Things I Loved About University

Yesterday, I talked about all the things I regret about university so let's spin the negative into a positive and talk about five things I loved about university.

Let's get started.

1. The independence

One of the best things about moving away from home and going to university is the independence. Finally, you can learn how to be an adult and do things on your own without your parents being there. It's a chance to learn how to cook, clean, shop and look after yourself. Finally, your life is in your hands. Of course you have lecturers telling you what to do but you have complete freedom to do what you like. It's also a chance on how to learn how to live on your own. Before I went to university, I didn't even know how to do laundry and the only thing I knew how to cook was noodles. Gradually, I learned how to do those things. Granted, the first time in the laundry room, I went with people and secretly got help on how to do it. I learned you just set the timer, throw in a pod thing and then hit start. Soon I was doing my laundry every week, cooking things other than noodles although you could never go wrong with some noodles and learn that you think you're messy then you learn other people can be messier than you. It makes you feel a little bit better and appreciate how your mum felt when she told you to tidy your room or wash your dishes. You know nothing until you want to wash your dishes but someone else has shoved their dirty dishes in the sink without cleaning them or even leaving them to soak. They're just sitting there. I soon made use of the sink in my room and just washed my dishes there because I couldn't handle doing it in the shared kitchen. Very gross. 

2. Freshers

Honestly, my first year of Fresher's was the best because I did everything all week. I remember on my first day of University, I met half the people in our hall and we all got together on the first night to go out to the student bar. It was honestly incredible and I'll never forget that feeling that for the first time, I had people to go on a night out with. It made me feel less alone and it was because of that I eventually met two of the girls I'd be sharing my student house with in the next year. It was great and I have so many fond memories of my first year Freshers Week. It was wild and honestly I do not regret any of it. 

3. Exploring a different part of the country

As I went to university in Warrington and Manchester it was honestly a great opportunity to explore a different part of the country. I was so used to living in Wales and down in Bristol that it was nice to explore a different part of the country. I went to so many new places such as Chester, Liverpool and Manchester. It was a great time of my life. I used to take myself on a day trip on the train and go somewhere new from time to time. I honestly loved where both my universities were and I'm so glad I chose them because they were so near to everything. One of my fondest memories was when I was feeling down and to cheer myself up I decided to go on a day trip to the Trafford Centre for the first time on my own. It was incredible because I even went to the cinema by myself and discovered how fun it was to go to the cinema on my own. I honestly loved living up north when I went to university. It was such a great place to be. 

4. The uni work

At the time, I used to complain about doing assignments and going to lectures but I kind of miss that structure of it because your life revolved around doing work while also learning how to be a functioning adult. Some of the lectures were interesting and I loved doing coursework especially for my advertising degree when I used to let my mind wander and be creative. I felt I picked up new skills and I didn't even know how to use Photoshop or Illustrator and now I know them very well. I even learned how to reference while at university which is something I never even learned in school. Plus the assignments gave me a purpose to work hard. The amount of times I used to spend working in the library. I had a whole routine set out and I picked a favourite spot in the library which I'd always go to early in the morning as soon as the library would open. I did enjoy those times very much. I know I'm a weirdo but I do love working on a project. 

5. The end result

Honestly, going to university is worth it for the end result which is achieving your degree. My two degrees sit proudly in their frames in my mum's house and I honestly can't help but gush at them. I know I was able to achieve those two degrees on my own and through my own hard work. Even my master's degree which I'd done during a pandemic through online courses and lectures. I don't even know how I managed it but I did it because I wanted to do well. Honestly, doing a degree isn't a waste of time because people forget how much work you actually have to do in order to achieve your degree. Even doing a dissertation which I did for both my degrees isn't just a piece of cake. I had help with my first dissertation but with my master's dissertation, I barely had any help because my supervisor was an email away and me being shy ignored the emails I received yet somehow I got a merit grade on my dissertation without any help.I remember I spoke to one supervisor to tell her what I was going to do for my dissertation and because it was split into two parts, I think halfway through my supervisors got switched and I'd never even emailed or spoken to that supervisor. I'm not saying that is the best strategy but because of the circumstances where everything was done online, through emails and team calls. I didn't really have much of an opportunity to interact with my supervisor. I decided to go at it solo and luckily for me it paid off but perhaps I could have gotten a distinction had I interacted with my superviors. Either way I can safely say I got two degrees to my name which is a wonderful feeling and makes me so glad I went to university twice. 

There we have it. Those are the things I loved about university. Let me know what you love about university in the comments below. I would love to hear your thoughts. 

Thank you for taking the time to read my blog and I'll be back tomorrow with another post for you.

See you then. 

Megan x

*This is not a sponsored post*

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