Blog post

Five of my best moments at uni

You will create so many great memories at university, I certainly have and I’ve only just completed my second year. In this blog, I have picked out my favourite, stand-out moments that I know I will always remember. These are experiences you could have too when you start university.

By Thomas Berrington - 28 September 2020

Freshers

During Fresher’s week, you will meet so many students. Everyone is very open and friendly during this time, which is likely to be due to the fact that everyone is in the same position and are trying to make new friends while embracing a new situation. However, I’d like to think that all the amazing interactions I had with people during this week was because my new friends were drawn to my shining personality and winning good looks.

Whether in a club, at a social event, or in the Union bar, I must have talked to dozens of people. Neighbours, friends of friends, random tables full of people, people at the bar, people dancing, people walking from one club to another, people drinking, people queueing, everyone wanted to say something to someone to make a connection. It was a great experience.

My first set of results

It was a warm evening, the first semester had come to an end and we had been told that at the end of the day we would receive our first ever official results from our first year. My palms were sweating as I waited patiently with my family in the living room, constantly clicking the refresh button on my computer. I clicked it again, and again, and again until finally it loaded a little slower than before and I knew my results were coming, then… BAM.

A first! Granted it was a 2:2 overall but achieving one first made me realise that I could do it, I can ace University and I am going to. It has to have been one of my proudest days. This was one of those moments where something switched in my mind that made me believe I could do even better in my second year. It gave me so much motivation, and it was a great feeling.

Society sesh

I joined the Rugby League shortly after beginning at the University and played their matches for around a year as a wing. I vividly remember the joining party. We had to celebrate the first years truly becoming a part of the team. It was a night of many games and memories; disgusting, hilarious, unspeakable, amazing fun. It felt like I had joined a brotherhood, and I’ll always remember that night for the rest of my life.

Birthday

I came home from a long day of uni work to find my flatmates had bought a cake for me to celebrate my birthday. To be honest, I don’t remember telling any of my flatmates when my birthday was and I didn’t remind them, as I’m not much of a birthday person but it was one of the sweetest things they could have done. We sat and sang happy birthday and it was a merry old time that acted to bond all of us a little bit closer, no wonder we moved into the same house a year later.

Passion

I went into class the first day expecting it to be like A-levels except harder, it was nothing like that. Many lecturers have been studying their field for at least half a dozen years and their passion is constantly radiating in how they have prepared for the class, how they speak, and how they answer questions (both intelligently and effectively).

I have a special place in my heart for the amazing work GCSE teachers do by getting annoying school kids to actually listen to them all day but university lecturers are different creatures entirely. The same goes for the students who have so much passion for their career path. It’s addictive to have that energy in the classroom and it’s the main reason why university is completely different to anything I’ve done previously.

I have so many more great experiences I could share, but this blog would turn into a short novel, and these are also my own personal thoughts. Why not book onto an Open Day and meet our student ambassadors to find out what amazing memories they have? Or you could connect with students on UniBuddy and chat to them there.

About the author

Thomas Berrington
Marketing and Media student at the University of Derby

I am a Marketing and Media student at the University of Derby. I enjoy writing about issues which aim to publicise key topics and stories affecting students, popular culture and local events.