A Life Changing Guide To University

So, university is probably one of the best and simultaneously one of the worst experiences you will have in your entire life. It will change your life for the next three years and it will set you up for the future, for whatever that may be. However, when you go into it, I often feel like the advice that you guys get given is really poor. Like, I remember when I went into university and I was like, oh my god, it's going to be this, it's going to be that, it's going to be this. And then I got there and I was like, oh, it's not that. So, because I don't want you guys to be in the same boat that I was in and like forget things and not know what's going on and make loads of mistakes and basically wait until almost the third year to fix some of those mistakes, I thought today I would break down everything, like literally everything and everything that I found on the internet about university so that you have the best guide ready for starting university or if you're already at university to have an even better experience. Now, obviously this video is a little bit different to any other long form content that I've done, but I'll be honest, I feel like this video is really important because I really wish I had this when I went to university, so hopefully, like even if this can help like one or two of you, it will be worth it. Anyways, obviously I don't know how far down the line you guys are going to university, so I thought we'd bring this back right to the beginning, which is basically what do you bring? I'll be honest, when I was packing for university, I was like, oh, it's not that deep, like I'll just bring a little bit of this, a little bit of that and it will be fine. It turns out that like you need a lot more than you think and some of these things I really think are quite essential because living in university is going to be very different to anything else that you've ever experienced. Now, I'll be honest, this list is very, very long, so I'm going to rush through some of them and then we'll speak in more depth about ones that I think you should really take note of. I'll be honest, you don't need everything on this list. I would suggest getting the majority of it because it will improve your life tenfold. You've got to remember that when you move to university, you are kind of moving into your new space, your new house. You need to look after that. University can be difficult. You're going to spend a lot of time in your room, whether you like it or not. So take care of that space and make it good. Anyways, to begin with, I thought we'd start with what you need for work, because obviously work is the reason that you're at university, even if you think you are just going to go on nights out and meet loads of new people and get a girlfriend slash boyfriend. First things first, laptop doesn't need to be an expensive one. It can be literally anything. Just bring a laptop for taking notes. I tried handwriting my notes when I arrived at university and that was a massive mistake. Obviously, chargers, all stationary, used at school, calculator, post-it notes, pretty good for like making little notes. Obviously, headphones, otherwise you're just going to be like David Goggins mode doing revision in silence. I mean, some people do do that, but like headphones on the way to like to and from university, really important. Also, if you just don't want to listen to people and want to do your own thing in library, also recommend. And then finally, a sturdy bag to bring it all around in. It can be anything. It can be a side bag, it can be a backpack. You don't want to just be like carrying your laptop around, otherwise you might end up smashing it and it's just easier. So next, let's talk about your room, because like it or not, you're going to be spending a lot of time in here. Also, just quickly to mention, the reason that my room looks like this is because I'm moving out in three days. If your room looks like this, well, you've kind of done something wrong. Now, the first thing that I want to talk about is mattress topper. This will change your life dramatically. First of all, the mattresses that you sleep on are disgusting. They're prison mattresses and you don't even know how many people have used them before you. They'll be stained. They'll be covered in sweat. They'll be covered in everything. The mattress topper is basically the only thing that is stopping your skin touching that. And before you're like, well, I'll have a bed sheet that will stop me from touching the mattress. It won't. Your sweat will mix with the sweat from the bed and before you know it, it'll be all over your body. So if you want to maintain some hygiene, please do that. Secondly, mold spray. Now, personally, this one didn't actually affect me until my second year when we moved out into a house that had no central heating and mold spread like wildfire. But depending on what building you're in at university, you could potentially get mold at some point. And mold spray is about five pounds and it's probably one of the best five pounds you'll spend going to university. So just bring it in case. I mean, alternatively, you can order it if it starts happening at university. But at that point, it might have destroyed your clothes. So just consider it that way. Then obviously you're going to need your basics. So you need pillows and duvet. It's not a hotel, so you need to bring your own. And then on top of that, make sure you bring your pillowcases, your duvet cover and bed sheet and bring two sets of them. Otherwise, you're going to have a nightmare trying to dry it on the day that you do decide to wash it. And trust me, I've been there. It's not fun. Next is a really valuable one. Bring Febreze. OK, I know that some people are like, oh, bring incense or bring candles that will make your room smell nice. Don't bring candles. I don't think you're actually allowed to have them. I have been