Getting ready to leave - The #GoingToUni SeriesRachel Tolhurst - 21 Aug 2014

This time a year ago I was packing up my stuff to go to uni... I was stressing, panicking and had very little excitement... 

No part of me wanted to go to uni before I went. 

I love where I live, I love my home Church and I have never enjoyed education. But on my gap year I sussed that I wanted to be a teacher and the only way for me to do that was to go to uni. This was not good news. I ummed and ahhed about the whole situation for a while, but concluded that, basically, I really did want to be a teacher and was, therefore, just going to have to bite the bullet. 

But don’t worry if you’re feeling the same. The story gets better! Uni turned out to be fabulous, and actually, my reluctance to leave home has meant I have ended up with the best of both worlds! I absolutely love home, but I love university too. I find myself missing home when I’m at uni and missing uni when I’m at home – there’s no pleasing some people! Arriving at uni was terrifying, but my flatmates and I totally clicked, and now we’re almost inseparable.                

So, let’s get Practical...

1) Finding Friends

Having just completed first year, here is my biggest tip; talk and talk some more – get to know the people you are going to be living with! Everyone will tell you to remember that everybody is in the same position. But really, from someone who did this less than a year a go, you have to remember: everyone is in the same position!

Everyone is equally terrified. Keep your door open for the first few weeks – I bought myself numerous door wedges before going, (though one probably would have sufficed), and after a few weeks my flatmates and I were so close we just walked into each other’s room without knocking! If you’re comfortable talking to people, go do it. If you’re not, let them come to you – just leave your door open (literally and metaphorically), and they will come.

2) Finding a church

I church-searched for pretty much the whole first term of uni, because I am so involved at my home church I really struggled to settle somewhere. I didn’t want to see anywhere as ‘my new Church’, and found myself comparing all the Churches I went to my home Church. Which is never going to help.

So I eventually made the plunge, and got round the comparing saga by just committing to somewhere. I actually ended up going to a Church completely different to my home Church – and one that’s actually got very few students. Don’t underestimate churches because they have few students  – I have been so welcomed and encouraged by my uni Church family. Plus, there’s now the fun of the challenge of trying to draw more students in!

I will admit, I still don’t see my uni Church as central to my life as I see my home Church, but I don’t think that matters. The more time I spend there and the more I get involved, the more I will feel part of it. You have to learn how you work. Finding a way to serve, I got myself on the kids work team, which is massive amounts of fun and definitely helps me to feel like part of the Church family.

It’s true that being a Christian at uni can be tough. But, it can also shape and define you in the most beautiful ways – be who you want to be and allow God to work in and through you.

Trust God with your university years – they won’t last forever!

This is Part 1 of our #GoingToUni Series; read the other parts here: 
 'Alcohol, Acceptance and Compromise' 
'Failing at Faith'
The biggest secret I learnt at University 

If you are heading to uni, our friends at Fusion do a great job hooking students up with churches. Check out their website.