American writer Tara Westover once said: “Education is not so much about making a living, as making a person.”

Your college years won’t just give you a degree in x, y or z, they also set you up for the person you’re becoming in all aspects of your life. Whether you move out, stay at home, move country or stay in the same county, the first year of college involves a lot of change!

However, it is from that change, or at least from figuring out how to adapt, that we grow.

I started Law BCL in UCC last September and here are the things I have learnt. I hope I can give some insight into my perspective of being a college student in Cork.

The main thing I’ve taken away is to interact and converse with as many people as you can. I know that can seem overwhelming and nerve-racking, it certainly did to me! Even so, try to spark up a conversation with the person beside you. Most of those conversations will go to the back of your mind, but at least you’ve introduced yourself to someone you might come across again. On the flipside, that quite simple tip also gained me some of my best friends and my closest relationships to date.

That’s where the next piece of advice comes in. Whilst you should be friendly and talk to as many people as you can, it’s OK to be more selective about who you spend more time with.

College brings with it the potential to make so many friends which is one of the best things about my university experience so far. But they should be the kind of people who support you, reflect your values, who you have fun with, respect, feel most like yourself with, and the ones you trust. As a fellow law student here in Cork, Faye Clancy, reflected: “You get to decide who you want to surround yourself with, you pick your........

© Evening Echo