Things I wish I had known before starting university

1.     LEARN HOW TO BUDGET (before you start university)!!!

There is a 89% chance you are going to read this point, understand the necessity of it and relate to the struggle, and then completely ignore it and go blow your money on an Uber, eating out, shopping or something other than cheap groceries. All I can say is that it will make your life 10 times easier! Please avenge my old self, and budget. You’ll realise that money can go a long way. Perhaps you’ll even be able to save some money for when you finish university.

2.     Most of your learning will happen outside of the lecture hall

Besides the fact that you may be missing more classes than you would like (you can tell the type of student I was), and thus are literally doing no learning in class. But looking back, I realised that you end up learning so much from the people around you, your experiences and opportunities. People will really be the biggest part of your development. So whether you are a social butterfly, or love staying in bed all day watching Netflix/ fail videos, you need to let it happen. Have conversations with different types of people, keep an open and enjoy the process. 

3.     If you stop studying, you will forget how to

Yes….I was shocked too. You really will. High-school required you to have some kind of structure, but when you get to university, you become your own boss and with that comes the responsibility to take your studies seriously. So you’ve gone half a year kind of scan reading textbooks, taking cryptic lecture notes that have a big break in between them to account for your zone-out, that you will ‘definitely catch up later’ and never do. And then suddenly you have your mid-terms and you’re trying to remember how to read for more than 10 minutes at a time, and memorise notes. “How did I learn material in high-school?”, “Why can I only retain about 3-seconds of information”. Sadly, what people say is true… consistency is key. Studying is a skill, that is not like riding a bike. You need to practice and read and actually do the work your lecturers recommend (or at least some of it).

4.     By the end of university, you will not need to know what you will be doing for the rest of your life.

Fact. You don’t. Maybe you will have an idea as to the types of things that you like, but you really do not need to know more than that. My brother gave me, in my opinion, one of the best bits of advice I have heard till date. He said that “you do not need to be passionate about anything, if you are, you are one of the lucky ones, but if you are not you are free to create and choose you passion.” Of course you are better at some things than others but in general you can choose your path. The better you become at something, the more passion you will have for it. Plus, if it is the wrong decision you can change things up. Changing career paths is easier than ever these days! Pursue your happiness!

5.     You will still be accepted into a great Masters programme with an average score.

A lot of us start university with the hope of earning a high GPA. No doubt that many of you will, but before you start beating yourself up about the fact that you are not doing as well as you wish, find some solace in the fact that most Masters programs accept you with lower grades. If you are not looking to do a Masters degree, jobs are the same. For jobs, in fact, it matters much less. It is all about being a pro-active individual. Imagine an employer receives a CV: 21 year old Economics student from X university, committee member of the X society, head of the X association, volunteered and raised money for X and completed their degree. That looks pretty good to me. University is about finding yourself (cheesy, I know) and taking advantage of opportunities and being consistent. Your grades are not everything. Getting work experience is one of the most sought after factors these days. While interning, no one ever asked for my score, but rather, asked me about the experience I had; in terms of team work, leadership and analytical skills.

6.     Everyone, including you, is going to feel ‘low’ at some point

The combination of being in a, potentially, high stress environment, not entirely sure of what you want to do with your life, partying and/or procrastinating a little too much and having collective control of all your actions; makes for quite a situation. In my experience, it’s more of a domino effect, fewer and fewer people come to class, you lose motivation and then suddenly find yourself still lying in bed on a Tuesday at 3pm, with no intentions of doing anything in particular. This is quite normal, so just be sure to be aware of this and try to catch these feelings early on and get the resources you need to get back on track.

7.     Take care of yourself!

Shower, brush your teeth, brush your hair, exercise, meditate, breathe, eat, relax, push yourself, be proud of yourself! Taking care of yourself is so important! Your body really is your temple, and if you destroy it, everything else you are trying to achieve will be infinitely harder. You come first, and everything else second. EVERYTHING ELSE. If you are exhausted you cannot be productive in the long term. If you are unmotivated there is little that will excite you and you will be hurting yourself more than anything. Check in with yourself regularly and acknowledge how you feel.

8.     Take advantage of your benefits as a student!

University is a pretty special experience and you can get wrapped up in doing nothing. Be a part of societies, go to galleries, use your student discounts, explore. There are so many benefits to being a student that are left untouched. Educate yourself and take advantage of the opportunities.

9.     You do not need to find your husband/wife at university

I don’t know why there is this pressure to find someone at university. Perhaps your parents want that for you or Kate and William (British Royal Family members) meeting in university inspired you. But honestly why? Firstly, if you truly want to find someone, of course! Power to you! You will meet many people and have the opportunity to. But otherwise, there is no pressure. Date a bit (or not), see what you like and don’t, what your values are and grow and if something comes along then great but know that there will be so many more opportunities for you after university. University is really about finding yourself, and becoming comfortable with YOURSELF.

10.  Be kind and helpful!

Everyone is a little lost at university, even those who seem to have it all figured out. You do not know who you may be helping and how greatly you may be helping them just by being kind. Along the way you are sure to make friends, and benefit from the feeling of having helped someone out. Plus, maybe one day one of those people you showed kindness to, will be there for you in an unimaginable way.