Hi everyone,

Starting a new chapter in your life, like university, can be tough but exciting at the same time and you may be searching the internet for some tips and experiences others have went through during this time. If you have found this blog post then I promise you this is 100% authentic, as many things you find online are over-exaggerated or completely untrue, I will give you my honest experiences of university in the perspective of a person who would rather read a book or hang out with friends than party all night.

Firstly I’ll tell you about my living situation, as I moved away from my home town down to Bournemouth to study. For my first year I moved into university accommodation, I thought it was going to be like in the movies, we all get along and go out together and be friends for life, very wrong. Me and my housemates talked on online messenger a few months before moving in and they were great but when we moved in they became completely different people, and I didn’t take a liking to them. They were loud and partied all the time with no rest and basically ignored my existence in the house because I wasn’t like them. Like I said earlier, I would rather stay in and watch a movie or just chill and talk, but they would rather party every night. I soon became very upset and considered moving back home and restarting my studies later, literally just because I didn’t get along with the people I lived with (really stupid, don’t be like me). A month in I was done and ready to leave, but then I met some people on my course who were absolutely amazing and shockingly a lot like me and by two months in I had my own friendship group and practically ignored the house situation I was in as I finally found people I am compatible with. So the point I’m trying to make to whoever is reading this is, It might seem hard at first and if you end up like me and hating your flatmates, don’t suffer in silence, make sure to find the person in charge of your accommodation and ask for a change of house or flat. Don’t do what I did and get upset over people who don’t matter, it’s not worth it as within time you will find your own group of people who will love and support you.

Secondly, I think it’s important to tell you about the main focus of attending university (for some), which is the lectures, seminars and assignments. The first day of my first subject I came home crying. My lecturer told us we were having a test in a few weeks and he went through all the assignments for the year and explained how it’s different from A-Levels. I full-on panicked. All of a sudden you will get a feeling in your first lecture or seminar of “Oh crap this is not A-Level anymore this is harder” and you will panic. But just don’t handle the panic the way I did, which is cry. Speak to someone who is in charge of your course or any of your teachers and explain your worries, even if it is your first day and this is your first lesson and you don’t know your lecturer yet, still try your best to speak up. Even to friends or family, explain your worries or do some research if you don’t want to speak to anyone. Ease your mind before the manic part of the year even starts, calm down you have a whole year to “get it”.

Also, attendance to lectures and seminars are very important, I know it sounds nerdy but try going to everything on your time table, and try to be on time. It’s kinda awkward coming in late to a lecture hall of 200+ people. Trust me, you think it’s one lecture or seminar, but when your lecturer does not upload your content on your virtual learning environment, then it’s over, unless you have a friend or someone to give you notes, but your own notes are always best. Try your hardest because you never know, you might miss something important!

I will also point out that it’s important to know your campus and what they offer you support wise, you never know what you may need. It being money or advice, or help with assignments, it’s always good to know as you may not be able to deal with everything yourself. I started studying my course but I didn’t know what placement for my third year to pick, so I did some research and found out we can book appointments with career advisors, which also help you with part-time jobs. Take advantage of everything because at the end of the day you’re paying your tuition right? So use up as much of it as you can!

Now I have been going on about academics a lot but don’t worry, there is fun to university too. For example, not everything on my campus is academic. We have a whole student union building open to us filled with non-academic activities to do in free time and also areas for personal help, there’s a gym, a bar, we often have some sort of events going on in-between lectures like art sales etc. I’m not saying it’s all about studying, I went out and had fun sometimes too but it all depends on what your focus is in that time in your life. For me, it was to have fun, do and learn about what I love and start a new life, but whatever you choose is completely up to you.

Just make sure you are happy where you are and with what you are doing, don’t force yourself to go to university if you don’t want to, don’t go because everyone else is going or don’t go because you have no other plans or because your parents are making you go. Trust me if you don’t want it and are honestly not trying to do something that will have a positive impact on your future, then don’t.

Love, Kasia x