Karolina - The Reality of Being a Direct Entry Student: "it is genuinely quite upsetting"

Karolina Laskarzewska is a 22-year-old Graphic Design student from Edinburgh. However, being accepted directly into the third year of a university course hasn’t been the desired ‘university experience’ that she hoped it would be. She opens up about her challenges adjusting to a new academic setting and the impacts these changes have had on her mental health.

Previous studies at college have allowed Karolina the opportunity to start university two years later than most people. However, she explains that trying to adapt to this new social dynamic has been a challenging experience:

“It’s hard coming into a class where everybody knows each other and has known each other for years, especially when they are all really close. Then I come in and it is awkward for me because everybody has formed into cliques, which I feel is a natural part of university.”

While she anticipated that social groups would have already formed, Karolina was optimistic that university would reflect her positive social experience in college:

Regarding having to adjust to a new social setting, she goes on to explain how this has impacted her mental health:

“When you are an outsider coming in it is genuinely quite upsetting because you are trying your best to fit in with these people. In a way, you feel like you are intruding by trying to be with them because of how tight-knit people’s friend groups are.”

Specifically, Karolina explains that these changes have caused her to experience anxiety:

Karolina has noticed she compares herself to other people due to a sense of pressure to 'fit in' with everybody else:

“It’s been a couple of months now and I have settled in more, but I still get moments where I think ‘Is there something wrong with me?’ because I keep getting talked over, or people don’t really want to talk to me. Comparing myself is definitely the number one thing I do when I am there.”

Furthermore, Karolina shares how these anxious feelings are difficult to deal with, often becoming overwhelming:

The ‘university experience’ is something which many students expect when they begin their studies, which refers to the freedom that university grants you as you enter adulthood. Karolina believes this is a misconception:

Reflecting upon the pressure from others to attend university, she believes this is what pushed her to decide to enrol:

“After people hyped it up to me, I thought ‘that’s it, it’s set in stone now that I am going’, but obviously those people do not fully know my situation going into it as a direct entry.”

Karolina also highlights the improvements that universities could make to better support students entering a later year of the course, as she feels like instead she was thrown into the deep end:

“I think possibly if there was more communication from the teachers to break down what the course would be like, such has having a presentation. That would have been so helpful.”

Although academic life has presented its struggles, she explains how she tries to cope with her anxiety:

Despite the negative impacts she has faced so far, Karolina highlights some of the positive aspects of her experience at university:

Furthermore, she highlights how university has developed her future goals:

“In university I got to learn about motion design, and that is something I have been experimenting with which has genuinely changed my goals. I am hoping that I could become a motion designer as I have a really big interest in it.”

Our conversation draws to a close as Karolina shares how her experience has improved over time:

“I do feel better generally about it now because I feel like I have sort of settled in and I’ve gotten used to the shock of it. At first, I was like ‘woah this is so different!’ but after a couple of months I accepted that this is just how it is. I’ve made some friends as well in university, so it’s not like I am completely alone now which is good”.

Karolina has addressed some important topics regarding student life and mental health. In particular, it appears that being a student can be an incredibly lonely and anxious time for some people. This is a topic which can be overshadowed by the infamous 'univeristy experience'.

In 2021, it was found that 74% of students from Scottish universities have reported experiencing low wellbeing. While everybody's experience is unique, it is important to listen to stories such as Karolina's to get a better understanding of the reality that some students face every day.