Congratulations, you’re going to university!
This is a super exciting time for you, a brand new journey and I’m sure you want it to be the best yet. You might be spreading your wings and leaving home for university or maybe you’re a little home bird that isn’t ready to fly from the nest just yet. Either way, you’ll be learning super important life skills that will prepare you for so much in life There are some things you should remember during your first term of university to make the transition into semi-adult life a little easier.
Be Yourself
When starting university, you want everyone to accept you and like you! Nobody really wants to go to uni to be the odd one out that can’t make friends. But when entering university, people will do almost anything to ensure others like them, is it really worth it though? Is this not the worst approach to building connections with people?
If you’re lying to yourself and doing things just to impress others, you’re not going to be happy and it’s highly likely to affect your studying too. The best thing to do is to be true to yourself, it’s so easy for students to lose who they are when they go to university and this is the worst, it could make you feel somewhat incomplete and unhappy in the future.
The best person to be at university is yourself. Can you really go wrong with simply being yourself? You’re probably thinking ‘Eh, yeah right…being me would ruin my chances for everything!’, well that’s a rubbish attitude to have! If people don’t want to know you for you, then that sucks for them. You’ve got to look at things like that as they’re just not meant to be, this isn’t the right friendship group for you and you could potentially be unhappy in it. Whereas, if you remain yourself, you’ll make friends that are right for you and there’ll be no problem!
Think And Plan Ahead
You might think it’s a little early for this because you’re only starting university. But, the truth is that you can never really plan early enough for your future because it is happening right now and everything you’re doing in university will affect this. So, do take some time to create some goals and answer a few questions you have for yourself about career opportunities and grade expectations etc.
A super way of planning ahead is speaking to a careers adviser at your university, they offer brilliant information and can advise you on what steps you need to take to meet your goal. Don’t feel embarrassed about going, many students think because they’re only first year that they would be wasting the advisers time. This is definitely not the case! It’s their job, they specialise in advising people and if they think you’re getting too ahead of yourself, that’s total rubbish. It’s your future you need to plan it otherwise you could regret it!
Take Full Advantage Of The Students Union
Student Unions can be so underrated by university students! They’re practically a golden key that you’re handed, free of charge that can open so many doors for you that will soon lead you into wonderful things.
The Students Unions are there for you when nobody else is, there’s so much you can do here. You can sign up for a range of activities and attend a range of events. By using their services, you gain a lot. You could end up going to an event where a potential employer is waiting to hear about how wonderful you are and will hire you for many reasons, one being the motivation you had to attend the event.
You could go one step further, become a member of the student union team! This can mean organising events, getting your voice heard and making a change for your fellow students in the university. This is a brilliant thing to do as it will spice up your C.V as this work experience shows you’ve drive and a range of transferable skills.
Making Friends Can Be Difficult
A big part of the first university term for new students is spent trying to make new friends. It can be a pretty difficult task, especially for those with no current friends joining them at university. You feel so much pressure to do it ASAP and it can take the focus away from your studies which could result in the whole first term being a disaster!
My advice would be to relax and you’ll soon find friends. You should try and put yourself out there a little. Strike up a conversation with the girl sitting next to you in your lecture and you never know, something amazing could blossom from this. Joining the students union will also let you meet new people, the students union people are generally super friendly and wanting to befriend newcomers, so give it a go!
It could take time, I’m not going to lie to you. But good things come to those who wait. This is your journey, just yours. You’re at university to get a degree, if it takes a little long to get friends don’t worry, it’s not the end of the world. Just focus on what makes you happy and study hard and your time will come!
Enjoy It
It might seem like it’s going to last forever when you’re just starting out at university. Trust me, it’s over in the blink of an eye. You think everything is going great then exam season hits and things get a little hard, so you really have up to Christmas as a true newbie then the hard work kicks in! There are plenty of services available online that can provide students with academic and tutoring help to get a good grade, so you will always have the best opportunity to reach your full potential.
Come second and third year, the proper fun is over and you’ve to continue putting in the hard work until it’s all over. So yeah, enjoy it while you can. Before you know it you’ll be stressing and then thrown into the world of work where you can’t really wake up at midday and grab a shower, head to a one hour class, come back for a nap then head out for a party. Make the most of it, please!
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