Jas Murray on Overcoming First-Year Nerves to Become VP Sport

For many, arriving at university is daunting. The whole process of adapting to a new environment, starting studies and making new friends is intimidating. It’s often the first time students are living alone with the extra responsibility that entails, and inevitably some struggle.

At first glance, you wouldn’t expect Jas Murray to be one of those people. Nowadays, the 2026/27 VP Sport walks around David Ross greeting seemingly everyone with a cheery smile and a friendly hello, often being pulled for a conversation by people from all sorts of backgrounds, students and staff alike.

After captaining the Women’s Rugby Union Club to the Premier North title in their best season in recent memory, Murray is one of the most recognisable sporting faces on campus. Yet she knows better than anyone the difficulties students can face at the start of their university journey.

Murray describes herself as “a very nervous person,” and those nerves meant that she struggled to adapt when arriving at university. Even though she had played rugby to a high level for her whole life, those nerves prevented her from getting properly involved three years ago, leading to her initially feeling on the periphery of the club and university life in general.

Now, having turned her student experience around to be elected as VP Sport earlier this year, Murray wants to make sure that nobody else feels too nervous to participate in sport at the University of Nottingham again.

Speaking about her first year, Murray admits that it was her nerves that prevented her from getting involved in both sport and general student life initially when she first joined the university.

“I was invited to preseason and didn’t go, because I was too nervous. And it’s such a shame.

“When I got here I was invited to the pre-freshers taster and things like that, and they were really nice to me. I tried to commit, but I’d go once and then not go again. I sat on the bench for the whole year for the first team, because I just didn’t train enough. It was really tricky, and I didn’t make friends through rugby in the way I should have.

“Which is weird, because a lot of people — now I’m older and I’ve spoken to them about that time — said, “yeah, we really liked you, you just disappeared.” I think they thought it was kind of cool, that I’d rock up once in a blue moon, come to a game and leave instantly.

“But I wasn’t being cool. I was just really nervous and I didn’t understand how anything worked at Notts.”

It was the rest of the Women’s Rugby Union club who eventually helped Murray settle in.

Living with some of her teammates, including club captain Casey Jennings, meant she was encouraged to go to training, while the rest of the team created a positive culture and were happy to bring her into the squad.

Without them, Murray is not sure she would have ever found her place.

“One thing I was very grateful for was that the rugby team were lovely. I remember rocking back up to a social for the first time in ages and they cheered when I walked in the door, and that was really nice, because it was the older girls who did it.

“If I’d walked into an intimidating sport environment, would I ever have played rugby at Nottingham?

“In second year I thought Nottingham was the best place in the world, and all of that came through rugby and the friendships I made there. That’s how I see sport at Nottingham — a way to stay active but most importantly to find your people.”

Having had such a personal experience with the challenges that first years face, Murray is hoping to use her position as VP Sport to create an atmosphere that doesn’t intimidate anyone and makes new students feel more comfortable about getting involved.

“For me it’s quite personal — wanting to ease the transition for first years and make environments welcoming. It’s not because I had a negative experience at Notts. I had a very positive one, and I still struggled so much.

“I’m probably more nervous than the average person, but if someone feels half as nervous as that — and I think a lot of freshers do, and they don’t talk about it at the time — that’s where a big part of my focus is.

“I just want freshers to know that this year’s Sports Officer isn’t the general Sports Officer people picture — these confident people who from day one found their people in halls, went out all the time, and just loved it.

“I want to be a friendly face at David Ross. I don’t want freshers to not identify with me at all, especially if they’re nervous, because I resonate with that.”

This experience has shaped her time at the University of Nottingham, so much so that Murray has been inspired to use her new platform to make students feel like they belong in sport and create a sense of community at the university.

For Murray, that means showing students that there are ways to belong in sport beyond BUCS competition.

“I really want to build a sense of belonging. For me it’s about highlighting the different pathways into sport, and spreading the message that it doesn’t have to be BUCS.

“Whether you’re involved in Just Play, or para sport, or any of our initiatives — Black Sport Collective, Rugby Minds or Empower – I want to give them a platform.

“That sense of belonging, whether you’re an athlete or not, even people who just watched and got the face paint on for Varsity — they love it that little bit more, and it makes the university experience a bit more personal.

“That’s what I want to help more students feel.”

Kian Gadsby and Ollie Stevenson

Featured image courtesy of Jas Murray. No changes were made to this image.

In article image 1 courtesy of UoN Sport. No changes were made to this image.

In article image 2 courtesy of UoN Sport. No changes were made to this image.