So you’re about to depart the comfy confines of your
mother’s house (with the never empty
fridge and the Laundry Fairy that cleans your clothes for you) to fend for
yourself in the strange world of university life. Here are my words of wisdom
for those of you embarking on this historic journey:
1. Be
Social. Do you want to have no friends? Do you want to spend all your
free time sitting in your room by yourself staring at a wall? I’m hoping the
answer is no – so get out and meet people. Sure, you’re bound to meet some
people you never want to hang out with again (always make sure you have a
tenner and number for a local registered cab firm in case you want to make an
early exit). But you’re also bound to meet some friends for life – shout out to
my uni homegirls!
2. Get used to answering the following questions:
name, home town, course, halls. The proactive among you may want to get this
printed on a business card to avoid having to repeat it a hundred times a day.
3. Find other people who love Jesus. When university
life tests your faith and your boundaries it’s good to have other people facing
the same pressures alongside you. Your Christian Union will most likely have a
few events during freshers week – so go to them. University is often a make or
break point for many. Find your CU here.
4. Find a
church. So important I should have put it first. The first few weeks of term churches
quite often put on a student lunch – meet with other Christians and free food - ForTheWin!
5. Get to know the people you live with.
6. Work out a budget and stick to it. No-one wants
to eat nothing but beans and toast for the last few weeks of term because you
bought a new pair of boots or a couple of computer games when your loan came
it. Check out this article
for some budgeting advice.
7. Be generous – share without expecting anything
in return.
8. Join a few random clubs and societies. They
often have free trials the first week. Pick a couple of things you’re
interested in and something random that you’ve always wanted to try but never
have. Join the first week is often free so take the opportunity to try out
something different.
9. Decorate your room. At least stick a couple of
posters up. Makes it much more homely and less clinical.
10. Eat properly. Laziness is not an excuse for
eating pasta and pizza everyday. Add a few vegetables to your meals. Eat some
fruit. You’ll feel physically better for it. Buy a student cook-book or check here for some easy recipes. Can't decide what to cook? Check this website for help deciding.
11.
Contact your parents every once in a while –
they want to know if you’re still alive.
12. Study. Believe it or not you are primarily there
to study. Don’t fall for the lie that university is all about staying up late,
drinking too much, getting up late and missing lectures. You are there to
study. Make it a priority.
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