The Best Advice To Make The Most Of Your Uni Experience
The years you spend at university are some of the most formative years of your life. The people you’ll meet, things you’ll learn, mistakes you learn from and moments of happiness you’ll never forget, it can all seem like a whirlwind. Here’s the best advice we can give you to make the best out of your uni experience.
It’s your experience and yours only
It can be easy to feel pressured by the expectations of your parents or seeing what kind of uni experience that your friends and the people around you are creating for themselves, especially considering you’re in uncharted territory that can feel entirely different to your previous years at secondary school, sixth form or college. It’s important to focus on what you want out of uni. The keyword here is you. Don’t waste time on doing things that you aren’t comfortable with or don’t even like for the sake of fulfilling someone else’s expectations.
The social aspect
If a goal of yours is to have an exciting and busy social life then go for it, if you prefer a smaller tight-knit group of friends then go for it. A big part of uni life that’s glamourised is the social aspect of it. This is true of any uni experience, but don’t think that the only way to meet people or hang out is through going out, partying or clubbing (although if that’s for you then embrace it). Grabbing dinner, going for a coffee, watching movies or taking part in a society are also great ways to socialise.
it’s also important to remember that not everyone you will end up meeting in uni will be your friends for life, especially those you meet during freshers week. Whilst you are in an environment with so many new people and it’s certainly an important thing to socialise, you can afford to be choosy with the people who will become your friends. Don’t immediately place high expectations upon people you’ve just met, get to know them first and if you vibe well then see how the friendship goes.
Create revision material throughout the year
Many of us (if not all) have come across the feeling of revision dread when exam season rolls around. To make life easier for you, create your revision material and notes throughout the year as you have your lectures and seminars. This way, by the time exam season kicks in you already have most of the revision material you’ll need under your belt and topics won’t be as hard as to remember compared to just starting revision before exams. It’s all about prep.
Budgeting
With the maintenance loans kicking in at the start of every term and the freedom of uni allowing you to do as you please, it becomes very tempting (and easy) to blow that money all away. Of course, a big aspect of uni is having fun and going out so it’s fair for this to take some priority on how you spend your money. But making some sort of plan of your budget is vital in order for it to see you through until the end of the term.
A good tip is to put some amount away into savings as soon as you receive your loan as an emergency stash. Another money saving tip is to cook your own meals and to do this more often, it’s known that eating out or ordering in can add up to be a big expense. Having an idea of where your money goes is important too as you can see which expenses are bigger than they need to be and cut them accordingly.
