First Impressions and Academic Culture Shock

My first impressions when I came to was ‘Wow, I’ve made it’. Looking around the University made me realise how big this place is and how easily I would be able to get lost in it. At first I thought it was going to be like secondary school, with big tall buildings surrounding me but the shock I received was astounding. The University itself was well spaced out with big modern buildings while I was looking around and the fact that my accommodation was new, made it easily the best university choice to pick for myself. Being in a new environment was very nerve racking because this meant that I would be living on my own without any of my family members and doing the majority of tasks by myself seemed very difficult to do. When I arrived on fresher’s week, I knew I had to make as many friends as possible and pick the right people to, this meant I had to search for people that had a certain aura about them but for my amazement I had already found them. My flatmates are the nicest and most exciting people to be around and I was so glad that I had met them in my flat because we get on so well with each other.

As a new door opened in my life, I knew that the people here would open me with welcome arms and loving personality. The diversity of the different cultures here was phenomenal, I’ve never expected so many people from different backgrounds to be in one community that is; the university. Essex University has actually changed the way I have approached many tasks with and that is, in a good way. I hope that in the near future I would be gaining a lot of life experiences in this university as well as the academic experiences with it as well.

The educational side of the university was quite unique in its own way because it was such a change from secondary school to university. I would never expect the fact that each and every student is very independent and approach work in different ways. I’ve learnt that I can be flexible with the work that I complete and not be judged in the way it is approached but rather be shown many different ways to complete the task at hand. The fact that Essex University and many other universities has done this means that, each student can get different experiences and create new attributes to their skills.

So far I am really happy being at the University as I have gained a lot of new friends and gained new ways to learning the subject I love without any boundaries to come across. The first month of this university was a very good experience for myself and I can’t wait for the many opportunities in the future that the university has to hold.