5 THINGS TO KNOW BEFORE STARTING UNI

Moving to uni - or moving back to uni - is an overwhelming time for many. It's a time that, for a lot of us, tensions are high and your emotions are kind of all over the place. As you may know if you're a regular reader of my blog, I am moving back to uni this weekend to begin my second year - and, trust me, I didn't have the easiest of times during first year (it was a pretty hard adjustment for me) so, I've compiled a list of five things that I think you should know before starting university.

1. It's a transition and a (big) change, to say the least - and it's okay to be scared

Not only are you beginning a new course at a new place (sometimes away from home) but you're meeting new people, adjusting to - quite often - a new way of life and obviously learning new things so it would be wrong to say that it's not a transition. Some people find it easy, yes, but for many of us it's a difficult one. Your life kind of completely changes - particularly if you're living away from home - and it is something you need to get used to so it's completely fine to be scared about it. And, if you are scared about it, don't be worried about people thinking you're stupid for feeling that way because it's completely normal. And if you're not scared, that's normal too - it's all fine to feel the way you do.

2. You won't love everyone you meet - or live with

The beauty of university is that it brings people from all different walks of life together. You'll meet people that are from all corners of the world, people that have completely different views to you and people that simply aren't typically you're 'type of people'. This is a great thing, a lot of the time, but - sometimes - it's not. But you can't expect to like everyone you meet and should expect that you'll meet people you perhaps aren't much of a fan of - that's life, after all.

3. It's fine to not be 100% into the stereotypical university party culture

When I first moved to university, I wasn't really into the whole party every night thing. I was more on the side of 'nah, I'd rather stay in and relax' and so, for the first semester, I didn't really go out and do the party thing. But it didn't stop me from making friends - I think that's one huge misconception about uni; that you have to go out and drink to be social and make friends. It's wrong. There are always going to be people that are in the same boat as you and it's not wrong to not enjoy the stereotypes of uni life. But, with that being said, try not to miss out on things - sometimes great things can come from stepping out of your comfort zone slightly.

4. You're going to be stressed at times - whether it's due to work, relationships, living and so on - and it's fine to be but try not to let it take over 

Again, stress is one of those things that's probably going to be unavoidable during your university experience. But it's the way you handle it that matters - it's easy for me to sit and say don't let it take over but, seriously, try not to. You need to find a way that works for you when you're tackling your issues and, again, nothing is wrong here - you do whatever is best for you.

5. The worst thing you can do is not make the most of your experience, on your own terms

Don't follow the crowd - this is your time to learn and grow - make the most of it!

I realise that these 'things to know' are pretty generic and perhaps a little cliché but this is what I feel I've learnt from my first year at university - however, I do think that the main gist of this post is that university is, at the end of the day, what you make it and that's all down to you. No matter what you're into, make the most of it.