Things I Wish I'd Known Before University.

I don't know whether I'll write anymore university posts after this, we'll see.

I'm feeling incredibly positive at the moment. I've decided to start thinking in a different way, a more forward thinking way and it's definitely doing wonders for my motivation! And so, I wanted to share that with you! With the onset on university I've decided to write a little "get your spirits up" post as I know that the period just before school starts can send your mind reeling about your assignments, essays and the months ahead. That daunting feeling some of you may be experiencing is normal, especially if you're a fresher and you've got a move to think of on top of it.

Here are a few things that may help to keep your spirits up by preparing you for the little things that go along with University! I've also popped some things I wish people had told me about university before i'd gone!

• Ring of Fire was invented by the devil. That's why it's so funny. (If you don't already have Ring of Fire memorized here's a heads up  http://www.ringoffirerules.com/ )
• Your favourite drink will miraculously become whatever is cheapest when you reach mid/end of term.
• Scrounging is an art. Free stuff is good.
• Freshers week is amazing, not only because of how much fun all of the events are and meeting new people is but purely because you will look back on it in your second year like what the fuck were we thinking?! Some people i'm great friends with I met in freshers and they did the most out of character hilarious shit just to make friends.
• You think you drink a lot? Wait til Uni. People are impressive. I once walked into a bathroom and saw a girl i'd met a week before at a party singing Bonnie Tyler's Total Eclipse of the Heart to herself in the mirror. Classic.

Down to the more important things!

I'll start here with the things I wish people had told me. I've read a few articles about this over the past few weeks and here are the ones which really hold truth with me!

• The downtime you get at uni is extremely large. Sounds good at first but you may want to take up a hobby if you don't want to be constantly pissed or waking up at 11 and watching Jeremy Kyle even though you despise the show. Ahem, yeah.
• Everyone in your university was most likely at the top end of their class, that's how they got to Uni and you have to get comfortable with not feeling like Einstein. You're no less impressive, it's just you'll be around people who have the same work ethic as you now!
• Timetables at uni are rarely convenient. Expect to have at least one semester where you have huge gaps in between lectures!
• You'll change very fast if you dive into your Uni scene, you'll find out what you're interested in that you never thought you were before. It's a good thing, and you just need to go with it!
• This one is something I expected and it's so true - everyone is in the same boat. People are stupidly friendly during freshers because everyone is adjusting. Dive head first, speak to strangers, get peoples names, socialise. 
• Make an effort to know at least a few people on your course, it makes lectures bearable and can make studying easier when you have someone to rebound off.

Be prepared.

This may seem obvious, but I'll explain what I mean in more detail. Going to this weeks lecture doesn't necessarily prepare you for this weeks lecture. If you're feeling particularly unnerved about a certain aspect of the school year - a certain module or the prospect of having to make presentations etc. - do you're research in advance. A little reading won't kill you, I promise. This may sound a little stressful but it really isn't, if you prepare yourself well enough you can do anything! And you can do it well. Preparation will avoid any embarrassment and if that's not enough of a reason, you'll find that seminar tutors will leave you be if you know your shit, the only reason they ask you questions is to make sure you've got the material down.


University will only be hard if you don't bother to put in at least minimum effort (required reading).

The only way you will get overwhelmed (As per my experience.) is if you're letting work pile up. A chapter a week won't kill you so just get it over and done with, one hour won't ruin your social schedule either. To be perfectly honest, for my past year at university all I did was seminars as required reading, I didn't even go to lectures and I got 2:1's across the board. I'm not recommending you do that, you should get your moneys worth and go to as many lectures as you can, but i'm just pointing out that you'll be surprised what the bare minimum can help you to achieve.

To go with this, I just want to point out something that you don't really think about when you're at uni...

Lectures and seminars are costing you money.

Don't waste what you're paying for by not doing the work. £9000 could go a long way if you're not going to be bothered to do the work! (Which isn't even that consuming anyways!)


What works for one person, may not work for you...

I wrote about this in a post I made a couple of weeks ago titled How to get the most out of your University/ College experience. and i'm just going to touch on it a little more specifically here. As I said above, I rarely attend lectures and that works for me, because I do a lot of reading instead. Find your comfortable study regime and stick to it.

Most important. Don't expect to get firsts all of the time, every time.

It's not the end of the world if you don't get a first. Obviously if you're failing you've gotta change something, but generally you shouldn't set your sights for the 100%. Be realistic, are you getting 60's in you're essays? You're a comfortable 2:1. Don't make yourself panicked upset and stressed by comparing yourself to the highest possible grade. Not only will you feel like shit, you'll also get less motivated to work which will bring your quality down further.

This one got a little serious! Oh well!

I hope this helps! Good luck with university!
Seize the Beautiful xo