As a first-year student in university, I was excited about this new chapter of my life that was filled with a lot of opportunities and exposed to different experiences, and I was proud of myself for being accepted into university but all this excitement was short-lived by the harsh reality of university.

In my first year, I struggled with the transition from high school to university because the environment, culture and lifestyle was very different from what I was used to and that was overwhelming. Varsity is academically challenging and it requires a lot of effort and self-discipline. In the midst of trying to adapt to the new environment, it almost became impossible to keep up with all my modules and maintain good grades and I was also dealing with the pressure to make my family proud and the pressure to qualify for exams in order to secure funding.

In varsity, you are exposed to a lot of things such as drinking, smoking, parties, different cultures and religions. There was a time when I felt like I was confused because it was really hard to fit in and it made me question my values and morals, and my essence in life, but overall I realised I didn’t have to conform to what other students were doing and that I should embrace my individuality.

The transition and the stress levels because of school work and the pressure to ‘have it all together’ started to affect me and I struggled with anxiety. I was just always anxious and worried that something wrong will happen or I will fail in life and I started doubting myself and my abilities. I had trouble with sleeping. It started affecting my studies because I would panic over little things and experience tremors when I was writing exams. I then decided to get help from PsyCaD at campus which was very helpful.

Eventually, I started getting used to the environment and how things work, and I started enjoying varsity, learning new languages and even learning new things about myself. This experience strengthened me emotionally, spiritually and psychologically. I learned to trust the process and to not let the societal expectations change who I am, and most important to embrace my individuality.