Quick Guide To: Surviving Uni!

Hello, lovelies!

I hope that you’re all well! So, it’s that time of year again where a lot of us have to (unwillingly!) wave goodbye to summer and either start back in our next year at uni, or start uni all together! I know that going to your first day of uni can be an intimidating and nerve-racking experience, so myself and the lovely Katie from Katie's World of Beauty have decided to put a little two-part guide together to give you guys some tips on how to survive those first few weeks of uni!

In this post, I’m going to be sharing my tips on how to stay organised and keep on top of course work, as well as how to cope with living away from home! In Katie’s post, she’ll be helping you guys out with some tips on how to meet people, make new friends and get involved in new social groups! Be sure to check out her post here!

So first things first – stay organised! Before you even get to your first day of uni, it’s a great idea to find yourself a good diary or planner and write down your timetable (if you have it! If not, you can just jot it down once you get it), any important events or meetings that you have and, last but not least, any Fresher’s events that you want to go to! That way, once you get to uni, you’ll know exactly where you need to be and what you need to do – simple! As well as keeping your timetable written down in your diary, make sure that you record any other important dates in there too, such as coursework deadlines or exam dates – can’t forget about those!

As well as your diary, what else should you take along to your first days of uni? Make sure that you pack your bag with any other essentials that you might need, such as any important paperwork that you might need for your registration/induction days – remember to keep them somewhere safe, such as in a plastic folder! It’s also a good idea to make sure that you take along any materials that you might need for your lectures, such as pens, notepads and any textbooks that you might have been asked to bring. Some people also like to take their laptop or iPad to uni as it makes it easier to take notes quickly!

Next up: Plan, plan, plan! Planning is key to avoiding unnecessary stress in your first weeks of uni. In your first few weeks, a lot of new information, dates and deadlines can be thrown at you, so, to avoid any last-minute coursework stresses, be sure to plan out your workload well in advance! Don’t leave studying and coursework until the last minute – once you’ve been given your exam dates and coursework deadlines, work out how long you have until they’re due and plan how you want to space out your workload. Of course you don’t have to spend hours every single night working on your coursework, but doing it little and often means that you won’t end up getting stressed out and trying to finish it at the last minute! As well as planning in advance, make sure to borrow any library books that you might need for your coursework nice and early – leave it too late and all of the good ones will be gone! As well as using books for my coursework, I also found it useful to voice record my lectures – most of the time, your lecturers will describe a given topic in a whole lot more detail than the PowerPoint/presentation from the lecture will, giving you a lot of extra, useful facts!

So, what if you’re staying away from home? A lot of people worry about moving away from home to stay at uni, not just because it’s their first time staying away from home and living with, well, strangers, but they also worry about how to balance their new-found social life with their coursework. First things first – one of the easiest ways to feel more comfortable and at home in your new room is to get settled in and add all of your own personal touches. Add some pretty bed sheets and blankets, or maybe fill your shelves with your favourite photos or with some of the décor from your bedroom at home. Secondly, make sure to spend a lot of time socialising with your new flat mates in those first few weeks. Getting to know the people that you’re living with and becoming friends with them is a great way to settle in to your new surroundings!

So how can you balance nights out with your new friends with keeping up with your uni work? Well, for starters, don’t become nocturnal! And by that I mean try not to stay out until six in the morning and sleep in until four in the afternoon – by the time that you get up, you’ll have wasted half of your day and you’ll be far too tired to get any work done! Of course it’s a great idea to go on nights out and meet new people, but just make sure that you’re doing it in moderation –if you have a deadline at ten the next morning, it’s probably not a good idea to spend the night partying!

So, last but not least. Those who have lived in halls will know that it can sometimes be a fairly noisy environment – especially in the first few months! With your new found freedom comes the ability to invite lots of people over and throw parties whenever you want to, which is a great and fun way to meet new people in your first few weeks at uni, but it can become a bit of a nightmare when the flat upstairs is blaring out music while you try to write an essay! Not to worry – if trying to get coursework done whilst you’re staying in halls ever becomes too difficult or stressful, just head to the library! The library is a great place to get some peace and quiet to study or get some work done, and, just to sweeten the deal, most university libraries (in the U.K at least) are open 24 hours a day, so you can head over there any time that you like! 

There you have it, guys! I really hope that this post has been helpful to some of you. I know from my own experience that starting uni can be an exciting and scary time, so I thought that a nice little guide like this might give some of you guys a few helpful tips and might help to put your minds at rest! If you have any more questions or need any more advice on anything mentioned here, don’t hesitate to ask! I’m more than happy to answer your questions and share my experiences.

See you all next time!

Much love,