If I could go back in time to September 2013, as I was running around like a chicken with his head off, panicking about fitting in at uni, making friends, handing the work load, juggling the social life and the work life. Would it happen? Could I hack it? Was I getting myself in far too deep? If I knew then what I knew now, would things be any different?
You are about to embark on the biggest most excellent and wonderful adventure you have ever been on. You are not prepared for what is about to happen.
Though, before I big this experience up too much before you have even started, there are a few things that you may need to know...
Firstly, making out like you are the biggest drinker on the first night is great, at first. But remember, this is a reputation that you will have to keep up for the next three years.. so maybe keep this in mind on the first night when you are meeting everybody and shooting whiskey like there is no tomorrow - which you don't even like, by the way. You're extremely lucky that you are naturally a peoples person, but also keep in mind that not everybody else is, you may have thrown away the wings that once hid every bit of your personality - which is very lucky, but not everybody else is. Some people are still finding themselves are are still shy - they definitely do not need you in their face all the time.
The way you are during the first week is how you are expected to be for the next three years. Please for the love of God, just be yourself. There is no point trying to people please to get people to like you. You will learn very quickly that sometimes people are not all that they seem, and that not everybody likes each other. As much as you would like to be liked by everyone, not everyone is going to like you back and believe it or not, there is nothing wrong with that. It's life.
Beth. You are about to get a large amount of money in your bank account that you have never seen before. You can do two things with this. You can either A. Spend it wisely on essentials and save for when you are at home for Christmas, I'm sure you'd like to go out with your friends then as well or you can B. Blow it all in the first term on things that you don't really need, such as alcohol and food.. You will regret this immediately afterwards when you are collecting McDonalds Monopoly vouchers to get a free cheeseburger for dinner. The best way to manage your money is to work out how much you have until your next loan payment. Split it into how much you have to last you the term, and then the month and then the week. Budget yourself. Just because you have the money doesn't mean that you have to spend it all at once. Go for the Asda Value food over the expensive one, it all comes from the same place at the end of the day. Also, if you're shopping for food, the evening has all of the discounted produce... just saying. Or, you could even go down the route of saving your loan. Graduation may seem like a lifetime away, but it's literally just down the road. This money could help you to pay the first load of rent on a new flat, or a car... or even that holiday you've dreamed of. I don't know if you know this, but you can refinance your loan on your own terms, check this page here out it will really help you in the future that you think is a million miles away...
When it comes to lectures and actually being at University for the reason you are there - your degree. You might think that just because first year doesn't count that you can just wing your way through by turning up rarely, pulling late nighters and blagging the whole thing. Yes this works, though in the long run it's no fun when nobody knows who the hell you are in your second year when the big group work starts and nobody wants to work with you because they know you're a slacker. You need to learn to manage your time between going out and your university work, missing a night out to go to a lecture may seem like the end of the world now, and "oh my God, it's social suicide" but will you be saying this when you're struggling to pick up work in third year to have any chance of graduating?
Right, lets get on to a subject which was going to pop up and it's going to be extremely cringeworthy... boys. You're about to learn that not every boy is nice, you're very lucky to have been brought up around boys who are overly protective of you and don't want anything bad to happen. But you're about to learn that not every boy is as accepting as the ones at home. They don't understand your jokes and they don't like the fact your loud. Please don't let this dishearten you, again, not everybody will like you. Also, please don't fall for every boy who shows an interest, this will cause you to spend time crying which is time that can be spent doing something more... productive.
But Beth. Most importantly, this is going to be the best three years of your entire life. You're about to meet people who are going to impact your life forever, you will literally feel pain when you're not with them. You're going to sit at home in your childhood bedroom surrounded by junk and wonder how you ever coped without them. When this is all over, you're going to wish it had never ended and if you could you would go back in a heartbeat. Please make the most of it because when it's gone, it's gone. If you can make it through this, you can make it through anything.
Good luck with it kid. See you on the other side.
Your 2016 Future Self.
