My Uni Story

Alfred North Whitehead once said, “The task of a university is to weld together imagination and experience.” I completely agree with that, since university has been a place where I have experienced great things.

After obtaining A/L results, entering the university went smoothly for me. As, I got the opportunity to study at my dream university: the University of Colombo. I started lectures at the Faculty of Arts, University of Colombo through online mode. But what I want was to travel to university daily and have lectures onsite. Sadly, we had to learn online for almost one and half years.

As time passed, in our second year we commenced lectures onsite. I travelled to university daily from Moratuwa by train. After getting down from the Bambalapitiya train station, I walked all the way to the university. So, every fine morning I get to feel the sea breeze and waves meeting the shore as I get down from the railway station. I enjoy the walk very much. My favourite is to walk on Bauddhaloka Mawatha because it’s the cleanest road I have ever seen. I also love to walk under the great shades of the massive trees out there. Those trees make Colombo even more beautiful.

After reaching the university I sit at the Greens’ tables for a while, after which it was time for lectures. At the university I met many friends from different parts of the country. Most of them are from Matara, Kandy, Anuradhapura, and Polonnaruwa. I would love to chat with them as they are ever so friendly.

Given how tired I am after lectures, after I come home from university I sleep for a while. Sometimes I wish if we got some holidays in between the semester to rest a bit out of learning. Nonetheless, thanks to the union strikes we got a couple of days to relax. 

For many undergraduates, university is the place where they find their true love. I experienced that firsthand, as I found my first ever potential love from here.

The 3rd of January 2023 was an unforgettable day for me at the university. As on that fine morning the university staff arranged us traditional Sri Lankan food at the green tables consisting of Milk rice, Kawum, Kokis, Mung kawum, Kisses, Boondi, and many more sweets. All the undergraduates from the Faculty of Arts tasted the delicious food complemented with a cup of plain tea. My friends and I had a great time eating the tasty food over a nice conversation.

I have spent almost 2 years at the university and there is two more years to go. I hope those two years will be more exciting. I would like to end by saying that university is a place filled with freedom. So, you should always be mindful to enjoy it.

Rtr. Shannon Pieris