My first semester at Dundee University flew by. It was a brand new and exciting experience for me as I moved into halls, met new people and most importantly started my degree, putting myself on track to becoming a primary teacher.

Prior to writing this post I began to reflect on how I have personally developed, one point that stood out was my confidence. I wasn’t shy before attending Uni, however I had a lot of self doubt and did not believe in myself as I have never been the smartest student. I struggle more than others and find it takes me longer to grasp new things. As a result, I always put myself down and compare myself to others. This often led to me feeling down as I had to work a lot harder than my peers to achieve well. Despite this, I have passed both the Working Together and Values modules. My grades were lower than my friends, but I know I did my best and therefore did not view my success negatively. Instead I took my feedback on board, realising I have potential and was shown where I can improve and thus I will be able to reflect on my given advice during my next essay submissions and hopefully do better. Additionally, the Working Together module helped me to believe in myself as my fellow group members encouraged me to continue to express my thoughts as they valued my opinion. This was a pleasant surprise and I felt very much included in the group.

I have realised reflection is important as I often do not realise how I have progressed. When looking back although my growth has been slow it has definitely occurred and I plan for it to continue. With placement swiftly approaching, I believe it will be a truly exciting experience, that will enable me to reflect on my positive and negative attributes. This will allow me to push myself which I think is very important as I will be in a new environment where I will be communicating with pupils and fellow staff members. Hopefully, by the end of semester 2 I will be reflecting on how once again, it was successful with my progression as a student.