Uniblog
Four Years Later: I have Four Lessons
Looking back, I think first-year me and final-year me are almost different people. Coming from Sri Lanka to Hong Kong was not what I expected my university life to be like.
But in hindsight, studying abroad taught me lessons I don't think I would have learned any other way. Now, with only a few weeks left before graduation, it feels strange to realize that this chapter is ending, and that I'm about to no longer be an undergraduate.
I wanted to write this partly for anyone reading, but also for myself to come back to in five years and remember what these years taught me.
1. People make a place feel like home
University taught me a location is less about a place but more about people. The kind of people show up for you when life gets messy. Whether it was stressful deadlines, rough days, hospital visits, or just feeling homesick, I realized how much it matters to have people you can be honest with and vulnerable around.
Most of my friends aren't very classical music people. They may have absolutely no idea what Dvorak Symphony No. 9 is, but somehow I will still end up with a camera roll full of ultra-zoomed photos of me playing the violin.
One of the biggest things I learned is how important the people around you become when you live far away from family. And the one thing I was lucky in my life is having those people.
2. Distance teaches you what you took for granted
When you're surrounded by familiar people, food, and routines every day, it's easy to treat them as constants. We assume they'll always be there.
But distance changes that.
Suddenly, you miss things you never thought twice about: home-cooked food, casual conversations, your parents checking in on you, or simply knowing someone is physically there when you need them.
Being away made me realize how much I owe my parents and how much of my life was built on their quiet support. It also made me more aware of time. Your parents are growing older while you're busy growing up, and somehow both things happen at once.
I hope I'm not too late in learning to appreciate that more consciously.
3. The biggest lessons happen outside the classroom.
Of course, navigating academics in university isn't expected to be an easy task, but what changed me the most was things happened outside.
There were disappointments, when reality did not match my expectations, when a place or situation felt very different from what I had imagined, or when certain parts of a lifestyle simply did not align with what I was used to.
There were moments of loneliness, uncertainty, and feeling completely out of place. Times when I felt emotionally exhausted, hopeless, or like there was no one around who could fully understand what I was going through. Sometimes, you still have to show up and function normally even when things feel heavy internally.
Not every part of growth feels exciting or rewarding in the moment, but often those are the experiences that shape you the most.
4. University is the best time to start
University is such a unique phase of life.
For me, university was where I started discovering what I actually care about and what kind of work feels meaningful to me.
When people say “do what you love,” it always sounds much simpler than it actually is. Sometimes the things you truly want to pursue are not straightforward at all. They take time, trial and error, and often a willingness to take risks or sacrifice other things along the way.
I think what matters most is not having everything figured out from the beginning, but having consistency, curiosity, and a genuine passion that keeps pulling you back to what you care about.
You're no longer in high school, but you're also not fully locked into a single path yet. You have freedom, energy, and access to opportunities that are all concentrated into a relatively short period of time. It is one of the few phases in life where you can experiment, take chances, and slowly build toward what you truly want.