into an unfortunately large amount of university rooms that smell like they were keeping a literal dead body under the bed. OK, there is a chance that you might go nose blind. And when you go nose blind, you don't smell anything. You won't smell the BO that's coming out of your rugby clothes. You won't smell the smell of the 15 different takeaways that you've stacked up in the bin because you haven't decided to do any cooking. Buy some Febreze. OK, then to stop you going insane because you're going to probably live in a room that's all white and rather reminiscent of an insane asylum. Bring some posters or photos of your family or something to brighten up the walls. Also, it's just really nice to have a few things that can remind you of your family when you're away, you know, because you're spending time away from them and your friends. And sometimes it's nice to remember what's important to you. Then my girlfriend personally hates the one that I have. Buy a bedside lamp. This was about £5 from Dunell. It will set a little bit of ambiance in your room and a little bit more of a mood because the overhead lights are rather glaring and not very nice. Then the obvious, so clothes and clothes to sport. Make sure you bring enough underwear for three weeks because you want to be able to work out how the washing machine works and they're quite difficult. Trust me. Then you want a laundry basket because obviously you want to throw your dirty clothes somewhere and some laundry detergent. Otherwise, you're just going to be washing water in warm water, which at first might sound like it works alright, but your clothes will end up smelling. Then just like I have over here, you want a clothing rack with some coat hangers on to hang your clothes off because chances are you're not going to be able to fit all of your clothes into the tiny little storage space your university provides you. Now, one that I actually didn't have at university, but looking back at it, I think would have been a brilliant idea is a doorstop. Doorstops are brilliant for allowing people to just come in and out of your room because obviously if your room's shut, people can't get in and, you know, it means that you're more likely to socialise. Also, another brilliant way just to, like, open up the kitchen to everyone because the kitchen can sometimes have a lock on it and it can make things difficult and, you know, it just makes everything a nicer environment for socialising in is what I'm trying to get at. Then, like I have here, you want some overdoor hooks because, again, there is not very much storage space in these places and I'd personally advise getting the ones that you can stick on the door. The ones that go over the door are a little bit weird sometimes. On top of that, because the winters can get very cold, you probably want a hot water bottle. A speaker because otherwise you're going to be playing music out of your phone and that's rather sad. An iron because it's always nice to have clothes that's not wrinkled. An extension cable because you have literally no idea where the plug might be, so very useful. Then, in terms of hanging things up, you want Sellotape, Blu-Tack and pins. You'll have a pin board in your room so try and use it, otherwise it's just going to go to waste. And then, in terms of Sellotape and Blu-Tack, I'd probably advise bringing white tack because Blu-Tack stains the walls and Sellotape rips the paint off and they will try and charge you for literally anything and everything that they possibly can. Then, again, because there's really not very much storage space, a shoe rack just so that you've got somewhere to put all your shoes because I'm sure that you own more than one pair that the university expects you to own. Then, a clothes dryer or somewhere to hang your clothes up when you want them to dry because the reality is is that the tumble dryers they have at university are A, very expensive and B, don't really work. If you've got a little bit of extra money, get one of the electrical ones. They will change your life because they will be able to dry your clothes no matter the weather. These are some that my girlfriend recommended but a pair of warm socks, apparently they are brilliant for keeping your feet warm. A pair of shoes to go clubbing in because the floors in clubs are revolting. There's actually a floor in a club called Ocean in Nottingham that once tested positive for gonorrhoea. And then also a bum bag that you can take clubbing. Again, I know as a guy I had pockets but I know a lot of girls don't necessarily have pockets in their dresses and you might not want to take your handbag with you in case you lose it so a bum bag is a brilliant way to keep hold of your phone. But yeah, one final thing, just remember at university your room is the only thing that is 100% yours so look after it, you know, it's your space. And just remember, and there is a little bit of science here for you, your room is a reflection of your mindset and if you have a messy room there is genuinely a scientific study that says you'll feel worse so keep it clean too, you know. Then we have the kitchen. I did say this list was long by the way, I am really sorry but if you imagine that you are literally moving your entire life to somewhere else you've kind of got to prepare for everything and anything. Anyways, the first thing you need to bring to the kitchen is surface cleaner. I'm going to be real, these kitchens don't get cleaned. I still don't even really clean my kitchen and there's only two people that live here. The space that you're sharing could be upwards of 12, 15, 20 people. I share with 24 and if you imagine that everyone is dragging all of their dirtiness all around the kitchen and the thing is that when that's then multiplied by 20 people it starts growing things, you know. So bring some of this. Then obviously you need your ovias, you need your pans, bring two of those. You need bowls, you