Those of you who know me will know that this September I became a first year or "fresher" at the University of Winchester, studying Events Management. For me, as with many others, this was a bit of a shock to the system, from becoming "independent" to independent. I put the first independent in quotation marks because, when living at home with your parents, you think you're Miss Independent and can survive on your own. I have now learnt I was not and can not.
Suddenly, I found myself faced with the challenges of paying rent, managing budgets, food shopping, treks to laundry (I have never felt lucky for having a washing machine at my feet at home before now) whilst also battling assignments, subject reading, meeting new people and moving across the country.
As well as course content, naturally, I found myself learning a plethora of "life skills" and other tidbits of knowledge that I will never need anywhere else other than higher level education. I have comprised this down to a list of what I think the most important lessons I have learnt in my first semester of university.
1 - Freshers Flu is Very Real
You know when you're older sibling or friend from the year above tells you how ill you're going to get when you first turn up to university and you just laugh it off and say "not me"? Yeah, they were 100% correct. Being the incredibly lucky person I am, I developed a cold two weeks prior to university and, therefore, essentially turned up with freshers flu. Nine weeks, two rounds of antibiotics and a chest x-ray later and I am still coughing away.
2 - Pre-Drink Just Enough
Pre drinking. A concept adopted by university students all over the world as a way of making a night out just that cheaper. The idea is buying cheap booze from a supermarket and necking it before you go to save you money on buying drinks when out. However, KNOW YOUR LIMITS! A mistake I have made on many occasions, where I have downed way more than I know I can handle and have ended up either not making it out or being thrown out of the club for being drunken and disorderly (in my defence this has only happened twice in Winchester). The moral of the story is - drink enough to save money but not an amount that'll make your night end early.
3 - Give Yourself Some "Me Time"
Within a few weeks of moving to Winchester, I found myself flooded with assignments, extra reading and notes to type out and I found it somewhat overwhelming. There were moments when I thought "what the hell have I gotten myself into, I'm way over my head here" - there are still moments now that I convince myself I'm quitting. The importance and significance of "me time" becomes ever more prevalent here. So, go on, make a cuppa, put on a Kardashian's repeat and some fairy lights and relax.
4 - Your Flatmates Might Not Be Your Family - That's OK
Before starting university, you imagine your flatmates and how close you will all be and it's exciting. In reality, as I found, this may not be the case. My flat are lovely, don't get me wrong, but they are not the family I had hoped for. When it comes down to it, university is full of opportunities to meet new people and make your own family. It's OK not to have a "bond-for-life" flat family, as lovely as your flatmates may be, if you don't click, you don't click and there is nothing wrong with that.
5 - UK Universities Think They're American
Sometimes I feel a little bit like I'm an extra in Legally Blonde or Sydney White or So Undercover with the way things are Americanised here. Suddenly a term becomes a "semester", football becomes "soccer" and cheer-leading becomes the predominant sport for females instead of hockey or netball. I'm unsure whether this is just my university or all universities but it's a gimmick that I am yet to grow fond of.
6 - Hills Can Replace A Gym Membership
As it turns out, my halls are at the bottom of a very steep hill and, you guessed it, my lectures and classes are at the very top of said hill. Trekking up and down this hill 3/4 times a day has really begun to get me into shape, saving me some sweet money on a gym membership that I would probably would never have used anyway. Hooray for Winchester and it's hills!
7 - Those £3/4 Coffees Add Up
"Ooh I'll just pop into Costa." Words that should not be uttered from a students mouth because TRUST ME those £3/4 add up. I'm not going to sit here and do the maths but just say you have 2 coffees a week, 52 weeks in the year...you get the picture.
8 - BUDGET
I can not stress this enough, wrote down your budget, your weekly expenditure, factor in for emergencies (*cough* or that extra night out *cough*) and DO NOT GO OVER. This is advice that I desperately need to follow so I don't see myself sinking deeper into the hole. (Sorry Father, I'm really trying)
And there we have it, eight lessons I never expected to learn at university but did and the end of my very first blog post.
Mhairi x
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