One thing nobody tells you about going back to uni as a fully grown adult with responsibilities, bills, and a favourite supermarket is this:
You need your people. Not “friends”. Not “classmates”.
Your people.
The ones who are also hanging on by a thread and a travel mug.
Because let’s be honest — if I had to do this degree alone, I’d have quit, cried, or moved to a remote island by now.
🤝 The magical moment you find someone who says “SAME”
There’s a special kind of joy in meeting someone on your course who is also:
• A working mum or dad
• Running on caffeine, chaos, and questionable life choices
• Behind on the reading (but emotionally caught up with the panic)
• Ahead on the stress
• Unsure what day it is (or if it even matters anymore)
• Wondering why they signed up for this in the first place
And best of all…
• Completely down to earth
• Not up themselves
• Language occasionally as colourful as yours
• The kind of person you don’t have to mind your P’s and Q’s around
• Says it how it is instead of pretending they’ve got it all together
You say, “I’m struggling,”
and they say, “Oh my god, SAME.”
And just like that…
you’ve found your person — bonded not by success, but by mutual chaos, honesty, and the quiet understanding that neither of you has a clue what’s going on… but you’ll get through it anyway (probably with snacks and sarcasm).
👩👧👦 The Working Parent Alliance™
There’s a whole unspoken club of mature students who are juggling:
• School runs
• Packed lunches
• Full‑time jobs
• Assignments
• Imposter syndrome
• And the occasional breakdown in the car
When you find someone who understands that you can’t attend a study session because your child has lost their shoe, their homework, and their will to live — that’s your person.
📱 The group chat that becomes your emotional support system
Every mature student ends up in that group chat.
You know the one. The messages look like:
• “Has anyone started this assignment because I’m about to cry.”
• “Is this due tomorrow or next week or never?”
• “I’m quitting.”
• “No you’re not.”
• “Fine.”
• “Does anyone understand the referencing because I’m lost.”
• “Same.”
A few WTF’s thrown in for good emasure too
It’s chaos. It’s therapy. It’s survival.
🤣 The people who make you laugh when you want to cry
Your people are the ones who:
• Send memes instead of solutions (no Zebras! IYKYK)
• Make jokes about dropping out together • Turn panic into comedy • Remind you that you’re not the only one winging it • Celebrate your wins like you’ve just won an Oscar
They don’t judge.
They don’t compete.
They don’t pretend to have it all together.
They’re just as chaotic as you — and that’s comforting.
❤️ Why finding your people matters
Because studying as an adult is HARD.
Not “I forgot my pencil” hard. (although I did actually do this on enrolment day!)
More like “I’m doing an assignment at 11pm while cooking pasta and answering a child shouting MUM” hard.
Your people make it bearable. They make it funny. They make it possible.
They remind you:
• You’re not behind
• You’re not failing
• You’re not alone
• You’re doing better than you think
And in return, you remind them too.
⭐ The truth? You don’t just find classmates — you find your survival squad
The ones who get it. The ones who lift you. The ones who message back at 1am.
The ones who make you feel like you belong here. You find people who make you think,
“Okay… maybe I CAN do this.”
And honestly?
That’s everything.
I found my people — and honestly, it’s made the whole experience so much more enjoyable.
I love that I’ve got my “Uni-ay” squad. Tuesday just wouldn’t be the same without our slightly disjointed, mildly chaotic, occasionally unhinged group of big-hearted humans.
The kind of people who are down to earth, say exactly what they’re thinking (whether it needs saying or not), and don’t expect you to pretend you’ve got it all together.
We might be a bit all over the place…
but we get it — and we get each other.
And somehow, that makes everything a whole lot easier… and a lot more fun.
The Immature Student 