Lesson Learnt: what my time in Newcastle has taught me

The whole of my first year, I commuted from Carlisle where I lived with my partner at the time. Commuting every day was exhausting and scary, but moving alone to uni halls for 2 weeks in May freshly after my break-up was truly terrifying. I remember feeling absolutely flustered whilst moving, but when I got to Windsor Terrace and unpacked everything that I brought to my new turquoise-coloured home, I felt safe. Moving to Newcastle taught me that I am much more capable than I often allow myself to believe. I was incredibly lucky to know most of my current flatmates already at that point, and even though a great part of the move was done in my solitude, they provided a welcoming space and endless encouragement.

Which moves me to the fact that I have always hated when people say that “your uni years are the best years of your life,” it always felt so unnecessarily pressuring. But, alas, my uni experience has been my favourite part of my life so far because I was able to get to know myself and grow into the person I am today. I got to meet some of my absolute best friends along the way. Before I moved to uni, a lot of people left my life and at that time, I felt like I had lost so much.

But, indeed, I had only lost everything that wasn’t right for me, and eventually, the pain was healed by the new people I met, and found the parts of me I had missed all along. I think that to sum up, my Newcastle Uni journey has taught me that good things are coming and lovely things are out there, everywhere you look, and that joy is constant when you have yourself and the right people around.