. Impact’s Lottie Murray explores the feeling of resentment many students feel towards their decision to study at university.
“When I was feeling trapped and unmotivated, I took the leap and fully emerged myself in lots of societies” I often think back to that feeling of dread and uncertainty on A-Level results day, constantly refreshing the page and dramatically waiting for those three letters to come through which would determine my plan for the next three years. With a lot of uncertainty across my year group, and some of my closest friends already planning their upcoming year to be full of intriguing excursions in different parts of the world, I remained certain that university was the only option on my radar. As soon as I arrived at my new home in Nottingham, I couldn’t quite comprehend that I had made it to university and that my life was about to change forever. There were so many ups and downs (even just in the very first week) but having my flatmates to experience it with made the transition so much easier. I truly believe that the connections I made during Freshers Week are ones that will stick around for the rest of my life. Without the friends I have made along the way, my entire experience would be entirely different.
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During my first year at university, I was fortunate enough to be able to travel alongside my studies. I mean a £16 return Ryanair flight to Venice should hardly go amiss, right?
For as long as I can remember, it was not a question that I wanted to study at university. Although the application process was not entirely smooth for me in terms of which school I would attend, I felt that I was in a place in my life where I wanted to gain independence and expand my academic knowledge. My high school and college had subtly promoted attending university since I was a child and I was regularly inspired by social media posts from my family friends’ graduations, which further sparked my desire to achieve a degree for myself. At the beginning of my second year, I hit a wall and I felt incredibly overwhelmed. I wasn’t receiving the grades I wanted, I was working far too many hours at my part-time job, and I really missed home. I didn’t want to be in Nottingham anymore. This all came down to the envy I felt about not being able to ‘start my life’ and see the world.
I developed the mindset that I could easily do my coursework from anywhere and I tried my best to balance both of the things I wanted to do (obviously on a lower scale). Of course, my naivety didn’t have the best outcome and I started neglecting my university work and consequently I hugely struggled to find the right balance between the two.
best friend from home decided to “I truly believe that My reject her university offer and follow some of the connections a different path – travelling the world with only her backpack. She has visitI made during Freshers ed so many incredible places around world and I couldn’t be prouder of Week are ones that will the her for not conforming to stupid sociexpectations around university and stick around for the etal instead making her own dreams come true: the entire world is her classroom! rest of my life”