need two of those. Plates, two of those. Cutlery is a little bit specific because people will steal your cutlery. So yeah, make sure you can recognise it and make sure you keep it in your room otherwise you will have no cutlery very, very quickly. Then you need mugs, glasses, cooking spatula, wooden spatula, big spoon to stir things, washing up liquid, Ziploc bags to store food for later, Tupperware bags to store food for later and also like the food clips, you know the ones that you put on your crisp bag when you're done with it because ideally when you're trying to save money you're going to buy in bulk and you kind of want to be able to save some of that for later. And then also again because food on campus can be really expensive, bring a lunchbox because then you can make your own food in the morning, make your own sandwich, whatever and then just take it to university and that will save you £5 a day minimum which really adds up, like really adds up. Then cooking knives obviously, you need oven gloves because otherwise you're going to burn your hands and tea towels. Something to quickly note on these bad boys by the way is don't share them, please don't share them, like if you share them this will get used to everything and anything and before you know it it will be barely a tea towel. And one final thing and something that's actually like kind of never really spoken about is when you get to university try and get to university early. You basically want to secure a really good fridge space, you don't want to be on the bottom shelf, if you're on the bottom shelf every time something goes off above you, because like food will go off because people don't really know how to look after food, it will drip and it will ooze and it will just sort of accumulate at the bottom and that will be on your food. Try and get a space that's preferably in the middle somewhere or like upper middle. The top shelf is the warmest so food will go off quickest so you don't want that either. Also in terms of freezer space people do get quite grabby and greedy early. I don't know if this is just because I was sharing four freezers with 24 other people but they end up taking a lot of it and then you end up with nothing and freezer is the cheapest way to sort of save on food. So try and get a big freezer space early because otherwise you're going to be losing a lot of money pretty quickly. Then we have the bathroom. Basically bring two towels because you know one will get dirty and you want to wash it and then you have another clean one, well the other one is dirty. A bath mat, really useful because like the bathroom floods sometimes and it's just like quite a nice homely thing to have. Soap, again just a really nice touch just to have in your room when people come round and people will be like oh this guy's kind of fancy. Then in terms of like actual products, look I don't know what products you use, just whatever products you use at home obviously bring them to university too, any skincare bring those to university too. And then finally an in-shower hook because like sometimes there's not that much storage space in the shower so you want one of those baskets that like kind of hangs down. I don't know what they're called but you can find them on Amazon okay. Finally other miscellaneous bits I feel like are often forgotten but will make a world of difference. Number one bring a digital camera, it's brilliant for freshers. I feel like when you take photos of people, people kind of like having photos of themselves so they'll probably ask your Instagram and ask you to send the photo over, so brilliant way to beat people. You also want to remember to bring your student discount card. Loads of places offer student discounts, it's a great way to save money. They don't always mention it so make sure you bring that as well. Then again kind of optional because to be honest you can wear a big coat, my girlfriend recommended this one but like a big dressing gown for fire drills because fire drills often happen in the middle of the night and it's cold. Another one that people don't ever really mention is fancy dress. You will have undoubtedly a fancy dress night within your first two weeks and you'll turn up to university and you'll end up spending sort of 20, 30, 40, 50, 60 pounds on something that you could have just bought from home. Then conversely formal wear like a shirt, a tie, a really smart dress. There will be formal evenings where you will be required to look smart and again if you turn up at university and you've got to buy a suit that's another added cost that you don't need and if you like are worried about spending loads of money on a suit, go on eBay. You can buy suits for like 50 pounds, just obviously try and make sure you know your size before you do that. Then also bring some like general first aid. I know this makes me sound like you need to be a medic or a doctor or whatever but I promise you, you are going to get ill. The freshest flu catches up with absolutely everyone. Then you've got earplugs. Look, if you're not someone who's going to be out until 5 a.m. every night, chances are there'll be someone in your flat who is. So having some earplugs to like block them out when they get back in the morning, really, really important. Otherwise you're gonna get woken up and your sleep is gonna be seriously disrupted. I had it even in my third year so just get used to that because that happens. And then finally depending on what sort of person you are, bring some cards or some poker. People love cards especially when people start drinking. It's a great way for you to pass time during pre's that doesn't involve playing god-awfully cringe drinking games. I know that sounds like a literal A-level textbook worth of information of stuff that you need to bring but some of it will genuinely make a massive difference. I'm gonna head to university because that's like 10 minutes away and I thought I could show