Building your Confidence at University

How University Helped with My Confidence

Heading to university can be a daunting experience, but it can also greatly shape who you are as a person and improve your self-esteem and confidence. Business and Marketing third year student Gemma talks about how her university experience has helped with her self-confidence.

Deciding to apply to university wasn’t a hard decision for me. It was always something I’d intended on doing, but straight after college I had no idea what I wanted to do for a living.  After working for a while, I finally settled on something I wanted to do as a career and on to the University of Huddersfield I came!

Actually being a student again (especially an older one) was the most daunting part. I had nerves about my commute, whether I’d make friends, and if I’d be any good at my course. This is where the confidence boost came in, as I ended up surprising myself and doing well during my first and second years. It was reassuring to know being good at marketing wasn’t just a fluke (Imposter Syndrome gets us all to some extent I think).

Deans List

"Dear Gemma

Dean's List for Exceptional Performance

At the recent Course Assessment Board it was confirmed that you had passed 120 credits for the year at an average of at least 70%. Congratulations on this excellence result. I am pleased to inform you that, as a result, your name has been added to the Dean's List for Exceptional Performance 2017. You might want to add this information to your CV.

I hope you are encouraged by how well you have done and I wish you success in your remainaing studies.

Yours sincerely

Jill Johnes

Professor Jill Johnes

Dean

Huddersfield Business School"

One of the biggest misconceptions new students have is that it’s hard to get talking to new people when in reality - it really isn’t! In my first year I don’t remember it taking a lot of effort; you just tend to get chatting to other students in your lectures. If you’ve moved out, there’s your flatmates too, and many more people you’ll bump into, during events and freshers events especially. The thing to remember is that everyone is in the same boat as you which makes it easier.

Getting involved in a group, or even starting a society, as I did, is a huge confidence booster too just because of the social aspect and the new opportunities it opens you up to.

Being able to complete work and do it well is also always a huge confidence boost and it definitely helped me. Plus I met so many more people and even helped with hosting events. It’s all experience that makes you feel more comfortable in a wide variety of situations!

Another aspect of university which has boosted my confidence is my placement year. I’m currently on placement at Digital Velocity in Leeds, a fantastic digital agency which is helping to broaden my marketing experience – especially since I’ve never worked on the agency side of marketing before. Getting a placement, or even a part-time job while you’re studying, also offers a huge confidence boost for the same reasons as above; you’re gaining even more experience, learning more, meeting even more people and becoming familiar with a wider variety of situations and work. And of course, knowing you’ve nailed an interview is always hugely encouraging!

University offers a degree (no pun intended) of independence which is so new to a lot of us when we first get here. Even though we might spend some time stressed, tired, studying and skint, we’re still doing it, and we’ve still made that jump to try something completely new.  

That’s a confidence raiser in itself, and something to be proud of.