These are just a couple of things I wish that someone had told me before I went to uni. I thought I'd share the wisdom so that you'd avoid the same mistakes I made (don't worry, I turned out alright).
1.
Do take
a look at all the banks that offer student accounts and do your research! Don’t be naïve and choose one that gave
out a free railcard last year simply for that reason. I did, and ended up with
a taste-card instead. Rookie error.
2.
Do think
ahead – don’t pick up your cutlery
and pans in a last minute dash. You waste so much money when you “desperate
buy”.
3.
Do remember
that to feel at home, you’re going to probably want to personalise your room.
That means cheap fairy lights from Amazon or the latest A2 poster of a topless
model or a big old ball of blu-tac.
4.
Do save
those pennies for a rainy day. Although your overdraft might pull you out of
the deep end a few times, you can’t always rely on it. If you have a little
safety net, you’re not going to need to drink Blue Lagoon just because it’s the
cheapest from Spoons. Ew.
5.
Don’t bring
all of your clothes. If you’re lucky, you’ll have a little rail in a tiny
wardrobe to put your threads and not much else. (Plus, the less you bring, the
more you can buy!)
6.
Do sign
up for an NUS (if you think you’ll benefit from it) and get an Advantage
(Boots), Nectar (Sainsbury’s) and Tesco (…you can figure it out) card. They’re
free and they slice off the pounds in more ways than you think!
7.
Do set
up two e-mail addresses (if you don’t have two already)– one for important
messages (firstname/lastname/@_______ not mrschanningtatum/mrchanningtatum/dudewheresmymail
or anything that, y’know… is fun) and one for all your Student Beans goodness,
email confirmations for tickets and that completely unnecessary ukulele you
just purchased.
8.
Don’t skimp
out on Fresher’s. Buy a bunch of tickets and if you don’t want to go to any,
sell them! Obviously don’t buy a whole week’s worth… unless you think you can
handle a seven day rampage.
9.
Don’t think
you’re invincible. You’re going to get sick and your parent isn’t going to be
there to bring you soup. Sob. Actually, to be honest, I was really upset about
this. But you can whip up a chicken
noodle or a bacon sarnie just as well as they can.
10. Do go to Fresher’s fair and take a look
around. Activities are sure to give you a break from assignments and revision
and heck, you’ll even make a bunch of friends. The bonus of attending this
crazy convention is that, lean in.. no.
a little closer.. YOU GET A BUNCH OF FREEBIES. Pens, tote bags, pencils,
sticky notes and much more useless items that you definitely need. I guess
you could also practise saying ‘no thanks’ now that you’re the target demographic
for just about anything. Oh, and don’t
forget to sign up to the local GP whilst you’re there.
Happy Uni-ing, prospective students. And best of luck with
your exams.
L.
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