Counselling services at ARU - Amy's story

When Sociology student Amy felt overwhelmed and homesick during her first term at university, she turned to ARU's counselling service for help and advice.

When I first arrived at university I was so excited to get stuck in to my studies, freshers' events and all the opportunities that ARU offers. After a few weeks the whole freshers feeling started to disappear...

At first, I loved it! It felt like a long holiday, my flatmates were fantastic and I was having the BEST time.

However, as much as I enjoyed starting my course and getting to grips with the content, I still didn’t feel right. At every opportunity I started to run to the train station and jumped on the first train home. At Cambridge I didn’t feel myself and I started to feel lost.

Finding help

This is when I decided to speak to the University to get some help. It was leading up to Christmas and deadlines were piling up, and I didn’t want to get behind and overwhelmed.

The counselling team at ARU really helped with this! They helped me find the root of the problem, which was feeling overwhelmed and homesick, and in turn that relief of feeling better allowed me to focus on my studies, and get the best grades I could.

After Christmas I felt a weight had been lifted – I was over the first hump of university, and was actually excited to go back and see my friends!

I would say if anyone is feeling this way, ARU offers fantastic support, whether it be counselling sessions, or maybe just a drop-in session. There’s also great online support if you don’t feel comfortable with speaking to someone straight away.

Amy studies Sociology at ARU in Cambridge. Find out more about this and other degree courses at one of our Open Days.