Joining Falmouth as my Insurance Choice

This article was written by Fashion Design BA(Hons) student Lillian.

Choosing the right university for you is an important decision, but just because something doesn’t pan out how you originally anticipated, does not mean there isn’t a world of amazing opportunity waiting for you wherever you end up.

I have never felt stress like I did in year 13. There is a lot going on, from choosing which courses and universities to apply to at the start of the year, to receiving offers and rejections from unis and having to make decisions about your firm and insurance choice unis. I consider myself to be a very organised person; I am definitely one to plan things out and find it hard to veer off course. This made it all the more surprising when I found myself in constant indecision throughout the process of applying to unis. 

My first difficult decision was what course to apply for. For the previous two years, I had planned to study Fashion Business Management, in which case I would not have been looking at Falmouth University as an option. I had a change of heart a mere few weeks before sending off my UCAS application. I had to rewrite my personal statement and do research on different unis. I decided to apply for Fashion Design instead, knowing I love creating and needed to let go of outside pressures that made me feel as though it was less worthwhile than a business-related degree. 

While Falmouth was one of the places I applied, I did not feel a strong pull to the uni. However once I received my offers, Falmouth being one of three conditional offers, I knew I needed to take a better look at it. Upon getting my offers, it was quite clear to me that Falmouth would be my insurance choice, as one of my offers was from a uni I only applied to out of safety and had no interest in and the other was my dream uni at the time. At the time, I remained quite uninterested in attending Falmouth and I was honestly quite unexcited by the idea of having to move so far from home. During my exam period I began having problems in my personal life and with my mental health; this led me to reconsider Falmouth, as it would give me a chance to get far from home and have a much-needed change in scenery. At this point I decided it was important to visit the campus and see how I felt there. 

In mid-June I ventured to Falmouth from London. I booked a private tour of the Penryn Campus and the Fashion and Textiles Institute. I came with my mum and we stayed for a night, which gave us the chance to explore the surrounding town. Walking around the campus was the first time I felt any desire to come to Falmouth. The campus is beautiful and it felt exactly as I thought a university campus should. Everywhere I looked was nature; there was diverse plant life, birds about everywhere and lovely gardens. The feeling of being surrounded by nature stayed with me as I walked through town and checked out the local beaches. It was something I was lacking back home in London and being in Falmouth I have seen a major positive impact of the access to nature on my mental wellbeing.