you some of the university that I went to. And then while I do that I thought I'd also tell you the tips that I think you should know on top of that because the next layer is the stuff that I genuinely wish I'd known before I moved to university. So let's go. Well it's safe to say I certainly didn't think I'd be back here anytime soon. Oh this feels weird. It is so weird to be back here. Like so weird. I didn't think I'd be back here for a long time or at least until my graduation but I kind of miss it man. I kind of miss it. It's a weird feeling especially when you consider that maybe three years of my life have been within these four walls. I mean minus the time that I spent in the lab so two and a bit but yeah every day man. Every day for three years this was it. Since we're doing a full trip down memory lane those are my halls. That's where all the magic happened. Well not very much magic to be honest. So I think the things that I wanted to discuss were basically things that I felt hadn't been brought up when I started university and I really wish I'd known. So I've kind of collated a list of those. So I think the first thing that I think gets brushed over very very quickly is the fact that absolutely everyone is in the same boat. Like if you're sat at home right now being like wow I don't know anyone at university tomorrow. I don't know if I'm gonna make friends. I don't know if this is gonna be the thing for me. I might have made a mistake. Maybe I should have taken a year off. Maybe I should have done this. Maybe I should have done that. Everyone is thinking those thoughts okay. It's scary. University is scary but because everyone is in exactly the same boat that just gives you the opportunity to go and speak to as many people as possible because everyone is trying to make friends. And also don't just speak to them about like the common questions that you're gonna get asked because I promise you're gonna get asked all of these which is what's your name? Where are you from? What halls are you staying in? What are you studying? And you will have that conversation about 60 times if you so choose. However the thing that I would take looking back at it is ask the weird questions. Be the weird guy and ask the question that kind of brings out a side in someone that they don't expect because everyone in the room is is hoping for a question that they can like tell you something about them that is beyond where they're from right? Personal favourites of mine is um how much chalk can you put in bread before it like starts to taste like chalk and not bread? And another one is is if you walked out of a shop and realized that you've stolen something how valuable would the objects have to be before you went back and returned it? I think that it brings out so many lovely little moral dilemmas and you'll get to know so many things about people instantly. Obviously there are other questions that you can ask by the way. Please don't just like ask those too. I'm a little bit odd so take that as you will. Now another key thing when you arrive is get to know your flatmates. Get to know them. They are your base. They're the people that you're gonna be spending the most time with in that first year. It doesn't matter who you make friends with outside. They are the people that are gonna be in your kitchen every time you cook or in your living room every time you want to relax. They can often be the foundation for everything that you want to build around them. They might not be your people initially. They might not be your people in general but get to know them as best as you can. Now in terms of your room obviously as I mentioned take time in decorating it. Also when you arrive make sure you take photos of absolutely everything because I promise you when you get there there will be some things that are wrong with the place that you live like because they won't have fixed them and all they'll try and do at the end of the year is they'll go around your room and they'll pick up on the same things that were broken last year and go oh you gotta pay for that you gotta pay for that so just take photos of everything and then they can't charge you for anything. Now another big thing that I wish I'd known when I arrived is just say yes to everything. Go to everything. It might not seem like it is your thing but you could meet that one person there that could change your entire university experience. Make sure you attend all of the freshers fairs like all of them and try and take as much stuff or like as much free stuff as possible. I remember like getting loads of free dominoes vouchers for example which like kept me fed later on in the first term when like I was really really low on money. It's like it's part of the university experience go to all of those. Also if you can go to all the icebreakers as well they're another great way of meeting loads of people. I know they're really irritating you'll be like really tired you'll be on your fourth or fifth night out of the week but again brilliant way of meeting people. Make sure you go to all the sports nights. They are the best night of the week by far. You'll also be able to meet people within your sports society that like you already have something in common with so when you meet them it's like oh you like football. I like football and then all of a sudden you've got something to bond over and you can talk that and then you can build your relationship in and around that. You've got to remember making friends is built on quite often like a shared interest. Another thing is when you do meet people make sure you get their socials. I mean I'll be honest it's kind of embarrassing as a guy to ask for someone's socials but if you don't ask for their socials that'll be the end of your relationship pretty much there and then because the chances of you seeing them again is nil. Like you will meet so many people during freshers there are so many people at university