University is a lot of people’s first choice for life after school. It’s a unique experience – three or four years where you live without your parents for the first time. You get to live with friends for the first time, get a taste of adult life for the first time. This, in some ways, isn’t the most fun – food shopping, bills, paying rent – but in other ways, is the most exciting adventure yet. 

The few years you spend at university fly by. Before you even know it, the experience is over. Then you have to deal with real adult life, which is a topic for another blog post…

So how do you make the most of this short and very unique time? Here are a few tips.

Join clubs and societies.

Joining clubs and societies are a sure-fire way to make lasting friendships. Uni is all about the friendships you make. Who are you going to be up with at two in the morning, frantically writing essays? Who are you going to remember, ten years down the line, for doing something ridiculous after a club night?

Societies will help you meet these people because, due to clubs and societies’ very nature, those who attend will immediately have something in common with you. 

The great thing about uni clubs and societies is that there are so many. Nowadays, there are societies for just about everything. Sports? Of course. Academia? Naturally. But hummus? ABSOLUTELY! Even extreme ironing? Yep, there’s a society for that too!

Think about your career. 

When uni ends, you are thrown out into the big wide world of actual full-time employment. Terrifying, right? So it’s smart to get to building up your CV whilst still at uni. 

You won’t be spending all your time on your degree – many people manage to hold down part-time jobs whilst studying. But if your degree is full-on, remember the summers are so long for uni students. Get onto an internship or find yourself a summer job. These experiences will look great on your CV, and boost your employability when you leave uni. 

Make living away from home fun.

This is the first time most people will have lived away from home. This is in equal parts thrilling and terrifying. What do you mean we have to learn how to cook for ourselves? In first year, you’ll likely live in student accommodation. This year tends to be a crash course in living with strangers. You’ll quickly learn some people have some bizarre habits… Trust me; you’ll have a much better year if you invest in making friends with your flatmates. Go out together, or have fun nights in. The better friends you are, the less stressed you’ll feel using the kitchen.

If your first-year accommodation doesn’t go down so well, don’t worry. In second and third year, you can live with the friends you’ve made in an actual house. 

Try to make some memories in these houses. Whether they are ridiculous or heart-warming, these spaces will hold the memories you’ll keep with you as you move onto the next stage of your life. 

Uni is such a unique time. Make sure to make the most of it.