Seven years of Pate’s went by all too quickly, and now the first two years of university have been and gone as well. It’s unbelievable how fast everything comes at you until you look back! I joined Pate’s in 2013 in Year 7 (Up the Beauf!) and loved it, especially house events, so when I was in Year 12 I found choosing which university could try to follow up my great Pate’s experience quite tricky! In comparison, I thought picking my subject at uni would be easy - Computer Science was a subject that came naturally to me. However, Mr Worth, my A-Level Physics teacher, and Mr Head, my GCSE and A-Level Physics teacher, seemed determined to give the world another Physics graduate! With their inspirational teaching and an interesting open day at Warwick University, I changed my mind and became a Physicist!

That’s the first thing I’d recommend - it’s never a bad idea to go on university open days; the more you can get to, the better able you are to make comparisons of what's on offer. The process of making a list of universities and their open days yourself will help you to gain independence and responsibility ahead of moving to university. The experience of travelling to the uni, seeing the city it’s based in, walking around the site facilities and meeting students and staff is really helpful and will make a good basis for your decision making especially if you’re still struggling on subjects and courses. My first choice was to study Physics at Oxford, which I chose due to the renowned intensity of the university and also its college system. But unfortunately, I failed at the first hurdle (the Physics Admission Test). Getting into your university of choice is seriously difficult for a lot of subjects, and it’s easy to get the message that you’re not good enough by not getting in. Especially if it feels like all of your friends are getting what they want. But please trust me that even if you aren’t successful you will have many more chances to prove your strengths, wherever they may lie, so don’t be too disheartened.

My second choice, Warwick, offered a Maths and Physics course and that is where I am now. I am enjoying the course, but I was underprepared for the difficulty! Laugh all you want at my naivety, but mathematics especially is not at all like what you have experienced before. It’s like learning the subject from the beginning all over again. Without the skills I picked up at Pate’s such as workload prioritisation, I would not have done nearly as well in this year’s exams (did I mention they were difficult?!).

The first year is all about learning what works for you. I came to realise that I study best while in the library with my lecture notes, others work better at home with recorded lectures, it’s really up to the individual. Unfortunately, I was denied much of my ‘normal’ first year experience due to the pandemic, including in-person exams, so the second year (which I have just finished as of writing this) really was like a first year all over again. In fact, I stayed at home during my second term of first year and as a result my university social life took a bit of a backseat. I did online tutoring and met up with friends to keep myself occupied, but I felt that I was lacking the promised university social experience – at least with everyone in the same boat, I didn’t feel left out.

The second year, however, changed everything. I live with Lewis, who was in my year at Pate’s, and two other friends who I didn’t know at the start of the year but have now become very close to. We love board games, so we play those a lot, but what really stands out to me are the little things, like cooking together or discussing maths homework. Shared accommodation is, in my opinion, the absolute best thing about university, so make sure you don’t pick your flatmates too soon! In my first year I started playing Ultimate Frisbee, which was a good choice due to it being relatively socially distanced, and while I didn’t get to play much due to COVID restrictions last year I’ve really enjoyed it this year and I look forward to taking my team all the way to Nationals!

For those of you who are soon off to uni, I have a few helpful tips to help you start living your best university life:

•  I wouldn’t take too much extra stuff for “just in case”. You can buy it if you need it and given that your room is likely to be small, you don’t want any more clutter than you can help
• Don’t worry too much about what your flatmates will be like either. You will spend more time at your accommodation if you like it and can avoid it if you don’t. There’s generally at least one person that you will become excellent friends with
•  I highly recommend taking up a sport. Try something new or hone your skills, it’s important to have a reason to stay active and I’ve found that sport cements friendships far more quickly than anything else

This leads into my number one takeaway, my life motto, which is:

“Do things first and ask questions later”. This motto helps me meet more people and find more opportunities and is a large part of why I manage to have such enjoyable time at uni. Societies, sports clubs, choirs, scouting; it’s impossible to understate just how much fun it can be, it’s just a matter of what you’re willing to try!