so you know if you want to meet someone and you want to like see them again make sure you ask their Instagram. Something else to note by the way please be careful of flat cest just just don't do it it's not it's not a good thing that you want to be doing. Now I think two other things I wish I'd done earlier when I arrived here was first of all explore your area. It doesn't matter where you're living whether you're in a big city or a tiny little town you'll find these really really cool unique spots and I think it's such a good way of like trying to make the area where you've just moved to feel like home because otherwise then you'll do what I did which is you'll just get holed up in your room and the problem is as soon as you get holed up in your room it's going to start weighing on your mental health. In terms of finding really good clubs or like wanting to know where like the best clubs are before you arrive honestly it's the people that make the night out that's always the way that I found it so in reality just try every club and then pick your favourite and pick your favourite people to go with because there'll be different nights of the week that are better than others and then kind of linking into that. Something that is useful the whole way through your first term at least until it just starts getting full full of advertisements for nights out is the uni group chats you can find these on whatsapp you can find these on facebook it's a really nice way of meeting some people before you even arrive at the university but it's also like really nice to kind of see where some people might be going on the night you can also buy tickets for events on there. Now sort of following up the nights out and the drinking and everything like that as I'm sure you guys are probably aware heading into university, university has a huge huge huge drinking culture. It is that you will not be able to avoid by the way don't ever feel pressured into doing anything just because you see other people doing stuff around you it doesn't mean you have to do that stay true to your own values but also if you do drink and you are looking to sort of enjoy that side of it make sure you pre. Honestly drinking is so expensive also if you are new to drinking and like you are looking to like start drinking at university for the first time ever really advise starting off on something like cider or beer and then like slowly getting to know your limit and also if you are on a night out and you're like worried about you know being too drunk try surround yourself with some people that you think you can trust and you think will look after you when you're actually on the night out because it is scary you might be in a major city just just be careful like be careful the amount that you drink it will be very very easy to get very very drunk I got blackout drunk on my first night and I really regret it. Also something else that like you know needs to be taken a note look after yourself always put your own health first you will be arsed out to nights out every night probably for your first three or four weeks yes say yes to everything as I said but also make sure that you are fit and healthy because although freshers flu will hit you at some point try and like give it some time before that happens and then obviously on top of like putting yourself first also try and maintain some exercise when you first arrive honestly the weight and the toll that it will have on your mental health going from exercising every day at school to not having to do any of it at university will be massive and it'll be it'll be something that you don't even realise it's something that I didn't even realise until it was too late so make sure you are exercising as well because it makes a huge difference and then the final one and you're like really not going to want to hear this when you arrive at university go to your lectures please please go to your lectures during your first couple of weeks I personally didn't listen to this advice when I arrived and I didn't go to any of my lectures and it took me literally two terms to finally sort myself out because I didn't do the first couple of weeks in the first couple of weeks they'll cover yes a lot of irrelevant things that you really don't need to know about but they also cover some really essential tools that you'll need to know for the rest of the time that you're at university for example how to reference which is something that I didn't learn until I had to do my first assignment and I cried literally solidly for about four hours they cover things like where everything is they'll cover the basics of like what you'll need for the course what you won't need for the course so yeah the reality is don't forget why you're at university otherwise it's going to really really catch up with you to kind of close off the freshers section firstly freshers isn't easy I think when people arrive they think they're going to meet their best friends on the first night and it's all going to click and it's all going to feel great and I also know a lot of people that don't have that that doesn't happen to every single year I had maybe five or six maybe all seven friends who'd been really popular and really well liked at school who turned up at university and didn't meet anyone in the first two weeks I'm like now university's not for me I didn't meet anyone clearly this wasn't my thing it wasn't meant to happen for me and the reality is is that yeah it's difficult it's tough to meet new people it's tough to find your people but just give it time I technically met my best friend at university maybe in my third week but we didn't actually become friends until the third term of university where we decided to move in together because we were on the same course and we didn't even know we were on the same course until the third term so the next section is everyone's absolute favorite money saving money at university is tight