Transition to University - Cameron Wells

HBHS Old Boy Cameron Wells (at Boys' High from 2007-2011) writes a blog as a first year science student for Auckland University.  You can read his ruminations on life at UOA at www.auckland.ac.nz/insideword.  In this entry, he reflects on the transition from high school sport to university level.

Time management is important when you’re at Uni, no matter what degree you’re doing. All it takes is a quick skim over the last few weeks of blogs to realise that way too many people leave assignments and essays (and studying for tests!) until the last minute. When you throw in the commitments of sport, that all becomes a whole lot more challenging. Now I’m not claiming to be a high-performance athlete, because that couldn’t be further from the truth. The amount of time and effort that some people dedicate to their sport is amazing, and even though I’m constantly in awe of them, I’m pretty happy just playing for fun. That being said, I’m pretty competitive, and I can’t stand it when people don’t care whether they win or lose. Thankfully, through AUSA, there are opportunities for anyone and everyone to compete, or just participate in a whole load of different sports, at any kind of level.

Even after playing competitive hockey during my time at school, and representing Waikato in age group sides for the last few years, I was seriously considering not playing this year. The commitment of it all kinda got to me, and given the importance of my academic results this year, trying to get into Medicine, I was weighing up whether I really wanted to play or not. I decided I’d go along and see how I felt. After taking the summer off, hardly going near a hockey stick the whole time, when I showed up to trials at the start of the year, I was seriously underdone. Five minutes in and I was gasping for breath, trying to remember the last time I was so unfit. But I was loving it. I know that sounds ridiculously corny, but there’s something about being out there on the sports field. There’s nothing to worry about, except for what’s going on during the game. No tests to stress about, nothing. And for a Biomed student, those moments are usually few and far between. And so, as you can probably guess, my mind was made up from that moment on.

It’s not always easy though. The cost of playing sport is always a challenge too, especially as a student. AUSA helps out with a student discount, as does some of the scholarship money I won last year, but the costs of fees, uniform, gear, and travel all add up pretty quickly. Thankfully, my team’s made up of a pretty awesome group of guys, and we all carpool to trainings and games, which means that we don’t have to catch the bus. There’s always a really mean team atmosphere; we’re a pretty tight knit group, even when one of the boys starts cranking Taylor Swift in the minivan…

I don’t regret deciding to play this year at all; I’ve made some awesome new mates, gone on an awesome pub crawl, managed to get back into shape(ish), been to Uni Games, and played some not too shabby hockey as well. Even just getting out of the hall – a change of scenery is always nice, especially when it gives you yet another excuse not to be studying! I’ve had to work around hockey at times; it has this horrible tendency to clash with my tests, and even exams… But in the end, I’m glad that I didn’t throw it away.

I think what I’m trying to say is this: when you go to Uni, especially if you’re moving away from home, you have this opportunity to make yourself into a whole new person. And that could be great, (depending on who you are…) but make sure that you don’t leave behind the stuff you loved in the first place, whatever that may be. Don’t be one of the people that let their degree become who they are (trust me, I see them every day). Balance is essential.

Woah, that got kinda deep there just for a moment. Anyway, I’d better bounce. Time to go training, see you guys later! :D