University Dos and Don'ts

As it's coming up to the time where everyone is going back to university. There are a few dos and don'ts which you may need to know. This is just my own opinion as I'm coming up to my final year of university and here's a few things which I have learnt along the way. I'm sure there are many so let's just get on with it.

.Dos:

• Be yourself. If you stay true to who you are and you'll make more friends in long run and you don't have to pretend. Plus everyone likes different persoanlities and they'll soon warm up to yours.
• Be adaptable. Adapt to different personalities and try new things. Be an open book to everything and anyone. You're more likely to make more friends if you adapt but don't change yourself completely.
• Go out and meet new people. If you walk around your halls, someone will have their door open and you can go in for a chat. Hang out with people. Show that you can be a socialable person sometimes.
• Make a plan to do some work. Start researching your assignments early because your deadlines will come fast. Just get a rough idea of how much you need to do and start planning. Try to aim to get your work done a week before it's due.
• Make friends in your halls/house. Get to know someone better. If you like like someone. Try to get close with them but try not to sleep with them in the first few months. If you develop as a couple then when the time is right sleep with them (if you must). 
• Put most of your loan in a savings account and budget. If you save your loan then you can budget how much you should spend. Perhaps divide your loan per month and have a budget for each month which you must follow. You're allowed to buy the odd treat but don't go blowing it all. It may be a lot of money but it's better to save it. You'll thank yourself in the long run when you're not struggling to buy groceries or pay the rent. Also try not to go into your overdreaft because that will not be fun.
• Embrace the homesickness. Accept that you miss home but it can be solved with a phone call to home or looking at old photos. Even just go find some company in a friend at uni because they'll understand and perhaps they may feel homesick too. 
• Go home during the holidays/reading week. Do eventually go home because then you can catch up with your family and friends and tell them all about university. Plus it's kind of nice to go home after stressing about all your assignments. You also give yourself time in the first term to adjust at university and learn how to be independent. If you are struggling to cope in the first term then your parents are only a phone call away. 
• Get a good nights sleep of at least six hours. Get into a routine. You'll thank yourself in a long run. There's no point in being tired all the time. Get the sleep you need.
• Make use of the library. Go search for books relevent to the topic you're researching. You'll find a lot more relevent info in books. The only down side is to actually finding the relevent information to apply to your assignments but honestly it will be so much. These references will show lecturers that you've actually gone out and researched in actual books. They will probably give you a better mark for it rather than the use of the sources from the internet.
• Ask for help. I can't stress this enough but do ask for help if you need help with the work. Your lecturers are there to help you as well as to teach you. If you ask them for help then they will help you and point you in the right direction. They don't want you to struggle or bring yourself down about. If you don't ask them for help then they'll think you're doing fine but if you ask them for some help then they'll give it to you. It's not a sign of weakness if you ask for help. It's a sign that you are strong enough to come to turns with that you have a problem with your work and you need some help for it.
• Make the most of university. It's only three years and it'll go by so fast. Make the most of those three years. Develop your skills as well as yourself. You will grow as a person while at university. It's your learning curve to adulthood. You'll learn how to be independent, manage money, pay bills, cook, clean and many other things which the world of adulthood will have to offer. Don't waste the three years by going out and partying all the time. Put some focus into your work to get the degree and just have fun.

Don'ts:

• Be someone your not. It's not worth it and everyone will soon find out who you are and they might end up dissapointed in you.
• Be narrow minded. As much as there are some things that may wind us up or we may not even like. Don't judge a book by it's cover. If you're going to be fussy about different things then people may want to avoid you which you don't want to happen. Maybe share your views on what you disagree on but don't judge other people for it. Just be open to things.
• Lock yourself in your room. As much as it's tempting to just hide away in your room and watch Netflix. It's not the best thing for your university experience. There will be plenty of times  where you can hide away in your room but do go out often and see people. You're not going to make friends from your bedroom. Especially in Fresher's Week do get yourself out there. Make friends with people in your halls, hang out with them and go out to the bar with them. Just get yourself some friends by leaving your room. 
• Leave work to the last minute. It is not worth it. Trust me. You'll be more stressed and even if you do pass that assignment you probably could have got a better grade if you just did it earlier.
• Sleep with someone from your halls/house. Personally I've never done this but I've heard of how awkward it is. Afterwards, you'll still have to live with that person for the rest of the year and you may have formed friendships within the hall and when you all come together it'll just be awkward so try to avoid sleeping with someone from your halls/house.
• Spend all your loan in Freshers/the first month. You'll need that money for the rest of the term/year and you don't want to blow all in one go. You need money to live, buy groceries, pay rent/bills. Don't blow it all.
• Feel bad if you get homesick. Everybody gets homesick eventually. Don't feel like your a loser if you miss home. It's only natural to miss home.
• Don't go home every weekend/in the first month. I know loads of people who have done this and honestly it's silly. I know you may miss home or go home for your parent's home cook food but honestly you are missing out your university experience and you're not really learning how to be independent if you're constantly going home every week. 
• Pull all nighters all the time. Every student will pull an all nighter at some stage but don't do it on a regular basis. It's not healthy and you'll probably end up sleeping for the rest of the day and wasting time. 
• Always rely on the internet for sources/references. As much as it's so easy these days to find references online. These can be unreliable sometimes or biased. Plus your lecturers would rather you use a variety of sources than ones from online. You'll get more marks if you've used a variety of sources.
• Bring yourself down and struggle with work. There may a time when you struggle with the work and bring yourself down. It can be awful because sometimes you'll struggle to find the light in the situation or  solution to it. Try not to get to that point and ask for help if you need it.
• Get too drunk in Freshers. Pace yourself during Freshers Week. I know it's a week to get drunk every night but try to pace yourself especially on the first few days. You want to make a good impression on your new flat mates as well as some of your new friends. They don't want to have a night where they have to look after your drunken yourself and they'll probably think you can't handle your drink so they might not invite you to go on a night out with them. Just pace yourself. If you are getting to a stage where you're drunk. Drink some water. Try to sober up a bit. You're in a new place and you'll probably want to be able to find your room at the end of the night so just be careful during Fresher's Week.

Anyway, I hope this list was helpful to any of you going to university soon. If you follow some of the things on the list then you'll definetely have a good university experience. Let me know down below in the comments if you have any university dos and don'ts which I have not mentioned which will be beneficial to anyone else reading this.

Just remember that university is only three years so just make the most of it all and have fun.

I'll be back again tomorrow with another university related post.

See you then.

Megan x