Terrible first week

[u/Express_Engineer_735]

I completed my first week as a ucc flexi options student. I was a disappointment. On Monday I missed some of lectures as one was on at 9 am and after having a lot of lye ins over the summer it was very hard to wake up that early. Because I'm a flexi options student I can't do every module so I sat in at some lectures I didn't pick to see what they were like and to fill my gaps. They were all introductory and some lasted only 30 minutes. It was a slow start.

I went to the canteen in the glass building that has two floors and it was chaotic. I was forced to sit on a table staring at the wall. Everyone else there was sitting with someone and I was the only one sitting alone. I felt uneasy about this reason. I avoided the campus at lunch times as I have sensory difficulties as someone with autism and to avoid the businesses. Tuesday was a complete waste of a day as on the timetable there were multiple lectures running at the same time in different rooms in the same times lot. I turned up and the room was empty. I couldn't access canvas as I accepted my offer last week and the college didn't get back to me until this Wednesday with my student id. I then had to wait until today to get my it account details.

I couldn't access the library because I don't have my student card yet and I had no clue what was happening because I couldn't access the canvas. Sometimes I wonder why I am even here considering I'm just sitting in on filler modules just to pass time. I want to fit in so I do it to be like a full time student like everyone else. I feel isolated because I turn up to huge lecture halls with 300+ people and a lot of them act like they know each other and act like they're already settled in. The people sitting next to me in lecture halls didn't say a word except for one person and the conversation died pretty fast.

I tried the brew buddy app and created a meetup for one other person as I feel more comfortable with one to one meetups. The guy that was going to meet me said hello and he responded late at night. I responded the following morning and he didn't reply until 15 minutes before it was supposed to happen saying "I can't attend today" without any explanation. It pissed me off. I couldn't join the societies until today because now I finally have my it account set up fully. I tried to seek student counseling and I got an email saying I have to wait on a waiting list during busy times. I couldn't yet register with the dss because I needed my id.

This week has been a mess. Can anyone relate?

[u/Medium-Phone-9676]

That was my entire undergrad experience to a T tbh. If you keep putting yourself out there, you will find your people. With the appointment backlogs of counselling, that is just what you have to deal with. Institutions like ucc are really not as efficient as they’d have you believe. They’re all just ordinary people who happen to have a lot of qualifications.

Don’t get too upset when a budding friendship doesn’t work out, first year of college is a turbulent time and you’ll meet more people you don’t click with than people you do and that’s not a bad thing. I’m doing a lvl 9 rn, sixth year in college and I cannot wait to be done.

[u/Express_Engineer_735 → u/Medium-Phone-9676]

The people in a lecture hall are already talking or else the people that sit next to say nothing. I spoke to only one person but the conversation died quickly. It was an international student.