What I’ve learned from my first year at UCC

American writer Tara Westover once said: “Education is not so much about making a living, as making a person.”

Your college years won’t just give you a degree in x, y or z, they also set you up for the person you’re becoming in all aspects of your life. Whether you move out, stay at home, move country or stay in the same county, the first year of college involves a lot of change!

However, it is from that change, or at least from figuring out how to adapt, that we grow.

I started Law BCL in UCC last September and here are the things I have learnt. I hope I can give some insight into my perspective of being a college student in Cork.

The main thing I’ve taken away is to interact and converse with as many people as you can. I know that can seem overwhelming and nerve-racking, it certainly did to me! Even so, try to spark up a conversation with the person beside you. Most of those conversations will go to the back of your mind, but at least you’ve introduced yourself to someone you might come across again. On the flipside, that quite simple tip also gained me some of my best friends and my closest relationships to date.

That’s where the next piece of advice comes in. Whilst you should be friendly and talk to as many people as you can, it’s OK to be more selective about who you spend more time with.

College brings with it the potential to make so many friends which is one of the best things about my university experience so far. But they should be the kind of people who support you, reflect your values, who you have fun with, respect, feel most like yourself with, and the ones you trust. As a fellow law student here in Cork, Faye Clancy, reflected: “You get to decide who you want to surround yourself with, you pick your circle.”

Psychologists believe who we are, our personalities, and how we behave are influenced most significantly by the five people we spend most time with. So, take a moment to think of who those people are; hopefully, they align with the person you believe yourself to be.

Getting used to living with roommates can be a huge change for many. Niamh Finn, a Psychology student, has just returned home to Cork from inter-railing with three of her first-year roommates at university in Galway. Your roommates can be a great support network, and Niamh recommended taking a walk in the city together and getting to know not only where the local shop and amenities are, but also each other.

Everyone encourages you to meet people and socialise when you start college, but it can seem confusing or daunting to figure out how to actually go about that. I found that joining societies or clubs was a great place to start.

I thought it was particularly beneficial to join a group related to my course, the Law Society, then something separate, the Global Justice Society. This helped me get to know people on my course but also expand my contacts. As an added bonus, getting involved in extracurriculars builds up your CV for applying to internships and career opportunities.

Another way to meet people is to say ‘yes’ to social events, whether it’s a quiz, a night out, going for dinner, balls, the list goes on. Going out and having fun, whatever that looks like for you, is one of the greatest parts of college and I’ve already made incredible memories.

Whilst you’re out, try to be aware of your surroundings and look out for others. A major, practical takeaway from my first year came from completing the Bystander Intervention programme and learning about ways to actively interrupt harassment and violence.

Next, I learnt about studying! My approach to learning for a Law exam and for the Leaving Cert last year were quite different. It took time to adapt to studying a whole new area of content, terminology, concepts, and ideas.

Not only are you diving into a new, specific field, you also need to adjust to reading lists, different methods you might need to study for college exams, the format of the essays, submitting assignments and so on.

Looking back on the first months, I would have told myself to always try to engage with the course and material, even if you’re unsure you’re doing it the right way. The best way to do that is to keep going to lectures, prepare for and attend tutorials, but definitely do give yourself some grace for not knowing it all - you wouldn’t be here if you already did!

On that point, don’t rely on AI, Chat GBT and Copilot. These can be fantastic tools, that young people need to get our heads around. However, I’ve learnt to think of college as your training. It’s not just about regurgitating a paragraph for an exam you’ll have forgotten in a week, it’s about building up your legal knowledge and more importantly, your skills to be able to work in the field, even when the work itself evolves and adapts - as the law does.

I can only imagine this same sentiment applies to the majority of other courses.

I also got a part-time job in a law firm in the first semester, and it has really pushed me to learn as I go, to believe in my abilities, and has helped me connect my course to what it would actually be like as a job in practise.

It has also given me the chance to begin figuring out what I would and, conversely, would not like from my career in the future.

A huge lesson I’ve learnt is the reminder that experienced professionals have gone through being a student too, so are willing to give you advice. I’ve reached out to judges, barristers, solicitors, legal executives, Phd researchers and more, all of whom have been generous with their time and happy to lend a hand.

From this, I’ve learnt your degree is a pathway into so many possibilities. That choice once overwhelmed me, but now it’s the choice and possibilities that excite me about college. Walk the path with inquisitiveness, rather than running to one destination without stopping along the way.

Living alone certainly comes with a lot more freedom and added responsibility. However, even if you stay at home for college, you have to navigate balancing lectures and coffee dates and nights out and time to relax and meetings and of course, commuting.

Probably the most tangible thing I’ve learnt this year is to develop my time management. Balance is key and it’s important to find that in a way that works for you.

As I navigated orientation, I was fortunate enough to have had friends a few years older than me who had been through all this before. Eve Lonergan, studying Journalism in Galway, was a huge help to me.

In short, college is all about learning. About yourself, about others, about the world, about society, and about your degree.

So the best advice I can give you, that I wholeheartedly plan on following myself for the rest of my college years, is to soak up as many experiences, perspectives, lessons and knowledge as possible to learn as much as you can muster!