It's that time of year when eager new students make their ways onto a new exciting town filled with new exciting people. Three years ago I was also one of those students. Today, I sit here as a graduate wishing to share my top tips for you to have the best university experience possible. You don't have to be a fresher for these tips to apply either! If you're a returning student, I'm sure these will be helpful to you too.
I am going to omit one of my tips because I have already done a post on what I wish I knew before I went to university over at Imogen Chloe's blog. So if you want to know what my first tip for university life was, make sure to check it out!
1. Join a club or society
My university life was mostly conducted by the activities of AberArchers (our archery club). Joining AberArchers was probably the best decision I made during university. I was able to make friendships that I know will last a lifetime and the club made me feel so welcome regardless of who I was. Joining a club or society is a really easy way to make friends. You are able to meet people who you know will have at least one thing in common with you (whatever the club/society is about). It also allows you to try something new. I had never considered myself a sporty person before, but joining a club in university allowed me to find the sport that was right for me. You may be surprised to find out that the club/society wont be all about that sport/activity either. As well as archery sessions, AberArchers held social events including nights out, beach barbecues and end-of-semester meals. We had members who joined purely for the social aspect just because they loved hanging out with the people who were part of the club.
I do have a word of warning when it comes to this tip: only join one or two clubs/societies. Whilst I'm sure your university will have loads of fantastic clubs/societies to join, try and limit the amount you commit yourself to. As I said, a club/society will have loads of activities going on as well as their main sport/activity. This makes it difficult to try to attend more than one or two club's/society's activities because you won't have time for everything. By all means go to as many taster sessions as you like, but then pick the top one or two that you enjoyed the most and join them.
2. Don't feel like you HAVE to do anything
When you start university, your only commitment is to your course. Following on from my previous tip, you don't have to do anything so don't feel like you have to attend every single session/activity your club/society is running. Similarly, don't feel like you have to go out every night during freshers week. It's okay to not want to do things. There are no requirements during university, other than actually gaining your degree.
If you do find that you're being pressured into activities that you would really rather not be a part of, it's probably best to leave the group of people who are pressuring you whether it's a friendship group or a club/society. Talk to them about it first, and if they don't understand the way you feel, leave them. University can be difficult at times and you need the people you surround yourself with to understand and support you. Remember to take time out for yourself and find the right people for you.
3. Allocate time to study
This top tip seems fairly obvious, however it's actually very easy to fill up your schedule with clubs, societies, and social aspects that you actually run out of time to study! Making sure you give yourself an hour a day or a whole day out of the week to study avoids last-minute late-night library sessions where you are in a panicked rush to finish your work before the deadline. I realised (maybe a little too late) that scheduling time to study really does make a difference. My grades went from an average 2:1 in my second year when I just did the work in time for the deadline, to almost getting a 1st in every assignment in my third year where I would schedule time for assignments and start them three weeks in advance.
4. Manage your expectations
When you move to university, you are used to your life at home and the schedule/habits of your family. In University, these schedules/habits will change massively. The people you live with will not have the same habits as you and as such you need to manage your expectations of them. Living with a completely new group of people is very tricky and so managing your expectations of what life is going to be like with them will be helpful. I'm not saying for you not to expect them to clean, but expect for their cleaning schedules to be different to yours. This will help to avoid arguments and make living with a new group of people easier. Although if someone is completely out of order and leaving all their dishes on the side for others to clean, don't be afraid to speak up!
5. Be yourself
This is my final and most important tip! I did sort-of cover this on Imogen Chloe's blog in the post on what I wish I knew before I went to university, but I'm going to expand more here.
In comprehensive school, people have known you since you were eleven/twelve, and maybe even younger if you went to primary school together. This means that their perception of you is still based on what you were like from a young age. Since then, you would have grown and changed so much as a person. University is the time to be your true self. The people you meet don't have these presumptions about you based on your younger self. I found that university is far more accepting of the person you are as well, regardless of your appearance or interests. Everyone is more mature and adult rather than the childish bullies in school. If you be true to yourself in university, you will find people who are more likely be your friends for life as they are people who know the real you.
I hope you find these tips useful as a student, or maybe relate to them if you're a graduate! If you ever need advice on university life, please don't be afraid to ask me on Twitter!
Do you find these top tips useful? If you're in university, or have been to university, what top tips would you add? Are you enjoying university life? Let me know in the comments! Scribble to you soon, Scarlett x