you are going to get your student loan and you're going to feel like a king you're going to be like oh I can spend money on this I can spend money on that and I promise you that money will go if you're not careful like it will really go my first thing that I will say is when you arrive at university get a job like getting bar jobs at university is super easy really good money and it'll make the world of difference like the world of difference because all of a sudden you're going to have an extra maybe 200 quid a week in your pocket next in terms of buying the food itself when you go shopping buy from Aldi or Lidl it is so much cheaper than buying at Tesco's or Sainsbury's like Tesco's is it disguises itself as a cheap supermarket but realistically it's up there with waitrose and you will save about 30 pounds a shop and the food quality is no different and then in terms of when you actually get down to doing the cooking meal prep meal prep meal prep I know it's like a jib bro thing and everyone's like I don't want to meal prep like why would I do that I don't need to do that it will save you so much money first of all takeaways are so expensive and secondly microwave meals again they're actually quite expensive per meal you can meal prep like an entire bolognese on a Sunday it takes you about an hour and a half you will have enough food for the entire week and then in terms of the student loan itself budget budget budget take the money that you get given put it in a savings account and then section off the amount that you're allowed that week because otherwise you'll spend 500 pounds on your first week and then when it gets to the end of the term if you haven't got a job or if you aren't doing anything else you will be literally eating probably white bread and pot noodles for an entire two weeks the money goes quick you will be spending it on literally anything and everything so make sure you're budgeting make sure you know how much you're allowed to spend and all of a sudden you will be able to spend money on a lot more things and finally if you are going to go on a specific night out try and buy the if you buy a ticket when it drops it's like three pounds if you try and buy it on the night it's 25 there were occasions where i knew i was going to the night out and i would be like oh it doesn't matter i'll still be able to buy it the night before and then you get it the night before and you're buying it on resale for like 25 35 40 pounds so you know be frugal in that sense right so now for some tips that i'm sure you're all absolutely dying to hear academic tips how to get the good grades now i'll be honest i only got a 2.1 at university i'm not going to shout from rooftops about how to get the top grades i got a first in my final year which was the only reason i got a 2.1 because i did dreadfully in my first two years so i'll be honest a lot of these tips i'm giving you now are from my girlfriend who is currently on for the top first in chemistry at Bath anyways first things first and the thing that i think i didn't realize really until my third and final year which is you are at university to work you are really there to get a good academic grade you're spending a lot of money to be at university like university is not cheap it is not cheap and just starting with that stay on top of your work it is really really easy to do all these nights out to do this to do that and before you know it it's all piling up at you at the end of the term and you don't want that to be happening i promise you you don't want that to be happening because if it does happen you will shed a lot of tears in the library and you won't get the grade that you want really easy way of doing that and taking in all the information is just to tend with the lectures just be there i know being at lectures is annoying and it's difficult and a lot of them are really boring and a lot of them don't really feel valuable but at least if you're there you're soaking in some of the information that's how i got through my first two years and again just exaggerate my point here by the way no one and i mean no one is going to be looking out for you you are on your own there is going to be no teacher looking over your back going come on james you haven't done any work over the last three weeks it's time to get your stuff together let me help you just remember that because it can catch up on you really really quickly and i know some people that are currently resitting their third and final year for the second or third time i know some people that have been kicked out for failing it does happen and it does happen more than you think now in terms of referencing and i'll be honest that is a word that's definitely just gone straight over your head it is something that you will have to do at university it's not like school where you can just sort of whip up wikipedia and just sort of slap down whatever best places that i found for referencing over the last three years is cite this for me brilliant brilliant website in terms of revision i don't really feel like i've got a leg to stand on because as i said i only got a two one and not a first and if you are looking for first please go to another account but personally i found look cover check worked really well so write the notes out and keep testing yourself until you know exactly what it is if you like watching youtube videos there are some brilliant youtube videos so watch those too there are some really really great online resources so don't be afraid to like search things up and try different things if you want to do the work go to the library it's the best place to do work i didn't discover it until my second year it will change how you do work and how efficiently you work working your room when you're already spending huge amount of time your room can get really draining you can also find other people to work with that will keep you accountable and like personally i found