If you’re going to university this autumn, you need to prepare for a whole new life! Living as a student is different to going to school or college for your A-Levels, travelling, working or almost anything you can do with the intervening time. You have a unique balance of responsibilities and freedom, that means stories about students suffering from anxiety and depression due to the weight of the expectation and the pressure of deadlines can be true at the same time as stories about students only getting out of bed after noon and watching Countdown as the crowning achievement of the day.
Today we’re presenting a beginner’s guide to university life to ensure that you hit the ground running from the first day, whether you’re unpacking in the dreaming spires of Oxford or the best student accommodation Sheffield has to offer.
Making Friends
Degree aside, the most important thing that will likely come out of your time at university is a group of friends bound together by the formative experiences and shared memories of embarrassment that only studenthood can provide.
Some start making those friends on their first day, as they move into their student accommodation: keeping the door open as you unpack and being proactive in greeting new arrivals is a good way to start forging those links. If you’re gripped by the people you’re living with – and it’s fair not be entranced by people you’ve been put in proximity with as an accident of the rooms you’ve chosen – then the student union clubs and societies will supply a huge pool of people with at least one shared passion that you build a friendship on.
Independence
Leaving home to study at university gives you a big boost in independence, and while it’s a wonderful time in your life, all this independence can be something of a double edged sword. You’re free to spend your time how you like, but you’re also confronted with the reality that if there’s something you need to happen, whether it’s washing up or writing an essay then if you don’t do it, it will not get done!
Part of the university experience is learning how to harness your newfound independence to a working set of priorities: balancing cleaning with studying with enjoying the spontaneity of the student experience. If you’re sharing a home with people, it does make sense to discuss how to split up cleaning duties, so be brave and do this early: making a habit of facing difficult conversations is a skill you can learn at university that will serve you well in later life!
