I remember my first few weeks in college feeling far bigger than I expected.
Everyone talks about the freedom. The independence. The excitement of starting something new. What they don’t always mention is how easy it is to feel completely out of place.
I had come from a school where everything felt familiar. The same faces every day, small classes, a routine that made sense. College was the opposite. A huge campus. Thousands of people. Lectures where you might never see the same person twice.
I was commuting in as well, which made it harder. There were only a handful of people from my school on campus and none of us were in the same course. Some days I’d have one lecture and then leave. People came and went. Conversations didn’t really go anywhere.
It felt like everyone else had already figured it out.
Freshers’ week didn’t make it any easier. There were so many options. Clubs, societies, sports I had never even thought about. I remember walking around all the stands trying to decide where I fit. For a brief moment I even considered trampolining. It looked like great fun and a lot of people were starting from scratch, which made it feel less intimidating.
I didn’t know what to choose. I only knew I wanted something.
I had always enjoyed sport, so I decided to give hockey a go. I had played a bit in school, nothing serious, but enough to feel comfortable turning up. There were plenty of first years there, which helped straight away.
It was probably the first time I felt a shift.
Training gave me a reason to be somewhere at a certain time. Matches meant you had to talk to people. You couldn’t hide in the background in the same way you could in a lecture. You were part of something whether you realised it or not.
That’s where things started to change.
I only played hockey for a few months, but it did exactly what I needed it to do. It opened the door. I met people outside my course. People who actually enjoyed the same things. Conversations came more naturally.
By second semester, I found myself drifting back towards swimming. It was something I had done for years before college, so there was a sense of familiarity there. The club had a mix of people. Some wanted to compete. Others were there to stay involved without the pressure.
That balance made a big difference.
We all came from similar backgrounds in a way. Early mornings before school. Competitions growing up. Even if we hadn’t swum together before, there were always connections. Someone knew someone. It made the whole thing feel easier.
The environment mattered too. You could show up as often as you wanted. Some people were there every day. Others dropped in every couple of weeks. There was no pressure to be anything other than what you wanted to be.
I stayed involved from first year right through to final year.
Every year we went to intervarsities. Two days away somewhere in the country. Heats on the Friday, finals on the Saturday, and then a dinner and night out that everyone looked forward to just as much as the racing. You’d run into people you used to compete against growing up, or people from other colleges you’d met along the way.
Those weekends became a highlight of the year.
And it wasn’t really about winning. You could go to compete, or you could go for the experience. Either way, you came back with something.
I tried athletics for a year as well. Completely different again. A wide range of ability, a great coach, and a really welcoming group. I didn’t compete, but I still felt part of it. Even showing up to training or going along to events gave you a sense of belonging.
That’s probably the biggest thing sport gave me.
It made a big place feel smaller.
Looking back now, I realise how important that was. Research shows that when opportunities to take part in sport are there, and when others are involved, participation increases quickly.
In college, that plays out in a very real way. Once you step into a club, everything becomes easier.
You start to recognise people. You have plans during the week. You build friendships without forcing them.
And those friendships last.
Even now, a few years after finishing college, we still meet up. Coffee, trips away, our annual New Year’s dinner. It goes beyond the sport itself.
If there’s one thing I’d say to anyone starting college, it’s this.
Get involved in something.
It doesn’t have to be the sport you’ve always played. It doesn’t have to be something you’re good at. It doesn’t even have to be something you stick with forever.
But it will give you a starting point.
Because college becomes a very different experience once you find your people.
And sometimes, all it takes is showing up once.
