The Good and Bad of being a student

The other day, a few friends and I were discussing just how weird being a student is. It is a lifestyle you will only experience once and it can get very weird. From the late night shopping trips to a group melt down, so I thought I would discuss this in a blog post. And since I have came to the end of my second year, I feel like I have enough to write about it.

So, I thought I would start with the bad and end of a high note. 

Food: You get to a point with food where you can't be bothered anymore, you feel like you have ran out of things to make and nothing will satisfy you. Food can be expensive, especially cheese and I do think that a lot of the time I am homesick for food. A nice home cooked meal, a meal where I don't have to worry about the oven not heating up enough and making me sick. 

I feel like when you're at home, eating is easier. When it comes to snacking at uni, most of the time I feel like I can't eat anything because it's saved for a meal for later on in the week. I feel restricted. But then again, I am a massive foodie and these things matter a lot more to me than other people.

Accommodation: After my first year, I decided to go into private halls instead of a house. Private halls are a little different to university owned halls, they let you live more independently. For example, there are no flat meetings with RA's or a cleaner that comes in every week and leaves you nasty notes for the mess. Anyway, luckily for me I have my own bathroom otherwise I would not be able to cope. I know that sounds so spoilt but once I explain myself you will understand me. My kitchen is disgusting, absolutely horrible. I went away for a week and when I came back someone had used my chopping board and left disgusting stuff on it, used my Tupperware and left the food for so long, it is now stuck to the plastic and used my scissors for god knows what. The mess that people can leave is awful. And please, don’t get me started on the bins.
Now, imagine that but with the bathroom too (I am so lucky I have my own bathroom) I couldn't even imagine. But yes, one of the bad things at university is that sometimes you can live with disgusting people and you have to choose whether to live in the mess too or clean up after them. I hate the latter but sometimes you just have to clean up otherwise you will end up getting sick from the mess. 

THE GOOD 

You can do whatever you want whenever you want. If I want a McFlurry at ten o clock at night, I can just go without a parent asking me where or telling me it’s too late. Plus, night outs are so much easier because I am so much closer to the city, I don’t have to worry about lifts or waking parents up on my way back in. You are suddenly in charge or everything, your money, time, everything and that is a pretty freeing feeling.

Another fab thing is student discounts. The amount of money you can get off clothes sometimes is amazing, plus most cities with universities have students lock ins at shopping centres where you can score some amazing deals.

You can go out during the week too. And when you do it is cheap as chips. Student nights are great because everyone is a student and I feel like you don’t get judged as much (if you get too drunk or wear something funny) than a normal night at a nightclub. 

Freebies. 

One of my more
'modest' costumes... 

I don't know if this is a student thing, but when we do food orders they always put in free samples, like corner yogurts and mini cans of coke. I am not sure if they do this because we live in student accommodation or if it's just because we got lucky. Although my Mum told me she has never received freebies.
But most student events involve free stuff, make sure when ever your uni is having an open day to pop in a stock up on pens, plus there is always free tea and coffee.

And finally, The thing I love most  about university is the amount of opportunities you get to wear fancy dress and it’s completely normal. If you show up to a night club on a Saturday night, people look at you funny if you’re wearing fancy dress, but if you rock up to a student night, it’s completely normal. And I love that, it makes nights out so much more fun when you’re all dressed like complete idiots.

But hey, at the end of the day you are working towards something amazing and that will get you far in life, so who's the real winner?

I can promise you there is so much more to say but for now I am going to leave it here. University is a huge decision to make and it’s scary but I will never regret going because not only are you getting a degree but you are having experiences and gaining skills that you will use in the rest of your life.

Thank you for reading!!