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Volunteers

Entry 5
11 Oct

Letting Go of the ‘Perfect’ College Experience – Anonymous Volunteer

I remember my first freshers week really vividly – I felt a strong mixture of emotions, from anxiety to hope. I think the strongest feeling I felt was the sense of possibility, that my life would finally begin in college – I envisioned myself living the ‘perfect’ student life. In my mind, this included a wardrobe of trendy clothes, an instant friend group full of cool and intellectual people from all around the world, endless parties and social events, and...

11 Oct

How Changing My Course Was the Right Option for Me – Anonymous Volunteer

Sometimes I worry that I’m a quitter. When I was 16, I went to the Gaeltacht for the first time. It was just 3 weeks long, I spoke decent Irish, and I went with friends. Somehow, my friends all took to it, and I just didn’t. It wasn’t so much that I was home-sick, I’d been away from home plenty before, but I just really strongly didn’t want to be there. And when my parents came to visit at the...

college life
11 Oct

Expectations of College Life a First Year Vs. Reality – Anonymous Volunteer

My first year of college was pretty terrible. Looking back, I can see that there were good moments as well as the bad, but at the time everything was just a blur of anxiety. I was obsessed with having the stereotypical, wild time that first years are supposed to experience – getting blindly drunk every night, having questionable one night stands, and throwing myself at any interesting opportunity that came my way. And in many ways I did have that...

studying
01 Sep

College Burnout and Mental Health – Anonymous Volunteer

College can be tough. I think that a lot of people feel that ‘goes without saying’, but I feel it’s important to recognise that out loud every now and then. College can be tough, it can be stressful, upsetting, and a harsh environment to be in day-to-day. Often, the people around you don’t understand fully the impact third level education can have on your health, mentally and physically. Family, friends, co-workers. We all have our own issues in the lives...

Charlotte
01 Sep

An Unexpected and Abrupt Goodbye to College – Charlotte, TCD Public Face

My first memory of hearing anything about Covid-19 was in January. I was sitting with my work friends, just before the start of my final semester ever at Trinity, and somebody told me that China had just built a hospital in 6 days. “6 days! Wow fair play to them, imagine if our health system was that efficient”, was all I really thought at the time. I went back to college, dove straight into dissertation mode, went to friends’ birthday...