first month
I moved away from home and started college in an unknown city with unjaan people speaking an different language much like every 18-year-old you know.
This is just gonna be my first-month experience and takeaways?
alright so the first few days after my parents left were absolute hell, to the point where i cried on my way to the room, came back to my room crying, and simply just wanted to go home.
I expected my introverted personality to change overnight and to become friends with everyone in one day. i was in for a surprise, to start off, your personality does not just change overnight, over a week and now not even over a month; but it develops.
i thought i’d be the best at my work, forgetting that everyone gets in for a reason and everyone here is as skilled as you, if not more. my first week was very intense, i got bad faculty and knew no one in my class, i felt lost, overwhelmed and honestly i just wanted to go home.
a lot of this uneasiness i felt was because i had expectations and certain assumptions on what my first cycle. thinking that design school would start off with painting and drawing when instead i did scratch (simplified coding) for two weeks using my drawings. what i learnt was to stop having expectations and to take it one day at a time. to go with the flow sounds cliche but i think that really helped me become confident in my work and myself.
Something my older cousin told me that really put things into perspective is,
” You’ll have to step out of your comfort zone. You’ll either become friends or you won’t. And that’s not the important takeaway. The important takeaway will be that you tried. You were brave and did something that you normally would not .This is what uni is about. Only half of it is your studies. The other half is your personal development, your experiences, etc.”
it’s important to step out of your comfort zone every once in a while. i did not want to do that socially so I challenged myself with skills. in my extracurriculars I signed up for western vocals(singing), something i’m not naturally good at. while I still sound terrible in some classes. i’m so glad I’m trying it out.
quality over quantity, always. find your people, it may take a week, a month or a year, however long and stick with them. i found it difficult to connect with people i’ve just met or even sometimes didn’t vibe with the people I met online because it isn't natural for me to just put myself out there.
i realised being friendly and approachable is as important as picking and choosing who you want in your corner. you are going to meet so many different people, with different backgrounds, values and humour. it’s okay to choose your people.
it’s almost two months later and while i’ve adjusted to my life here, I still am trying. everyday has it’s moments, both shitty and incredible. i still miss home sometimes but i’m learning to make another one here.
love you.
