1st Year of Uni

Those of you who personally know me know that I love musical theatre songs. Therefore, instead of simply writing about my first-year experiences and lessons learned, I thought why not do this through the help of some good ol' musical theatre songs?

I have made an attempt to make a generalisation, but as always, everyone will have very different experiences. You might relate to some of these points stronger than others, or maybe not at all!

Also, since this isn't a music theatre blog I have tried my best to include the classics that you will have heard of or recognise (apologies in advance if you happen to be a music theatre 'overdone' or 'songs to never sing at auditions' critic!). There will be a few not so well-known ones to. To help you out, hyperlinks have been attached onto the song title headings, which (if all goes right) should open a new window to a lyric video on YouTube so that you can listen along if you wish to. Knowing the general background of the songs will probably make this post more understandable.

🎵 I hope you enjoy! 🎵

Those first steps onto campus is like walking into the Emerald City of Oz. It's a place which seems 'grand' (and possibly even 'all green' in some cases!) with 'so much to do'. Every single day at uni seems like  One Short Day (Wicked). There will be times when it feels like it drags on forever. However, the end of term comes around before you even know it and with all those assignments and essays to write you will start wondering why time flies by so quickly and question why there aren't more hours in a day. Many will realise that they will 'call it home to' by the end of their university journey - even if that's something that you never thought that you would be able to relate to. Despite not having had the ideal start, most of the people in the Midlands are so welcoming and friendly (in comparison to where I'm from anyway!), and that's more than enough to make it the least a bit homely. 

rawpixel.com | Pexels

You also go into uni with all the images that people out into your mind about student life at university, but you soon realise that you're 'flying blind' and 'making this up as [you] go'. Then you begin to wonder: does Anybody Have a Map? (Dear Evan Hansen) - both literally and figuratively. Despite having been at Warwick for a year, 'it's a puzzle, it's a maze'! I am still constantly getting lost on campus whilst exploring new places and routes, even with the campus map directions which is helpfully installed onto the university app. Then there's the academic side of getting lost. you're sitting in a lecture with no clue what is happening. The information doesn't make sense, even though you know full well it does, and everything all sounds jibber-jabber. Sound familiar? I'm sure that every student has been there... Probably more than once! It can be scary. Try not to freak out (I know. It's easier said than done) and figure out why this is the case. It may well solely be a signal of needing a rest. Take one and look over the lecture afterwards and you may find that it magically makes sense all of a sudden!


If you're not already at university you may be thinking that less contact hours than college/ sixth form (well, usually...) surely means that there's more time to focus on hobbies, socialising, and all that fun stuff, right? You would think so, but university workload is one of those things which people will warn you about, though you won't properly comprehend until you're sitting at your desk drowning in assignments and reading. Initially, it appears that you have  'very little time to rest'. However, as the famous phrase goes: 'In every job that must be done, there is an element of fun!'. Have you got it yet? Yes, that's right! Sometimes all you need it a Spoonful of Sugar (Mary Poppins). I'm not encouraging you to take that literally, but if you want to treat yourself to a sweet treat as part of the routine, why not? Read, draw, do some yoga, play an instrument, dance, take a walk, bake - do whatever takes you mind off university/work. Setting aside certain times every evening or several hours dotted around the week for some 'me-time' to just wind-down and relax is essential. I have learned that although taking a whole entire day off can seem too much, if you need it, do it. Better that then to slowly burnout and spend weeks not being able to function at a satisfactory standard.

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As we're in the UK, I can't leave this post without mentioning the weather. I'm not sure about other regions, but if you're going to uni in the West Midlands you're going to need a raincoat and an umbrella. It's probably best to also bring a spare one to in case it breaks. It pretty much rains all the time, except for in September and late Summer months which is often filled with sunshine. However, this doesn't stop people from Singing In The Rain (Singin' In The Rain) no matter the time of year. For me, there's something about walking round campus and seeing students around you smiling and relaxing with their peers which makes me feel... warm. I don't know if that makes any sense, but it's a very moving feeling. I get it when I see little kiddies running around the Art's Centre to. Either it doesn't take much to brighten up a gloomy day or maybe I'm just emotionally sensitive, who knows?


