That Girl: Why am I at university again? Ah, yes...

Having written my final essay of the term, I suspected that now was probably the time to look back on the first few weeks of Uni and think of what I had actually learnt.

Hmm.

I must have learnt something in lectures, surely?

Seminars?

Umm.

Then I realised my mistake. I was trying to think of my course in terms of facts to memorise. If I look at it like that, then of course I have actually learnt very little this term. But by realising that I wasn’t meant to be learning facts, not really, I discovered I had absorbed so much useful and vital information and ways of thinking that if I thought about it too much, my head was liable to explode.

And yet, was this term’s teaching anything at all as I had expected it to be? I’ll be honest: no. Before coming to University, like every fresher, I had been so used to a regular or semi-regular school or college routine that it was difficult to comprehend what teaching would be like here. At school, you are taught to pass exams: at University, in my experience, you are simply taught. At least, in Arts subjects, you are taught to think in new ways that are often fascinating (although sometimes dull).

Lectures were more or less the way I had expected them to be: a speech and/or a presentation given whilst you take notes. My only difficulty with lectures was believing I was actually in them, and then, once I’d gotten used to that, trying to keep my eyes open after a late night in town.

Seminars, on the other hand, were one of the things I was most terrified about. A naturally shy person, the concept of sitting in a small group of strangers and discussing difficult texts and concepts scared the hell out of me. But now, seminars are one of the most enjoyable parts of my course. Okay, so you have to go to all of them, even if they are 9.15's, but it’s not that much of a hardship: because those strangers (that you are convinced are so much cleverer than you) don’t stay strangers for very long. If you’re lucky, they’ll become some of your best friends, and whatever happens, your confidence will improve; and talking in seminars becomes the best way to gain confidence about your own opinions.

I had been worried that the tutor would have to do all the talking… but often, our tutor can’t get a word in edgeways! However, our tutor does command respect from us, so we do shut up… eventually. That’s another thing – I didn’t realise that the people teaching would be so approachable. Admittedly, not all of them are, but the majority have been friendly and supportive towards me, which has helped considerably.

One of the ironies of University academic life, or at least my academic life, is that I’m afraid the library is going to ruin my degree. There are too many books: I want to read them all. Why would I want to write an essay when I could read book after book instead? I had never really seen so many books in one place before and not only was it a shock, it was a temptation. On the upside, it’s probably one of the best things to get addicted to: I guess it’ll help my degree a tad more than going clubbing every night.

Yet it’s not as though I have heaps of work to do. To be honest, a couple of hours a day is usually sufficient to get the stuff done if you’re organised. Or maybe it’s just because I am comparing it to school, with consistent 7- or 8-hour days for 3 or 4 subjects. Compared to that, my workload from my course has been remarkably relaxed. Or, maybe, it’s because I enjoy most of it.

Or, it is not that the level of work is vastly superior to that which we’ve done before, or even that much more difficult; it is perhaps that the whole style of learning and working is so vastly different. Here, I am thinking for myself, making up my own essay topics, discussing what I think is interesting - and managing to have fun at the same time!

And that’s what I came to University for.

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