The first year is the hardest as you’re doing so much stuff, but I enjoyed every moment

The first year is the hardest as you’re doing so much stuff, but I enjoyed every moment

9 August 2023

AWARD-winning author and environmental campaigner Dara McAnulty recently completed his first year at Queen’s College Cambridge.

The former Castlewellan student — who was awarded a BEM for services to nature and the autistic community last December — is studying Natural Sciences.

The teenager and celebrated author has always loved the natural world and wanted to understand how it works, with that passion intertwined with his love of science.

He said his university course allows students to pick a mixture of modules from physics, chemistry or biology, explaining the flexibility is good for him because he has always struggled to choose exactly what he wanted to do.

With his first university year behind him, Dara has taken time out of his summer break to share advice for autistic students preparing to leave home to enter the world of third lever education.

And while heading off to uni for the first time can be challenging, embracing a whole new world with autism can be even more daunting.

Dara’s advice to students is “not to worry too much” even though it is a massive change.

“You will find people there who are going through a lot of the similar things that you are,” Dara told the 

Belfast Telegraph. “Nobody really knows what on earth is going on, but everyone sort of clubs together, so don’t worry about that.

“I’d also say to bring as many things from home that you like because if you’re going to be in a completely new place, you’re going to feel homesick, and having a few of those things around just makes you feel at home.

“That’s especially if you’re living here and you need to go over to England for uni, you think, ‘Oh, I’ve got to pack light and I don’t want to have to get all this stuff back again’. Just bring it. It does really help. Every autistic person is different in how they process everything, but just try to stay comfortable for at least the first few weeks.”

Dara, who was diagnosed with autism when he was five, encourages first-year students to connect with others early on.

“My advice for the first week is to talk to people and meet them,” he continued. 

“Nobody knows anyone. Talk to people because it can be very quick to get isolated or just disappear and it doesn’t help the transition. Having people around you really does help.

“In the first week don’t do anything ridiculously silly, because there’s always that freshers thing of utter stupidity. I know I fell into a few of those traps in the first week. It’s not worth it. I won’t stop you doing it, but I’ll say it now instead of afterwards.”

Dara is also advising freshers to keep on top of whatever study they are doing because if it gets a bit out of hand, ’It can happen quite quickly,” encouraging students to get to grips with their new location from the outset.

“Go for a walk and discover the place around you,” said. 

“I know some people in uni who still don’t know their way around the city and that sort of freaks me out because you should know this place that you’re living in.

“Then you get to find all the cool stuff that you might have not found out. It’s important to get yourself comfortable with place.”

Reflecting on his first year away from home, Dara says it was for the most part great, admitting that occasionally, he felt under pressure due to the workload, but overall it was an amazing life experience.

“I met so many new people. Of course, there is always that stress. It’s a tough course for me and luckily it only gets easier from here. The first year is the hardest because you’re doing so much stuff, but I enjoyed nearly every moment.”

Dara navigated his way through stressful periods by staying in the moment and focusing on what needed to be done immediately, as opposed to worrying about the future.

“Just keep on going until the next day; get the work done for today and keep going for the next one,” he advises.

“If you keep doing that, you’re going to be doing your best. Whenever it was tough and really hard to even think to the next few hours, just doing the things that you can see in front of you, really helped. I always was trying to keep quite a flow mind in that sense.

“I tried to always do the things that were in front of me. And whenever something cool came up, I grabbed on to it and went for it.”

Dara also revealed he performed live on stage after forming a band.

“That was definitely a high point. It was the first time I’d ever played music in front of an audience. It was quite incredible,” he said.

Dara also took up rock climbing and fondly recalled sitting with the group after they had conquered a difficult route.

“It’s busy at university. It’s also intense and crazy. Having those quiet moments were probably the points that I remember best.

“There are a lot of moments where you’re with your friends and you’re eating pasta in the kitchen or something, and you just feel like you’ve got a little home away from home with this community around you. And you’re sort of breaking out in a sense.”

Despite Cambridge’s stunning scenery, Dara misses the mountains that are so familiar to him at home. 

He said there was no mountain at university, revealing it was something that really disturbed him as when he looked out “it’s just flat for as far as the horizon”.

And with the start of his second year at university just weeks away, Dara tantalisingly revealed that he is also working on his next publication.