However, there were also times when singing and dancing in the rain didn't even seem possible. There were days and weeks when I just sat in In My Own Little Corner (Cinderella) feeling very lost, 'alone and unarmed'. Unlike Cinderella's little corner, mine wasn't a safe space filled with optimism where I could escape from reality. Sure, it was a safe place from the outside world at times, although not in the right way. It was far from a place where I thought that I could 'be whatever I want to be' or where I felt that 'the world will open its arms to me'. It was quite the opposite. Here, the world became a terrifying place... A lot more than it should have. Even knowing that shutting myself out would be a mistake, I did it anyway. There may be times where you feel completely lost and disconnected from yourself and the environment around you. Don't get me wrong, sometimes you need time for yourself to sit and reflect but learning to be aware of when those sorts of behaviours become too much is a challenge. You gradually learn what normal for you and what's not. However, admitting when something doesn't seem right is the most challenging part of it all. Nevertheless, you do learn a lot about yourself in your first year of university and this will hopefully increase self-awareness and it helps with recognising your own strengths and weaknesses.


Moving onto something that every student struggles through: constantly questioning whether they are doing good enough, especially after academic setbacks. This point lightly resonates with one of my recent post's. There's this constant cycle of being 'so near the top' yet still having 'so many mountains to climb'. There will be those drastic changes between having that One Perfect Moment (Bring It On) where you feel so proud of yourself and then suddenly feeling yourself 'start to fall' from that peak moment. On the one hand, you tell yourself that as long as you 'can just stick the landing' and make that 40% pass mark, you will be okay. On the other hand, you also have the drive to want to 'go above and beyond' to prove yourself. This will happen multiple times, but you have to remind yourself that falling after a peak doesn't mean that you will stay at a low. Especially in first-year which is 'full of mysteries', it's bound to be a bumpy ride. Also remember that first year is there for you to make mistakes so that you don't make them when the marks really count. You want to be making mistakes now rather than later.

Orna Wachman | Pixabay

Warwick students will get me on this one. If I could assign an anthem to Warwick students it would be Do You Hear The People Sing (Les Misérables). If there's one thing that you can guarantee it is that if Warwick students are unhappy about a situation or a decision, they will make it very clear. They will get their voices heard. Sometimes it an really touching thing to see everyone unite and stand up about issues they feel deeply passionate about. Conversely, there are some situations where this can get a bit too much and I'm sure this is the case at most universities. Students are stubborn and know what they want. Nonetheless, there should also be a line of respect to.

Despite many of us going 'down an unknown road' and feeling like we're battling a steep 'uphill slope', to survive first year and to  Go The Distance (Hercules) is an aim of every Fresher. Every student has had that fearful thought of: what if this doesn't go the right way? Is it really worth it? Will this get me to where I need to be? It's scary not knowing what's going to happen after you graduate and not knowing what you want to do afterwards. You can only 'hope that every mile, will be worth my while' and that you 'will find [your] way' eventually.

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Like Little Red Riding Hood was a naïve little girl walking into the depth of the forest, I reluctantly walked into uni as a naive little Fresher where 'everything familiar seemed to disappear forever'. It's safe to say that although there's still so much in store I Know Things Now (Into the Woods). I have definitely learnt a lot more about society in general and how to deal with certain dilemmas effectively. I've mentioned this previously, but meeting people from such a diverse range of background and coming to a place like Warwick has also really opened my eyes to how applicable sociological theories are to reality. There are things I learned in A-Level sociology, for instance, which I thought I had understood, but being able to physically witness and experience these issues first-hand provides you with a completely different level of understanding. There are also things which I would probably rather stay naïve about, to be honest. I guess sometimes it's 'nice to know a lot...And a little bit not'!

Finally, to end this off university has definitely had A Change in Me (Beauty & the Beast). It changes people in many ways because of how much you learn through the experience. It may impact some people more than others, and whilst not all experiences will be positive as this song suggests, you will also learn so many valuable lessons from the negative ones to. You won't always be 'where and who [you] want to be', but it's okay to lose yourself a bit as you adjust and try to figure out your next steps. There was nothing that would have been able to prepare me for that.

In conclusion, being a Fresher or a student in general is an extremely confusing period. As you can tell from this post, a lot of it is filled with uncertainty and you are constantly attempting to go with the flow as you try to find your ground. There's a lot of 'but's' in this post, which says it all. Whilst you will make mistakes and you may struggle through parts of the academic year, there are definitely a lot of positives that you take away from it to regardless of whether you choose to stay on or not.

However, it's only the very beginning and I know that there is much more to come. I don't know what (basically I don't know anything right now 😂), but (there's another one!) we'll take it step by step.

Even in the midst of the unknown, there is one thing that I can be certain of: It's been one crazy ride.