Emilie's story

Give a short introduction of yourself

My name is Emilie, I am 24 years old, and I live in Aalborg. My education path has been a little twisted. Right after graduating upper secondary school in 2014, I chose to apply to study law at AAU. I studied law almost two years before realising that I would much rather become a psychologist. Therefore, I started studying psychology in 2016, and I am currently on my 7th semester.

Which considerations did you have regarding attending university?

I had seen many of those popular TV-series with great and intelligent lawyers such as “Suites” and a friend of mine was as a prosecutor. I thought that everything she told me about her job  sounded so awesome. Besides that, I didn’t really have too many considerations.

I wanted to go directly from upper secondary school to the university. I made this choice because I’ve always loved learning new things and having something to immerse myself in. I had also been looking forward to being focused on a single subject — in my case law.

When I later found out that I would rather study something else, I gave it a lot of time and thought. I had already made a ‘wrong’ choice the first time, so for me it was really important to figure out what the heck I was actually interested in. I kind of felt like I could no longer ‘sugarcoat’ it — I had to be honest with myself.

This might seem a bit deep and perhaps a little ‘touchy-feely’, but to me it was important to remind myself that we only have this one life — and therefore we better use it on something that makes sense to us. It doesn’t necessarily have to make sense to your parents, your partner, your friends, or your dog, it has to make sense to you.

How did you experience your first day at AAU?

I remember it as a very nerve wrecking day, where you feel a bit alone. Therefore, I didn’t really know what to do with myself and I just tried to go with the flow for the rest of the day — I feel like doing anything else is kind of hard on a day like that. It did help, however, that there were nice tutors to show us around.

I will say, however, that I remember it is an exciting day as well, with a lot of new impressions. On a day like that you can not help but feel excited about what kind of education you are about to start. At the same time, there are so many expectations and ideas about what it is going to be like. It can be hard at times, but also really cool. The study start is a new chapter where it is possible to start fresh and be surprised along the way.

Which challenging experiences did you have during the study start?

I think it was hard to create a sense of overview — both of all the lectures, the social events, the curriculum, exams and so forth. I had to adjust to the structure at university, because I felt like it was pretty different from the structure at upper secondary school — at university you often have exams during the semester and therefore you have to schedule your reading in order to be able to get through the full curriculum before the exam.

Meanwhile, I found it difficult managing several different courses at once, because I couldn’t figure out what to focus on. I really wanted to partake in every single course an equal amount, but I found out that it simply wasn’t possible for me, as there was so much happening at once. Therefore, I chose to spend most of my time on the parts of the curriculums that I found interesting and less of it on the not-so-interesting topics.

Which good experiences did you have during the study start? 

Being around other ‘specialists’ can actually be a great advantage. I have experienced how nice it is being surrounded by people who have the same academic interests as me. In that way the lectures and ‘going to school’ is way more focused, which I actually really like.

In regard to the social aspect, I remember really enjoying the freshman’s trip, because it really helped unite the entire class. The social events were a great support, especially in the beginning where uncertainty and insecurity levels were high. In that way I had someone to talk to during study related events, but also someone to hang out with in my free time.

What do you wish someone had told you about student life?

I probably wish that someone at law had told me that it is okay to not read the entire curriculum. Especially during the study start, where a lot of social events are going on as well. Therefore, I would say that it’s all about finding a way of balancing your academics with your social life, because I think you need both in order to have a good student life.

Besides my previous point, I would have liked if someone would have told me, that being a student is a process. You can’t always be in control of everything, and therefore you have to make sure not to expect just that. There is a transition, and as a new student you have to believe that you will eventually figure things out as you go — sometimes through ‘trial and error’. “To err is human ”, as they say, and even though it is a very classic thing to say, I believe there’s something to it.