5 Lessons You Will Learn at University

First, THANK YOU so much for the lovely comments some of you have sent and left me from this blog post. They mean a lot and they really made me smile. It's so lovely to hear that I did manage to put such a complicated situation into some sort of sense.

Also, my exams are coming up within the next few weeks (eeek!) so this will be my last post until June 15th which is a WHOLE month away! I might be able to get one up a week earlier on the 8th, but don't count on it. My last exam is that week and I think I'm going to need to take a well-needed break afterwards, but as I have mentioned you can keep up to date with my posts on Twitter or Instagram.

I have also (finally) created a decent banner for my blog (scroll up!). I'd love to hear any feedback on it and I'm always open to any feedback regarding posts and blog design, so feel free to just drop some suggestions by, but please don't be too harsh! 😂


Anyways, moving on. Today's post is another simple one about a small handful of the lessons I have learned during my first year. There are so many more than just 5, but here are the ones which most students will probably come across:

1. Resilience and independence are important, BUT not too much!
   
   If you're having déjà vu, don't worry - you're not going mad! This was the focus of my very first blog post, so I won't go into too much detail here.
   
   We all know that too much of anything is never a good thing. Sometimes 'grin and bear it' works; other times it doesn't (hint: usually it doesn't). Sometimes we can independently work around tough situations. Of course, other times we struggle, and when that is the case it's important to remember that seeking help is nothing to be ashamed of. Needing some extra guidance doesn't mean that you are any less independent or resilient. As a matter of fact, sometimes to be resilient means to acknowledge when you need to ask for help.
   
   Besides, who doesn't need a bit of extra support now and then?



2. Sometimes you realise that your friends aren't your friends...
   
   Yep - one of those sad realities. Really, I should rephrase that because this doesn't just apply to friends.
   
   I found it quite surprising - to say the least - how differently people treat you after having been gone for a few months. Initially, it can come as quite a shock, having people who you thought were supportive of you (and who you probably really respected) just turn around as if you don't even exist anymore. Of course, it's upsetting at first. If I'm honest, depending on the person, you may get over it pretty quickly. On the other hand, it may linger and the back of your mind for a while.
   
   Nevertheless, you'll get over it eventually, and there's even a positive to this situation. Your friendships/ relationships with the ones who really care about you will only get stronger. You will learn that you can trust and rely on each other, even miles apart!
   
   There's also the fact that people change. It's kind of like that transformation that you witness in your primary school peers when they reach about year 9/ year 10, but less extreme. You will see changes in the personalities, manners, and values of some of your friends and even yourself. Those changes may not click well together, and you may just happen to gradually fall out of contact, but again, it happens. Regardless, hopefully you will still respect and support another in this case.



3. Secure everything!
   
   This is essentially another way of saying: nothing is safe in student accommodation. Not even your own room in some cases, and here are the key reasons why:
   
   Firstly, students will steal things. Some of them like to call it 'borrowing' but chances are, they will never return the 'borrowed' item. I kid you not when I say that I had to eat pasta with chopsticks last term because it was the only thing I had left. You will end up having to hide cutlery in your room.
   
   Secondly, I beg you to always lock your room even if you're just heading out to the kitchen to cook dinner. Students play pranks on each other. You may come back and find that someone has stuck an asparagus onto your ceiling. Just for reference - it's a true story. I didn't experience it personally, but this went on for about a month in my accommodation block. Then you get the horror stories of hearing  a student walking into their room and finding a drunk student collapsed onto their floor or bed. You don't want that.



4. Your professors genuinely want to help you (most of the time!)
   
   I have put most of the time in brackets because some students may disagree with me. There's always an exception, but you will quickly learn when and who those exceptions lie with.
   
   Personally, I've not yet had an issue. Lecturers and personal tutors will often tell you that no question is too daft to ask. The chances are, if they say so; they really mean it.
   
   I've asked some pretty daft questions which I am embarrassed to even have asked after receiving the answer. In fact, the first email I sent was to one of my lecturers asking whether it would be fine to cite and reference scientific articles and well as journals. Clearly, I hadn't yet worked out the fact that journals are a collection of articles. As much as it made me (and still makes me want to every time I think about it!) crawl into a corner and just hide, the lecturer was so understanding. Besides telling me the obvious, she sent me a whole paragraph explaining the process of how researchers get their research articles published.
   
   Point is, no matter how stupid you think a question is, your lecturers will understand that you are simply learning. Your questions shouldn't be received in a negative manner, and if they are then that's probably something that needs to be brought to attention, but hopefully that shouldn't be the case. Academics  are generally quite friendly, and they really enjoy sharing their knowledge. You're at uni to learn and in order to learn you have to be ignorant!



5. There are times when you have to be the 'mean' one.

   

   Pexels | Christina Morillo

   
   
   I have 2 words: group + projects. If there's one thing that all students LOVE, it's a group project. We simply can't get enough of them.
   
   Okay, but in all seriousness - they are an absolute pain. If you thought that groups projects at school were bad, wait until you do one at uni. If you think that it will be fun doing one with a group of friends, I'm warning you now that you are going to change your mind on that.
   
   Unless you are really lucky, there's always going to be someone who doesn't do their part, or your peers will do tasks at the last minute. Don't even get me started on lack of communication and the frustration of peers ignoring your messages when you're trying to get things done.
   
   If no one puts things in order, then things will go very wrong. Sometimes that person has to be you. I don't mean be bossy, but just lead them. Set the deadlines, split the work up, and reword your messages so that they have no choice but to reply to you. I actually have a planned post on tips to deal with these kinds of situations coming up.
   
   I put mean in quotations marks because is it really being mean? That's how it makes you feel sometimes, and your peers probably aren't going to like it as much as you hate to have to do it, but it has to be done. Assignments are stressful and if there's any way that stress can be limited, go for it. Remember that this affects your performance as well, so don't let others discredit that.

Again, there are endless of other lessons you learn from university to whether  academic, social, general life lessons, or personal development. Some of them may come as unexpected, but they will all teach you something valuable one way or another.

I hope exams are going well for those of you who have started, and best of luck if you have any coming up! The end is in sight! So close, yet so far - you're nearly there!

If you have already completed them (yay! 🎉) I hope they went well and that you're now giving yourself a well-earned break!

See you guyys soon!

For the meantime feel free to leave some blog post recommendations and suggestions by sending me a message or leaving them in the comments below if you have any!