With a resigned sigh I flopped down on my bed, staring at my sparsely populated pin-board, and wondering what I should do with myself. My mum had left a few minutes earlier and I was suddenly feeling very alone. It was a strange feeling having finally arrived at university, I had been thinking about this day since I was 11 years old and now I was finally here it just didn’t seem real.

Checking the time, I saw that it was just gone 8pm. The whole day had been a bit of a mad rush. I had been packing my stuff all night (admittedly not the best idea to leave everything to the last minute) and didn’t finish until 7am, meaning I was running on absolutely no sleep. Safe to say I wasn’t in the brightest of moods. We’d arrived around midday and shoved all of my stuff in my room, then we’d spent the rest of the day shopping (clearly a whole car packed from floor to ceiling didn’t equate to nearly enough stuff).

I’d really enjoyed our day together, but after hugging my mum goodbye for the hundredth time and watching her drive away, I realised that being so busy had meant I’d not had any time to introduce myself to other people and a nervous feeling had settled over me. I had only briefly met a few of my room mates at this point. I live in the Northfield accommodation in an 8 person flat and being an only child I wasn’t sure what to make of this sudden increase in people; nor was I sure about how I felt about sharing my personal space with complete strangers.

Nonetheless with an encouraging mental pep talk, I forced myself to leave my room. I walked into the kitchen to find two boys in my flat talking and laughing (and drinking, obviously). I tentatively introduced myself and was met with warm- if slightly tipsy looking- smiles, and I immediately felt more at ease. I joined them and got to know them both more and as we talked the rest of my concerns slipped away undetected. As my first day came to an end I couldn’t believe how much of a good time I was having already and how much I was looking forward to the year ahead.

I think it’s important to remember that you will never know the outcome of a situation until you take that leap and brave it. I was so nervous about starting uni that, when the evening came, all I wanted to was lock my door and keep myself to myself.  But by making a conscious effort to push myself out of my comfort zone, just eight weeks later I have met some amazing people who I can confidently say have made my experience so far one of the most memorable of my life.