5 THINGS I WISH SOMEBODY HAD TOLD ME ABOUT UNIVERSITY

Sitting at the back on those lazy Thursday mornings, I knew with a smug sense of satisfaction, that nobody would interrupt me whilst I stared at an inanimate object, listening to nothing but a shuffle mix coming from an inconspicuous lone headphone. Do I wish I did things differently, yes!

So what do I know now as a graduate that I wish I knew as an undergraduate?

INSIST ON FEEDBACK

Let’s face facts; we are all glad when our work doesn’t get pulled apart by some tutors. There is however a balance, too often I let my thousands of pounds worth of tuition fees amount to nothing more than a scribble of a mark and a solitary comment. Looking back, I should have demanded more feedback and leveraged the feedback to improve my work.

ALTHOUGH PROCRASTINATION IS ENJOYABLE, IT SHOULD BE AVOIDED

Procrastination can be great, I often think the only thing that can come close to it in the workplace is watching someone else hard at work (when you aren’t). You do however, know you have a problem which needs addressing when you are idly scrolling on Twitter and reading posts like this, when you have to be across the campus with your half-finished essay in hand by 5pm.

CONTRIBUTE,CONTRIBUTE, CONTRIBUTE

Tutor’s all too often set an unrealistic amount of reading and preparation for classes, instead of rising to the task and completing it all, I usually made a half-baked attempt and then, when I realised my impending doom, decided to skip the class. What I should have done is contributed to the class after researching and reading what I had time to have done.

ONLY TAKE WHAT YOU NEED

If you are moving away from home to go to university, pack yourself. My mother ‘helped’ me and just used it to pack me away to university with all the things she didn’t want in the house. I mean, did I really need to pack all 450 of my DVD’s?

MAKE YOUR LIFE EASIER WHENEVER POSSIBLE

From learning some simple recipes, to discovering Google Scholar, there are plenty of things you can do to make your life easier. Remember that University is journey of self-discovery and everything isn’t going to go as you planned it.

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