Good evening friends! How is your summer going? mine has been a busy one up until this point which is why I bring you this post later than I thought I would. After graduation, so much happened. The grad ball came first, then moving out of my Stirling flat and into the new flat in the space of two days, then going home to pack for a holiday two days later! phew. I should say that I am now settled in the new flat for now as I look for jobs to do with my degree and will talk about my holiday adventures in the next post I publish. So, without further delay, let’s move swiftly on with the post I’ve named ‘How to: Survive Uni,’ bearing in mind that these tips are purely my own opinion based upon my own experiences and you can make of them what you wish…
Let’s begin with the good stuff, what I’ll call the ‘Do’s’:
- Do elect to move into Halls (Halls of Residence) in your first year. Just do it, I’d even urge you to stay there for second year. If you can, opt in to live in a bigger dorm – my mistake was that I went for less flatmates in first year and did not have the experience that most people brag about when it comes to their ‘second family.’ Although part of that was due to suffering from a severe case of freshers flu for a whole month, which included having conjunctivitis for a week or so!
- Before you get freshers flu and hey! even if you get it, Do embrace your first year life and even second year life before the stress hits the fan in third year. First year will be your easiest year, so why not make the most of it! after getting freshers flu after the foam party and one too many fire alarms that went off leaving me standing and soaking outside for the best part of twenty minutes, I missed the chance to see one of my favourite bands from when I was a kid; The Vengaboys, and a magician show I really wanted to go to. Where was I? In bed dying or staring at a laptop feeling sorry for myself. Honestly guys, just live like there’s no tomorrow, trust me, it’ll be worth it.
- Do talk to random students as you wait for lecture halls to open their doors to a hoard of excited and overwhelming students who are probably freaking out as much as you are. This bonding will make the most meaningful friendships you will have!
- Do embrace the freshers flu – everyone gets it, you cannot and will not escape it. Day and Night Nurse, Strepsils, hot water with a teaspoon of honey in the morning and night, along with Beechams max strength and really hot steamy showers will hopefully get you through – along with the eye drops when and if you get conjunctivitis. If your lectures get recorded then stay in bed! don’t be me and go to lectures where you fight through two or more choking fits drawing more attention to yourself than is necessary. Only a few more points left to go, we can do this!
- Do reward yourself occasionally (and if you can afford it) with pizza and chocolate, uni can be stressful enough without denying yourself the occasional junk food binge. Hold it off until after you’ve handed in your assignment or passed an exam or got a really good grade on something that way, you will feel even more better! I used to hold study sessions in third and fourth year where at the end of it, we’d all get take-out for working so hard.
- Finally, Do get a part-time job, it will help improve your time management skills and allow you to be more independent since you’ll be earning your own money to do with it what you wish.
Still with me? let’s move onto the ‘Don’ts’ (we’re almost done):
- Don’t procrastinate too much, this may be rich coming from me but honestly, the stress is not worth it. Get things done, get chapters read, (especially if they’re more than forty pages long) get essays started to well in advance of their due date so you don’t end up being swamped early on. In the final years, I ended up getting work done and reading done up to a week in advance where I could and it helped a bunch.
- Don’t do all nighters, they don’t help anyone and only turn your sleeping pattern upside down. Put down that coffee and go to bed, your brain can’t possibly function at its greatest at 2am, give it up.
Hmmmm… I think that should just about cover it. I honestly have no idea what else I could put in the don’t category and I think if you have made it this far then you deserve a medal! If you have any questions or feel like having a general chat about your experiences, then by all means drop me a comment. The next post features my Cyprus adventure so stay tuned for that, it will be published next Wednesday or Thursday but until then, take care and enjoy the sun ~*
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