My Second Year University Experience: Social Life

Last year I did a series of posts, sharing my first year of university experience. All of the posts did really well and lots of people said they either related to my experience or were looking forward to having their own once they started university. A few weeks ago I did a poll on my Instagram asking if people would like to read about my second year experience and 100% of the voters said yes. This first post will be focusing on the social side of second year. 

F R I E N D S H I P S 

In my first year experience post, I mentioned how I found it difficult to make solid friends. I had friends but I didn't have a close knit group as such. If I'm being honest, that's still true but I definitely don't see it as a negative. I was feeling pretty lonely in first year but my second year felt so different. I think that is partly because of my living situation (post to come). Although I don't have a close knit group at university, I still have friends that I love and I don't feel alone. I know I have friends from uni that I can go to if I need advice or if I just want to go out and have fun. Everyone says you will make your lifelong friends at university but I don't think that's the case for everyone. Perhaps that is why I felt so disappointed that I didn't find that last year. Everyone is different. In my case, I think I made my life long friends at secondary school. I'm really thankful for them. The fact that I'm 20 means I have tons of opportunity to make more life long friends, even if its not through doing my undergrad. 

In second year I lost contact with a lot of people but I also met new ones too. I wouldn't change any of it! Of course it's a shame that I'm no longer friends with some people I made so many memories with, but there is no bad blood, just space between us. I still say hi to all of them and we get on perfectly well, sometimes you just grow a part and that's OK. If you've had that same experience, please don't take it as a negative. The friends you're supposed to have in your life will always show up on time. 

C L U B S / S O C I E T I E S

In my second year I was a part of the committee for my university dance club. It was such a great experience and I'm definitely going to miss it. I got to teach classes, help choreograph our routine for competitions and help with the planning of events we held. I learnt a lot whilst being on the committee and I appreciate the club even more now that I understand the hard work that goes into running it. I had an amazing team and couldn't of asked for better people to work with. 

I made even more friends this year than my first year. We really worked hard to make it a family unit and I think we did a great job! Things are so uncertain at the moment, with the virus and everything, but I hope I can be back in the studio with everyone very soon! I miss dancing with them, snacking when we should be rehearsing and laughing at the dumbest things. 

E V E N T S 

I went to some really fun events in my second year. I don't think I am able to remember them all but I tried my best. It's unfortunate that so many events had to be cancelled due to the virus. 

- Aston vs BCU Bar Crawl 

- Food at Walkies with Dance Squad (We accidentally crashed a UCB bar crawl oops)

- Went to a 90s themed Night 

- Did a Flash-mob 

- Meal with First Year Flat Mates

- Retro Sport Bar Crawl

- Secret Santa with Course Mates

- Christmas Meal with Course Mates

- Dance Club Christmas Dinner

- End of Term Night Out 

- Christmas Flat Party 

- AU Ball

- Charity Netball (I was useless lol)

- Dance Competitions 

- Strictly Come Aston 

- Flexibility Classes ran by Cheer 

- Performed at Society Ball

S E C O N D   Y E A R   G O A L S  T H A T   I  A C H I E V E D 

In my first year experience post, I shared some of the struggles I had in my first year and what I wanted to change in second year. I think I was able to combat a few of them, which I'm obviously happy about. My first goal was to push myself out of my comfort zone and go to more events. In some ways I definitely did this. I didn't go to a christian event that was held during freshers week of 2018, and regretted it so I ended up going to the 2019 one. It wasn't really for me but I'm so glad that I went. Although I didn't make any friends from it, I felt good just pushing myself to go by myself and combat the anxiety. 

I mentioned that I was looking forward to teaching dance classes and I definitely loved it. Being vice-captain was one of the best things I have done whilst at university so far. Being able to teach the very first class of the year, as well as many other classes was so rewarding and fun. I'm definitely going to miss it but the role has been handed over to the best person for it and I'm excited to do her classes! 

The final goal was just to make more memories, and as you can see I definitely did. I laughed lots and made the greatest memories with fab people. I really enjoyed my second year. 

F I N A L   Y E A R?  

I really can't believe I have one year left of my undergrad! With it being my final year, I obviously want it to end with a bang. Not knowing how the year is going to go, simply because of the virus changing how society will operate, is kind of daunting but I'm sure it will be a fab year regardless. Goals wise, I want to make sure I document it as much possible. I've always been pretty rubbish at remembering to take pictures and videos to look back on but I want to have tangible evidence of the final year memories I make. I also would like to make the effort to spend time with friends and go to events, even when life gets busy. It's inevitable that I'll have a lot on my plate in third year, but I want to make the effort to maintain a healthy social life. 

I had a really great second year experience in terms of social life and I hope third year is able to top it. I'm sure it will, even if some of it is at a distance. 

Keep a look out for my next posts within the series!

Thanks for reading, 

Have a great day x