The end of an era: my experience of uni

The past three years have been a rollercoaster- there were times I thought I couldn’t carry on, times when I was unsure I was doing the right degree and times when I was having the best time.

Now my time at Uni has come to the end – I wanted to do a roundup of the things I’ve learnt to hopefully help a few of you who are stuck in the low parts or inform those who are new to uni life and feeling a bit unsure – that it’s all definitely worth it.

The main thing I’ve noticed is how much my confidence has increased in all parts of my life; even just driving my car I have so much more confidence in myself when I used to shake like a leaf as soon as I entered the car or at work in my supermarket job. I feel more comfortable talking to the customers and out with groups I talk up way more than I used to.

I think being part of a society has played such a big part in this and I urge everyone to jump at the chance of being part of a committee at some point!

You might be worried that it would take up too much of your time but it all depends on what position you go for and what committee, all jobs are voluntary so you can do as much or little as you like (as long as your society can still run properly).

Another thing I’ve learnt is how hard it is living on your own and getting everything done! It is possible but I think it’s taken me the whole three years to be able to manage cooking/cleaning/life properly.

Coming from a home where my mum does most of the cooking, cleaning and shopping it’s really made me realise how much she actually does.

When making a plan of your time for the week you need to consider going to the food shop, cooking meals and cleaning your flat/house; don’t worry it doesn’t take up a lot of time but just something I never used to consider but now is a big part of my time-management.

No matter what degree you are doing/going to do, the skills you get are really valuable for everything else you will do in the future, even if you decide to divert greatly from your degree subject. Also, I feel like after all this time using coloured pens in my revision I (possibly) have found out how to use them properly, which is one of my best successes.

After university, my plan all along was to go and live back home after and I’m so excited about that but I am definitely going to miss the freedom of doing what I like and I have all the skills ready for when I’m ready to get my own home.

I’ve really surprised myself with all the things I’ve done and I just keep saying to myself ‘Lauren you have a degree!’ which I really cannot believe. I did it!