Maya, 3rd Year Psychology Student - My Experience
My name is Maya, and I'm now in my third year of studying Psychology. Looking back, I can honestly say that university has been one of the hardest things I've ever done, and not just academically. The first couple of years were a blur of missed deadlines, self-doubt, and a quiet but persistent feeling that everyone else had figured something out that I hadn't. It was only recently that I came across coaching, and it stopped me in my tracks. I'm writing this for anyone who is in the place I used to be, because I genuinely believe that knowing about coaching earlier could have changed a lot for me, and it might just do the same for you.
The Stuff Nobody Really Prepares You For
University looks great on paper. In reality, it throws a lot at you all at once.
Deadlines Were Everywhere
Multiple assignments due at the same time across different modules, with no real system for keeping track of any of it. I kept leaving things to the last minute, not because I was lazy, but because I had no idea how to structure my time around it all. Having a coach to help me build something realistic around my workload would have made a huge difference.
My Social Life vs. My Studies
I felt guilty constantly. If I was out with friends, I was thinking about the work I wasn't doing. If I was studying, I was thinking about what I was missing. It was an exhausting cycle that never seemed to switch off. A coach could have helped me set some actual boundaries and break out of that guilt loop for good.
Exam Season Nearly Drove me Insane
The pressure of exams with no clear revision strategy was a lot. I'd sit down to revise and either panic or go blank. By the time results came around I was already running on empty. A coach could have helped me manage that anxiety and build a revision approach that actually worked for how my brain functions, rather than what worked for everyone else.
Extracurriculars, Jobs, and Everything Else
I was trying to keep up with a society, a part-time job, and my degree all at the same time, and something always had to give. Usually it was sleep, or my own wellbeing. A coach could have helped me figure out what to actually prioritise and, more importantly, when it was okay to say no.
I Had No Idea What I Wanted to Do After Graduation
Career fairs made me panic. Everyone around me seemed to have a plan, a direction, a LinkedIn profile that made sense. I had nothing. The pressure to figure out my future while still trying to get through the present felt completely overwhelming. A coach could have helped me explore my options calmly, without all the anxiety that came with it.
How Coaching Could Have Changed Things for Me
When I look back at each of those struggles, I can see exactly where having a coach would have made a difference.
Getting Clear on What I Actually Wanted
At the start of university I had no real sense of direction. I was just showing up, doing the work, and hoping it would eventually make sense. A coach would have helped me get underneath all of that, to figure out what I actually valued, what I genuinely cared about, and what kind of future I was working towards. Goals that felt meaningful to me, rather than ones I'd borrowed from everyone else.
Building a System That Worked for My Life
Not a generic productivity plan from a YouTube video, but something that actually accounted for my part-time job, my social commitments, and my very real tendency to procrastinate until the last possible moment. A personalised approach, one that started from where I actually was rather than where I was supposed to be, would have saved me an enormous amount of stress in those first two years.
Having Someone to Check In With Regularly
Just knowing I had a session coming up would have changed how I behaved in the days before it. I would have followed through more, tried harder, pushed a little further, because I'd have had to sit down and talk about it. There's something surprisingly powerful about that kind of regular accountability. It would have kept me honest with myself in a way I never quite managed on my own.
Learning to Handle Pressure Without Falling Apart
Exam stress, job application anxiety, the constant fear of making the wrong choices. I white-knuckled my way through most of it and it cost me a lot. A coach would have given me actual tools for managing all of that, ways of thinking about pressure that didn't leave me running on empty. I didn't need to feel so alone in it. I just didn't know there was another way.
Figuring Out My Career Before the Panic Set In
Instead of arriving at final year with no plan and a rising sense of dread, I could have spent my second year quietly building one. Exploring internships, developing skills, getting a clearer sense of what direction actually excited me. A coach would have helped me do all of that calmly, gradually, without the last-minute scramble that made everything feel so much bigger than it needed to be.
Try It Out!
If you're in the middle of it right now, whether that's the stress, the uncertainty, the feeling that everyone else has it together and you don't, I just want you to know that you don't have to wait until things get really bad before you ask for support. I did that. I waited until I was overwhelmed and exhausted and running out of time, and I really wish I hadn't.
So if any part of what I've shared here has resonated with you, just give it a try. Download the app, book a session, and see how it feels. You don't need to have everything figured out before you start. That's kind of the whole point.
— Maya, Psychology Student
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What I Wish I'd Known in My First Year at University