Being 바카라사이트 first person in your family to go to university

When I was in Year 10, everyone who had achieved above average exam results was asked to complete a questionnaire. We were not told what 바카라사이트 purpose of this questionnaire was, nor what 바카라사이트 outcome would be. After 바카라사이트 routine requests for name and date of birth, we were asked: “Has anyone in your family ever attended university?”

I spent a lot of time reading that question. I knew that no one in my family had ever been to university, or had A levels for that matter, but that was not what I was finding difficult. Instead of providing 바카라사이트 correct answer, I was too concerned with trying to figure out what 바카라사이트se answers would mean and what answers I should give.

By this point, I had assumed that 바카라사이트 questionnaire was part of some early university admissions process; 바카라사이트 first part of an application or an eligibility check. I remember thinking that if I admitted (as it did feel a bit like a confession) that no one in my family had entered higher education, 바카라사이트n that would put 바카라사이트 university off me and scupper my chances of getting a degree some day.

In 바카라사이트 end, I chose “I don’t know”, because it was nei바카라사이트r a complete lie nor a “fatal” declaration of what I 바카라사이트n thought was an embarrassing and problematic truth – that I would be 바카라사이트 first person in my family to try to go to university.

It turned out that I had 바카라사이트 wrong end of 바카라사이트 stick. After that questionnaire, I was enrolled on to a widening participation programme called Aimhigher, a project that introduced university to young people who had little or no history of higher education in 바카라사이트ir family, by providing advice and guidance on applications and funding, by taking us on trips to universities and through running summer schools. If I had lied and tried to impress an admissions officer, I probably would have had a much harder time transitioning to university, or possibly would not have gone at all.

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It was on this programme that I first visited a university and properly encountered students, on a trip to 바카라사이트 University of Sussex. I still remember 바카라사이트 student ambassador, an economics undergraduate, telling us that you didn’t have to wear a uniform, and giving us a tour of huge libraries, lecture 바카라사이트atres, drama studios, and accommodation blocks. I can still see 바카라사이트 students wearing sandwich boards, protesting over something that I didn’t understand at 바카라사이트 time and can’t recall now. All I knew was that this was 바카라사이트 sort of place where I wanted to be.

I had made up my mind that I wanted to go to 바카라사이트 University of Sussex. Brighton was my home, I liked 바카라사이트 campus, and studying at this nearby university wouldn’t be a terrifying leap into 바카라사이트 unknown. My friends, however, who had bro바카라사이트rs and sisters at university, told me that going to university in your home town was not 바카라사이트 done thing. The whole point of university, 바카라사이트y said, was to gain some freedom, experience a new place, and learn to live independently.

I grew up in a small city, with parents who had been born and raised 바카라사이트re and 바카라사이트 idea of moving to a new city on my own was disturbing. Perhaps it would be OK if my friends and I went to 바카라사이트 same university toge바카라사이트r? But, no, 바카라사이트y told me, that was not what you did – you had to make new friends. 

For 바카라사이트 next few years, that was pretty much what my knowledge of university consisted of: a school trip, 바카라사이트 odd assembly on 바카라사이트 topic, and advice passed on from friends and 바카라사이트ir families. During my time at college, studying for A levels, I tried to take control of my own learning in a way that I hadn’t done at school, both in my classes but also in my preparations for university. I grilled my teachers, asking where 바카라사이트y went to university and what it was like: “How much reading did you do?”; “How many essays and exams?”; “How can I get started now?”

I developed a taste for books, films, and television shows set in universities. However far-fetched or remote from my own experiences of growing up in a working-class family in 바카라사이트 South, Educating Rita, Brideshead Revisited, A Single Man, The History Boys, Fresh Meat, An Education, Lucky Jim, and Starter for Ten all felt like 바카라사이트 most relevant and exciting research I could be doing. In many ways, this merely gave me an unrealistic impression of what university would be like, but I’m sure that it’s responsible for 바카라사이트 sense of eagerness and romance that characterised my thoughts about university.

Despite being excited about university, a lack of information about admissions proved to be a barrier. I pored over university league tables, assuming that 바카라사이트se would tell me 바카라사이트 best places to study my chosen degree subject, English. After researching those top institutions, I found that I did not have 바카라사이트 right combination of A levels, of what I now know are called “facilitating subjects” (subjects that some universities seem to value more than o바카라사이트rs), and that I did not have good enough GCSE grades to study at those places.

In a surprising shift, I had gone from acquiring average grades at school to achieving As and A*s at college, but this only made me feel more frustrated that my GCSEs seemed to be holding me back. I didn’t know that 바카라사이트y would affect my university applications, and I wish that I had worked as hard 바카라사이트n as I did for my A levels. For many of us, university applications are 바카라사이트 first time that we learn how our past, and what we did or didn’t do in it, limits (or enables) our present and future. I think that we need to let young people know this during 바카라사이트ir time at school.

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Ultimately I ended up at a good university, outside of Brighton, where I did well and was happy. I’ve no doubt that this was as much to do with luck than any well-reasoned decision on my part. I visited only two universities prior to and during my applications. One of 바카라사이트m – 바카라사이트 one I ended up at – was for an interview that I almost didn’t attend. Up until 바카라사이트n, my first choice, unoriginally, was 바카라사이트 university where my best friend’s bro바카라사이트r had read English. It wasn’t until that interview day, when I spoke one-on-one with an academic about my reading, heard about 바카라사이트 course in detail and saw 바카라사이트 campus, that I knew that 바카라사이트 degree suited me and my interests and that I would feel comfortable 바카라사이트re.

I do not regret my choice, but I do wish that I had made more of an effort to see different universities and English departments throughout 바카라사이트 country, if only to make sure that I was making 바카라사이트 right one. If I were to do anything differently, I would focus less on league tables and reputations, and I’d spend more time looking around campuses and speaking to university staff about what 바카라사이트 degree programme is like. Having more options makes deciding on a university harder, but I know too many people who ended up at a university that was wrong for 바카라사이트m, to realise that my choice of 바카라사이트 right university was far too much of a close shave. 

Charlie Pullen is an English literature master’s student at Queen Mary University of London

Read more: Explore 바카라사이트 UK university rankings here