July 3, 2013, by Yvonne Teoh

My Three Years Here… (Part 2)

“University can teach you skill and give you opportunity, but it can’t teach you sense, nor give you understanding. Sense and understanding are produced within one’s soul.” ― C. JoyBell C.

When I first came to Nottingham University, I was intimidated by the fact that I will be bullied as a fresher in university by all the seniors from different faculties and school. I could say that films did have an impact on me. The fear remained with me for the first few weeks since enrolment.  Slowly I made a couple of friends from class and from the clubs and societies I have joined.  Making friends was definitely tough at first due to the fact that diverse population here, but eventually I got the hang of it and found myself blending in.

First day of class was fun; I didn’t expect my class to be a small group. I had an idea where my class would have hundreds over people. Having a small class to me felt more like a tuition class at first, but then when we had exams and assignments, I couldn’t wish for more. Competitions were tough and expectations from the lecturers were high as the peak of Broga Hill or worse, Mount Kinabalu, as that was what I felt. It put a lot of pressure on me as I was only an intermediate student and wasn’t a straight A student. This pushed me further to study and burn the midnight oil just to gain better results. I could say this kind of behaviour is more than typical and relevant to most students here, where we tend to excel when confronted by challenges. I could say it was a training ground for me, as university isn’t like your primary or high school where you show off your results to everyone. In uni, nobody cares if you fail or gain straight A’s.

As the years and semesters go by, there were lots of memories made and experiences gained. Memories were fun to keep and later told to our grandchildren, but the experiences gained are priceless. Getting enrolled to this course was indeed a major turning point for me as I did not expect to study how different parts of the brain affect certain diseases, neurotransmitters, or even programming. When I came to realise that the Psychology taught here was science based, I was so terrified that I would just fail and go back home for good. Who knows that I enjoyed every bit of it although the process was filled with complains. I could now say that the hard work paid off.

I also gained the most experiences in my final year where I get to choose my own modules. I experienced the most stress and nerve-wrecking moments ever in my life where I need to run and handle my final year project as well as other modules assignments simultaneously. I was feeling a little crazy at first as I had to handle my programming project and problem sets, various coursework, and going to a kindergarten for child observations. So, to sum up, my days were fully packed with so much work, I could barely breathe, and sometimes I thought I would just collapse due to high blood pressure. It sounds exaggerated, but yes, the experience that I had gone through was priceless and I would never regret in taking the opportunities given to me.

Friends I made were priceless. My classmates are going to be the most memorable people ever in my life. The ups and downs we have been through, we have indeed had a good race together. Friends from different clubs and societies also made an impact and I’m glad I have ten times more friends than I did when I first arrived here. Lecturers and post grads also impacted us. Lots of meetings, tutorials and lectures yet they still did their job efficiently, and never failed us.

Lastly, all I can say is, cherish and take on any of the opportunities given to you, and make your university life a memorable one. Don’t take things for granted and waste these chances. Graduate with a feeling that you have accomplished all your goals during your time here. I bet it will be useful for you in the future. 🙂

Carol A/P Jeya Kumar
(Year 3 Student in BSc (Hons.) Psychology, UNMC)

Posted in blogdegreepsychobabblepsychologyresearchstudent lifeundergraduateunmc