My Tips for Up and Coming Students

Don't get into the habit of eating in your bed.

Just take the bin out.

So, perhaps you are about to embark on that university journey this September, which is very exciting and congratulations, so I thought as I am just about to start third year that I could offer some advice for you to help you out a little and learn from the mistakes I have made throughout being a student.

I didn't want to write one of those 'generic' uni posts where you basically read the same thing over and over, like "don't bring a kettle or toaster, wait till you get there... BLAH BLAH BLAH (but that is good advice, you could end up with 7 toasters, three kettles and believe it or not, 5 toasties makers). So, here's what I know from my personal experience at uni..

Enjoy...

PICK YOUR BATTLES
I think one of the biggest skills you can master while being away at university is learning to pick your battles and bite your tongue. When living in a large group of people who haven't lived away from home before, issues can arise which can be hard to tackle. The last thing you want is to be living in an environment where you feel too awkward to go into your kitchen and cook or go a chill in your living area. Getting on with the people you live with can make your experience 10x better. Which is why I say learn to bite your tongue. Some things just don't need to be argued about, sometimes it's a lot easier to just take the bin out on your way out (believe it or not can be a huge argument catalyst), in the scheme of things it's nothing and I think I'd rather just clean up every once in a while to keep the peace. But, at the same time, choose your battles. Where a bin argument may seem pointless and ridiculous, you shouldn't let people push you about, if things get bad then do stick up for yourself. If you're lying in bed trying to sleep as you have an early morning and one of your flatmates is playing loud music then tell them to turn it down (Nicely at first). I think it's important to just find the balance of not being petty but not being a pushover. 

TRY TO AVOID BAD HABITS
This is one that I wish someone told me before I started. DON'T GET INTO THE HABIT OF EATING IN YOUR BED. This one is so bad and if you can don't do it. I eat in my bed all the time and find myself spilling, crumbing everywhere, which is really annoying when you have to pay every time you want to use the washing machine and have to sleep in that bed each night. It's a really lazy habit and as much as I don't have any evidence to prove this, I am pretty sure it's not good for you. Your bed is for sleeping and I understand at uni, you spend a lot more time in your room than you do at home but eating in bed is just not a good thing to get used to doing. Also, eat with your flat mates when you get the chance, a lot of the time you are all on different schedules and will be eating at different times, hence why I eat in my bed, but it's good to sit at the table sometimes.
When it comes to bad habits, they are so easy to develop but so hard to give up. One of my flatmates and I have a really bad habit of going to the shop late at night and buying 'snacks' which is normally a whole sharing bag of crisps (each), chocolate and sometimes even more. Not only is this bad, and probably the way most students get 'freshers fat', it really is a killer on your bank account. What I would suggest is just buy snacks in bulk on your weekly shop and if you're really snacky in the night, then at least you won't be eating a whole sharing bag and also you will be saving your pennies for that drink on a night out.

JOIN IN
Get involved. My first year, I had a lovely group of friends who I lived with. We did everything together and life was great. But as we got to know each other and lived with each other cracks began to form and true colours shone (sounds very dramatic but true). Which meant I ended up with less friends than what I would want. I was missing out on so much so finally in my second year I decided to take the plunge and join a team. The only thing I regret is that I didn't do it earlier. This is a great way of meeting people and getting involved with fun events and things that could potentially help you in your future. Joining a team opened so many doors for me and allowed me to join a committee, which is a GREAT thing for your CV. Even if you don't like sports, you can join a team socially or find a society that peaks your interest.  I think when you start university, say yes to everything. I can promise you won't regret it!!

YOU ARE PRIMARILY THERE TO LEARN
Just go to the library to work. You may try to fight it but you will reach a point whether it's at the beginning or even in your third year, but really just go. It's a bit of a ball ache but the quality of your work will improve and it takes a lot less time. Just do it and don't fight it, you will end up there anyway.

BUT REMEMBER TO ENJOY
You will never be in this situation again. Student life is unique and probably something you will never get to experience again. This is your time to enjoy, make memories and have something amazing to look back on. Get involved, wear fancy dress, go out, make friends. Do it all, it's the best way, anyway, blowing off some stream is one of the best ways to prevent your stress, but remember, procrastination is a bitch, so beware of that.

NO NO NO NO, YOU DON'T NEED THAT BRIDESMAID DRESS YOU WORE THREE YEARS AGO.
Don't bring everything if you can. If you're like me, you will have a lot of clothes and you really don't need or have the space for it. I know what you're thinking, "I might need it" but you won't and if you do, it's not like you're studying on the moon, they're are shops around...
One thing I noticed when I started at university is that I became a whole lot more confident when it came to fashion and my own style and ended up throwing most my clothes out and buying new ones.  At uni people don't care what you wear, all those pathetic girls you leave at home and you won't be judged (within reason, if you rock up in a mankini then, well...)
I feel like because I was away from the 'stupid' teachers at school who had nothing better to do then judge and push a ridiculous dress code on me (full on shade thrown), I was free to express my own style FINALLY. Your student loan with fly in and you will most likely end up with at least a few new items in your wardrobe.
What I am trying to say is, your room will be small, storage will be limited so don't go crazy when it comes to packing, if you don't use it/wear it/ need it at home, you will not need it at uni.

KEEP IT TIDY
Don't hoard. All that crap you collect at fresher fairs, go through it and throw the stuff you're not going to use away. Honestly, you will end up with your tiny uni room filled with random stress balls, leaflets and loyalty cards to places you've never heard of before. To completely contradict myself, save every piece of fancy dress, I guarantee you will use it again, if not the same costume in another one.

KEEP IT CLEAN
Living in mess and dirt is not nice and can potentially make you ill. In my first year we had a leak in our ceiling which lead to mold and we all ended up with nasty little colds, now maybe that was a coincidence but still. The mold wasn't our fault but what I am saying is, if you don't keep it clean, it builds up into an uncontrollable mess until one day you have to have a huge group clean which takes more than an hour when you could have just avoided it by sparing an extra 5 minutes to clean up your mess. I know a flat last year that ended up with maggots which led to a blue bottle infestation in their flat. REALLY DISGUSTING. What I am trying to say is, just clean up and it won't build up. EASY PEASY , or so you would think.

Finally,
USE YOUR FREEBIES
During freshers you are given so many freebies. USE THEM. Gregg's, Nandos, Dominos vouchers, all kinds of things. Take full advantage, don't 'save them for later', they do expire and I guarantee you will forget about them. You're Welcome.


You learn a lot by doing and from your own mistakes, but what I would say is, there are a lot of people who are willing to help and a lot more blog posts about from other bloggers who are probably not as much as a train wreck as me...

And if you're going to uni and are looking for more posts for students, I have a few more which you can check out right here....
https://sop4ie.blogspot.com/search/label/Uni
I may have been a little bit more naive back then though...

Thanks for reading.