Being a first year student myself, I am all too familiar
with the ups and downs of relationship building, whether it is friendship
making or the more interesting… Love life. The first year in university is one
of the best years of a student’s life. Not only do we have to settle into a new
place, but also a new way of studying. It can be a lot to take on at once, and
before starting the first year, there is always the worry of making friends.
But there’s no need to worry. It’s inevitable that your
flatmates will be the first group of friends you make in university. After all
you do have to live with them for a whole year.
Then of course there are the friends you will make on your
course. I can almost guarantee there will be, at some point, a time where you
have to work in partners or groups to complete a task. If you are left to
choose your own groups, it can be a little scary approaching people. But remember,
everyone is in the same boat as you, apprehensive and nervous. Though, in my
opinion, it really isn’t something to worry too much about. Even lecturers take
into consideration the difficulty and worry of making friends. They are there
to help as well as teach.
Balancing out workload and friends/partners can be
difficult. You have to learn to prioritise, which, especially during your first
year, is very hard. The first couple of weeks of university are known as
Freshers weeks. And what happens during Freshers? You go out, party, meet new
people and enjoy every minute of it. Then suddenly you’re thrust into the work
life uni is for:- attending lengthy lectures, workshops and seminars. You might
be saying to yourself, ‘surely balancing all this out isn’t easy right?’
truthfully, it isn’t, unless you’re one of those people who don’t like to go
out a lot.
Then the little Devil may appear and you might say to
yourself, ‘Oh, I’ll just go out tonight and do my work over the weekend.’ Then it’s
the weekend. You decide your work won’t take too much time so you go out the
Saturday night, then before you know it, it’s the night before deadline and you’ve
locked yourself in your room, working until early hours in the morning in order
to hand in your assignment on time. Again, this is most likely going to happen.
It happens to all of us, and not just in your first year. This can happen
throughout your university life. This is why prioritising is important.
So what if your friends and/or partner are begging you to
come out? There’s a simple answer to that. Look at which is most beneficial to
you in the long run. If they’re truly your friends, they should understand and
appreciate you have to do your work. I mean, true friends will let you
rearrange a different time to go out, a time when you’re free and not when you
have a very close deadline. Easier to rearrange social time then it is to
change the date for a deadline.
For those who commute to university via train or car,
balancing work and social life is a lot more difficult. There’s not only
workload and a social life to organise, there is the additional travelling time
to consider. For those who take the train there is the option of doing some
work whilst travelling, but let’s face it, it must be difficult to concentrate
with bustling people around you. And if you drive a car to uni, then there is
definitely no time to work, unless you have a state of the art computer that will
make note of everything you say… Not likely. Though, the concept of having a
computer you simply had to talk to in order to do essays and assignments would
be a fine thing. I know I would like one.
If you decide to take up a job, whether it is because of
financial situations or just because you want a job, more organisation is
needed to know when you will have time for work and time for friends. I personally
don’t have a job. No, it’s not because I’m lazy, I just think, for myself: I won’t
be able to fit a job in around my work. I much rather focus my time on uni work
than worrying about whether I will have time, to not only finish my assignments,
but to be able to fit in SLEEP! I’m not against getting a job, but I would say
it is a situation that does require attention and a lot of thought.
Unfortunately, I can vouch for myself… Leaving assignments
until the last minute is NOT good. You become completely stressed out and you
start to snap at people around you. When I had a History assignment due, which I
left to the last minute of course, bad idea… I had to barricade myself in my
room for a week, with only Weetabix and lots of tea to keep me going. Yes, you
have been warned! Trust me; you don’t want to start snapping at those around
you. After all, it’s not their fault; it’s down to you to know when it’s time
to say no. it’s a situation we students all face and have to deal with when it
arises; it’s definitely a test of your willpower. But take comfort in the fact
you are not alone, many students before and many students after you, HAVE and
WILL survive the process.
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