Dear freshers, here are key lessons to pick from my campus life

A message on Egerton University’s Facebook page welcoming its first-year students last week struck a chord. The post was followed by comments of guys wishing the new students well, with some alumni reminiscing about their time at the institution.

This post was replicated across the Facebook pages of a number of universities, as they too welcomed their freshmen. ‘Tis, after all, the season of freshers!

Reading these posts made me nostalgic for my time as a first-year student. It wasn’t all rosy.

Throughout the admission process, I was accompanied by my big sis. She knew where the finance office was, where the hostel registration was done, and where to get photocopies…

When I eventually came alone, to begin classes, I had no bearing. I know you are thinking “But Daisy, buildings in universities have names, surely!” True that. But I was a first-year university student at the expansive University of Nairobi, feeling intimidated by everything.

Confusion

On my first day of class, I wandered into a fourth-year political science class. In short, I entered the wrong lecture hall.

Now when I remember the startled eyes of the students (who clearly could tell I was lost) I cringe! I laugh about it now, but back then, this incident made me consider dropping out.

I wished I had chosen the same universities and courses as most of my friends…I wouldn’t be lonely, scared, and alone.

I do not remember when I started settling in. Classes started being fun, I made friends, and I looked forward to being in school, especially, at the Jomo Kenyatta Memorial Library, on the third floor, the Africana section. My first friend in university, Sanaa, made me look forward to being in school.

We sat often on the stairway on one of the floors of the Education Building, on the main campus, chatting excitedly about the books we had read, the ones we were looking forward to reading, and the common courses we both hated passionately.

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Dear Fresher, joining a university can be a pleasant but intimidating experience: horrific and yet beautiful, scary but compelling. It is that big turn on the pages of your life.

Do not panic if, like me, you do not make friends on the first day or week. Before I met Sanaa, I had tried to force myself to make friends with classmates in my other majors. I was starting to get convinced that there was something wrong with me, which was why I got uninspired by every friendship I tried to make. I was simply not the type to apply green eye shadow or spend my lunch money on Luron nail polish.

Eventually, when I started making more friends (I made many friends during my undergraduate years, who have become important contacts in my life today), it made sense why the friendships I was forcing did not work out.

It was my first lesson in understanding my uniqueness, and reminding me that my ‘tribe’ is somewhere, out there. I no longer struggle too hard to fit square pegs into round holes.

Trap

So, Dear Fresher, as I say welcome you to uni life, I am also saying, give yourself time – to understand your school, your course, and your new rhythm of life.

Do not fall into the trap of people pleasing to fit in. If you are a Christian, this is the point where I remind you that people-pleasing is not a fruit of the holy spirit.

While the new phase of life is challenging, remember who you truly are. Of course, you must leave room to grow and breathe – to discover amazing cultures, new accents (fake or real), and new ways of matching your clothes – but do not do anything that needs you to cede your authentic self in order to become.

Finally, it might not look like it, but the four, five, or six years you will be in university will pass by really quickly. Seek out opportunities to do stuff you are passionate about during your free time – whether that is DIYs, writing blog posts, participating in club activities in your department, or joining the dance troupe.

Besides these being a good way of making friends with likeminded people, extracurricular activities build your confidence and at the end of your course, you will be surprised at how much experience that contributes to your CV.

So, first years, go forward, and leave your mark!

The writer is the Research and Impact Editor, NMG ([email protected]).