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A Balanced Life

Posted 24th August 2026
by Josh

I was overwhelmed by the prospect of university. Despite achieving good grades throughout secondary school and college, I feared that I would be “found out” academically—that I wouldn’t be able to keep up with my course content or complete assignments. I worried about whether I would be able to manage the workload and maintain my friendships alongside my studies. At the time, university felt as if it were “make or break”.

In my first year, learning how to stay within a word count felt like building a hundred-thousand-piece puzzle, exams felt like a hundred-metre sprint and navigating the university campus felt like escaping a ten-mile maze. In my second year, the increasing workload and difficulty of the content felt restrictive, and socialising with friends or having downtime felt like I was abandoning my studies.

Come third year, socialising with friends, spending time with family, or exploring my individual interests became my biggest motivator. Completing assignments became more like clockwork, my writing became more naturally concise, and exams, while still nerve-wracking, were just another obstacle to overcome.

My biggest lessons from university haven’t only come from attending lectures and completing workshops. I have learnt that university does not have to consume every aspect of your life to be worthwhile. Taking time away from my studies—whether that means going to Spoons with friends, watching football (not Arsenal), gaming online or doom-scrolling on TikTok—is not necessarily a waste of time. If anything, it has helped me to approach my studies with a clearer mind and greater focus.

University is not “make or break”, just like struggling with higher education is not being “found out”. Attending university is about embracing the lows as much as it is about enjoying the highs. It is everything in balance.

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