Each year has a word that induces anxiety. First-year students tend to worry about exams because it’s their first time taking them in a university setting. Second-year students worry about finding an internship. For third-year students who are wrapping up their university life, it’s their thesis.
As my journey as a university student comes to an end, I’ve begun to look back at the memories and experiences I made. The moments when I stressed and lost sleep over a paper now seem exaggerated, even though student life stress felt overwhelming at the time. I can now laugh at those times with my friends and understand why my upperclassmen advised me not to worry about a particular exam or assignment. It was stressful then, but it’s funny now, and I’ve now become the upperclassman who tells first and second years not to worry over things I now consider not a big deal. However, over my three years as a student at Constructor University, I have noticed that each year has a word that triggers stress and elicits groans and complaints. For first years, it’s exams; for second years, an internship; and for third years, a thesis.
First Year
Exam time for me was particularly stressful because I was a late arrival student. I arrived a month before exams started, so the academic pressure felt like a huge weight on my back. Not to mention that it was my first time taking exams at uni, which felt worlds away from exams in high school. For the first time in my academic career, if you could even call it that, failure felt like an option. While exam season was stressful in high school, it paled in comparison to the exam season in university. Everyone around me also had theories on how the professor graded or the format they used, based on what they’d heard from second years. Sometimes it was helpful, other times it made prepping for the exam even more confusing. Regardless, the stress united us; we often joked about how we’re not built for exams or getting deported if we fail. Despite exams being a source of stress for many of us, they were all we ever seemed to talk about. We’d bump into a friend or acquaintance at Coffeebar and ask how exam prep was going, and they’d immediately say “ughhhh,” which would make us laugh because we felt the same way. In the end, we survived the season and became the second years giving advice on the exams we stressed and cried over.
Second Year
In my second year, it felt like we all had to put on our adulting pants because we had to look for and secure an internship. Reading that word now gives me goosebumps. I can still see the days when I sent numerous emails to organizations and companies, only to receive a no or sometimes no response at all. I can’t count how many times my friends and I said “let’s lock in, we’ll find an internship, only to give up when we saw the entry requirements. It also didn’t help that the economic state of the world right now isn’t exactly the best. Additionally, by this time, most of us also had LinkedIn, so we could see every time someone announced they’d found an internship. I’d honestly argue that looking for an internship is more stressful than exam season, which is probably why a lot of second- and third-year students can come off as dismissive when we tell first years not to worry too much about exams. While the university does provide resources such as the career fair and other similar opportunities, most of the brunt work of securing the internship falls on you. So it feels like a personal failing if you don’t find an internship, a feeling I wouldn’t wish on my worst enemy. The good news, however, is that there’s something for everyone, so you’re bound to find an opportunity that suits you.
Third Year
When I was in my second year, stressed about internships, I saw my third-year friends stressing over their thesis. Now that I’m in my third year, I can fully understand why. The pressure of finally bringing to a close everything you’ve worked so hard on is enough to break an elephant. While I haven’t started my process yet, I’m not looking forward to everyone suddenly asking me how my thesis is going. I’d honestly like to apologize to my now graduated third-year friends, whom I’d constantly bombard with that question; I get it now. Thinking about the process already stresses me out, and I can’t wait to look back on this period of my life and laugh about it while I hold my degree.
Despite stressing for a majority of my university life, I’m grateful for the times I spent studying and laughing with my friends. I can honestly look back and laugh at how ridiculous it was that I lost sleep over something I now consider lightwork. I look forward to closing this chapter of my life soon. To those of you who are first years or second years, worrying about exams or finding internships, it’ll be okay. Soon you will look back at the times you were stressed and laugh about it with your friends.
By Akousa Enam Zigi (Class of 2026)
