The ‘culture shock’ of returning from university.

Ella Gilbert

Before I left for university in September, I spent so much time preparing for what life would be like there that I almost forgot I would be coming back. Student culture and lifestyle can be overwhelming. It’s like being on a year-long school trip except you are entirely unsupervised, can do almost anything you want and there’s significantly more alcohol involved. After nearly a year of living in halls, moving back to my hometown was a bit of a shock.

As a fresher, you will receive endless advice about settling in and adjusting to your new university life. Whilst this is useful, I actually found adjusting to uni relatively easy. I was so excited and busy that I didn’t have time to be homesick. I’m from a small town in Berkshire, where I live with my parents, younger brother and dog. That town will always be my home but by the time September came around, I was definitely ready to move on to bigger and better things. Moving away from the place I’ve lived almost my entire life was scary but coming back after having grown and changed seems just as scary.

What is ‘Student Culture’?

Student life is like a micro-society of its own. I’ve lived in Sheffield since September yet I rarely interact with people who aren’t involved with the university. Central neighbourhoods are dominated by student housing and if you go outside you’re almost guaranteed to see other students. I quite often forget that there are normal people living in Sheffield too. Student culture can be pretty intense; you live with your friends and are regularly on the go. I’ve always been pretty independent so I thrive in the freedom you get at university.

Living with others a similar age to you is very different to living with your parents. Even in a pandemic, you’re regularly out and about. You’ll often encounter your flatmates in the corridor at 3am or be in the pub on a random Tuesday afternoon. Student culture is quite the opposite of the typical 9-5 lifestyle that many of our parents lead back home. Most people around you lead a similarly chaotic lifestyle to you so you barely notice quite how dysfunctional it can be until you break away.

Returning to life at home

At university, I shop for myself, cook for myself, and look after myself. Yet when I return home, its almost like returning to being 16 again. I’m still relatively independent at home, I spend most of my time working, or out doing my own thing. My parents have no idea where I am, what I’m doing or who I’m with day to day at uni but as soon as I come home, I feel the need to keep them updated of my every whereabouts. It’s a strange contrast going from being almost entirely independent to being back in my childhood bedroom asking my parents for lifts. Perhaps the strangest part of all, is that it doesn’t feel unnatural to do so. My home and university lives seem entirely separate and the differences between my behaviour in the two places, makes me wonder whether my personality is different there too.

Everything at home is familiar. It doesn’t take me long after returning to get back into my routine there. I spend most of the summer at my part-time job and fill most of my days off with seeing as many people as possible before I head back to Sheffield. It’s a very different lifestyle to the ‘student culture’ I experience in Sheffield. I enjoy them both in different ways but it has drawn attention to the differences in myself in different situations.

I’m not properly able to compare my personality in each, due to the year we’ve had and the differences in what I do. I treasure my friendships from home. I’ve grown up with them and I hope they’ll be in my life forever. However, the friends I’ve made at university are very different. Naturally, there are common traits and values across the groups and they’d definitely all get on but they have some very different interests and beliefs. Clearly I’ve changed and grown since I met my school friends, as you would hope, but I’d love to have someone compare how I act in Sheffield versus in Berkshire.

Adjusting to the differences

Returning home always draws attention to the two different lifestyles I lead. I fill my time in very different ways at home versus at university so it takes some adjusting when switching between. The biggest difference I find is my reliance on my parents at home. However, that isn’t necessarily a bad thing. Spending long periods of time away from my family makes me really appreciate when I am with them and having time where I don’t cook my meals or clean the flat is sometimes much needed after a term at uni.

Moving away to university seems daunting. Coming home after spending so long adjusting to your new city perhaps seems even more daunting. Change can be overwhelming and as someone who comes from a small town, there’s definitely a ‘culture shock’ when I return. If you’re headed to university soon, definitely focus on settling into your new place, but don’t get too consumed by the culture there. My hometown will always be my home and sometimes I don’t even realise how much I miss it until I come back.

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All images are courtesy of Ella Gilbert.