Surviving University - Introduction

I sat my last exam on Friday, finishing my first year at university. It's been an incredible year, filled with ups and downs, opportunities, friends, and work. This summer I'll be volunteering, going on holiday with friends, and looking for a job - plenty to keep me busy!

I've learnt so much this year. With the help of my family, friends, and the people around me, I've got through the challenges of leaving home and living independently, and I'd like to share some of the advice I was given and the things I've discovered. Schools give plenty of advice about student finance and predicted grades, but not much else - and those little things like how to use a washing machine or what to pack matter too! 

Over the next few days, or weeks, I'm going to write a series of blog posts dealing with some of those little things. Possible topics might include:

• Budgeting
• What to pack
• Choosing accommodation
• Socialising, clubbing, and living in residences - things to do and things to avoid!
• Easy meals, shopping for food and cooking advice
• Grades and Clearing
• How university works: credits, choosing modules, Erasmus, and other baffling terms

I hope that this will be helpful to someone, especially those of my friends who are sitting A-Levels at the moment and preparing to go to university in September. At the end of the day, if you have done the best you can, you don't need to worry about any of these things; just enjoy your summer, and try not to worry too much about it - or do what I did, which involved thinking of endless alternative plans for the situation in which I failed to get into university... 

If you have any suggestions, questions, or good/bad advice which you would like to share, please leave a comment or tweet me @corybantically ! For instance, if you went through clearing and could offer a blog post on the process and experience, that would be great - I'd love to have some guest-written blogs!

Until next time (which might not be too long!),

J.R. xxx