Hello & sorry for the very late weekly post! As I sit down to write this I have just finished writing the last final exam of my first year of University. I wanted to wait until now to write this post because I didn’t want to get myself excited early by uploading this on Sunday as I would for a usual weekly upload.
Seeing as this past year has been by far the most fun, the best year of my life as well as being some of the most stressful, and sleep deprived time of my life, I wanted to share a few of the things I’ve learned over the past year.
1. Put yourself out there.
I know you probably hear this all the time but it really couldn’t be truer. Sitting in a lecture hall with 200 students, none of which you know can make it really difficult and seem very lonely. When I got to University I didn’t know a single person so I had to really make an effort to introduce myself and I truly couldn’t be happier that I did, because I can honestly say I have met some of my favourite people in life this year.
2. Things are not going to go how you want all the time.
I have always worked very hard in school and my grades often reflected that. This wasn’t the case as much this year and I found it quite a shock to work as hard as I did on an assignment and still not do great on it. Be prepared for this to happen sometimes.
3. Go to class
I have never been one to skip things, and I am incredibly grateful for this trait. I saw on many occasions the difference it made when I went to class regularly compared to people who skipped them frequently. Even if a prof posts things afterwards you’ll learn it better by being in class.
4. Appreciate the good things
As much fun as this year has been there are also weeks where I felt like I was barely keeping my head above water. I found it really easy to feel like everything was falling apart during this time so a habit that I started was writing down 3 good things about my day every night before I went to bed. This forced me to acknowledge the good parts of my day right before bed rather than only thinking about the negative parts of the day.
5. Save money when you can
When I started University I didn’t have a job nor did I plan on working. I realized quickly how easy it is to burn through money incredibly quickly this way. If you can I would recommend picking up babysitting jobs or whatnot when you can or doing things to be cautious of the amount of money you’re spending. I did this by setting an amount of “spending money” I had on a weekly basis, keeping myself aware of the weeks when I had specific bills to pay too so that I sticking to that budget. The other thing I recommend to save money is doing things with friends that don’t cost as much. It can be really easy to always go out for meals when you’re with friends but if you can have a night in instead where you cook together you can save a lot of money and have a lot of fun too!
Well, friends, that’s all I have for now, but maybe I’ll make these a yearly thing!? If you’re heading off to your first year of University in the fall I hope you have an incredible time & let me know of any other University-related posts you want to see!
XO
Cassidy Hannah 