Students within South Tees are going to be sharing their experiences, ways they cope and their thoughts themed around various issues. If you are a student and would like to write a blog for HeadStart, please get in touch.
Blog… entry no. 1
I’m sure we can all agree that university is possibly one of the most stressful decisions any of us will ever make in our lives. I know that for me, my biggest worry was leaving my parents behind and moving away but a big part of me still wanted to do so. The main reason being that I wanted to feel the full university experience. My parents on the other hand didn’t agree with the idea of me moving away. Not because they were being controlling, or manipulative in any way, but because they were concerned for me.
I remember being so afraid to discuss it with them as we all felt very passionately about the topic. I remember bringing it up with my mother at one point whilst we were in a café and she started crying (very embarrassing, I know). And so, I had become very reluctant to have this conversation with my parents. However, having had a meeting with a member of HeadStart, I was encouraged to push through my fear of having that conversation and I did. I remember making my parents sit in the living room, with the laptop between us, looking through UCAS website and even though it did get a bit passionate on all sides, we sat and talked through it together. It felt surprisingly freeing, like a weight had been lifted. I remember them saying to me that they weren’t trying to hold me back and I feel like as a teenager that is the most important thing for to remember. Even if it feels like it may be the case that my parents are trying to stop me from doing what I want, they are not. They are looking out for me. And I cannot describe the amount of relief that not just I had felt, but my parents had felt after having that conversation.
We had agreed that even though I may want to move away, it may not be the best idea, given the current situation with the coronavirus. Whats the point in paying all that money just to do live lessons in my student room? I wouldn’t really be getting the full experience, would i? And so, we finally came to the agreement that if I went to the university closest to us, then when I move on to do postgraduate studies I can move away. This way, the situation will have died down. We were all comfortable with this decision. If we hadn’t had had that talk, however, we would have never come to an agreement and so, I am so thankful that I did.
Published: August 6