that it was a great place to work because i wouldn't go on my phone if you do want to get a first and you are someone looking to achieve or aspire to that you're going to have to treat university like a nine to five you're going to have to treat it like a job in general achieving a first in any piece of work is exceptional it normally means that the work was the standard of being published in a scientific or a academic journal that is the standard of work you're going to have to do if you want to get a first if you want to get a 2-1 which is a really respectable grade and every job will take you with that just keep on top of it keep doing the work it's something really really important that i didn't really understand until again late on in my third year get on with your lecturers they're normal people speak to them be nice to them and ask them for help they will help you if you attend their office hours they will give you the help that you need to get the highest grades it's normally the best way or the easiest way of getting the highest grades because they will literally tell you what they want you to write and they will read through the work that you've written and go i like that or i don't like that they'll guide you towards how to get that first so if you do want to get a first brilliant brilliant way of doing it and it's basically how i did it in third year so take advantage of those office hours and be nice to your lecturers finally and something that i found really useful in my second and third year is find a study buddy find someone that is going to keep you accountable for that work that you need to be doing find someone who's got similar aspirations in terms of your course with you i found someone who was going for a first and it really really pushed me to like step up my game and step up my level so yeah try and find that person because it is really really helpful and it will change your entire university experience in terms of work i know i've said that a lot at this point but it will help i promise you all of these will change your university experience the other day but yeah you know what i mean and finally a topic that i feel like i have to cover and you probably won't even understand this this might not even affect you this might not even be something that even comes into your periphery while you're at university but i feel like i have to talk about it because it affected me massively during my first year and that is mental health university in my first year brought me to my absolute lowest like i don't think i've ever felt lower been lower had a lower experience than my first year at university i never thought i would go through the experiences that i went through and i don't want you guys to go through them either so i thought i would just add this in basically firstly and i know i mentioned this earlier but please please please try and exercise at least four times a week whether it be a run whether it be a mental health walk whether it be you will spend so much time in your room it will make your brain hurt exercise can be a really brilliant way to get out so i'd really recommend that secondly do try to cook even if it's not for a money-saving reason i know you finish school and you have all these opportunities to eat all the foods that your parents never allowed you to eat or you were never allowed growing up but try to avoid doing it first of all your gut is a huge part or plays a huge part in your mental health and if you're feeding it absolute rubbish you will feel rubbish up here and secondly cooking is just a brilliant little meditative activity and finally when you arrive at university it is a big step some of you may never have spent any time away family at all i met some people that had literally not even spent one night away from their family before and you for the first time ever are going to be living by yourself and to avoid getting homesickness because it will happen i experienced it it's tough it's difficult i would really try avoid going home for the first two months because otherwise you'll be reliant on home but after that do try and go home every now and again do try and go home every three weeks whether it's just to steal some food from your parents kitchen whether it's just to have your clothes washed whether it's literally just to say hi to your parents for a few moments it's not really ever mentioned but your family unit is one of the most important things that will get you through university and you know and if you're not lucky enough to have a really close family knit unit try and find some home friends that you can spend time with yeah look i think my final take home really is university in reality is an opportunity to try everything and anything with no risk push yourself give it everything you've got it will be over before you know it i still remember my first day like it was yesterday i still remember moving my stuff in like it was yesterday and i'm sad i'm sad that it's over because it was really brilliant yes there was a lot of issues yes the work is tough yes i struggle with it mentally yes it maybe wasn't everything that i anticipated it to be but it is brilliant it is brilliant for so many different reasons and i am so so grateful that i had the opportunity to go so yeah all in all i hope these tips have been helpful i hope university is everything that you want it to be and it really can be if you make the most of it and yeah above all as i said have fun university is an opportunity to do that with no one holding you back but yeah anyways i hope you have enjoyed i know this video has been a lot longer than my normal videos but i've really really wanted to do this for a long time even if it's just for me and no one watches it i wanted to sort of unload all this information that i've unfortunately gathered over the last three years as always please make sure you like subscribe check out my other videos and yeah have a lovely day