university student – Page 3

My top tips on managing your university workload

Learning to manage your workload is a vital skill at university. You will have to complete weekly reading, write assignments and study for exams all while being sociable and settling into a new environment. It’s also good to work out what works best for you in first year when a lot of universities don’t take your grades into account towards your final grade (remember you still have to pass). This isn’t me saying you don’t have to worry but it means you can afford to make mistakes as you are learning what works best for you. Having an established plan will also help as the workload will begin to increase as you go through the years at uni.

Prioritise: It can be easy to choose to do the task you like best first, but this isn’t always the best idea. Focusing on an assignment that isn’t due for 5 weeks when you have an exam in two days. Of course, it’s always a good idea to get ahead on assignments and not leave them to the last minute but this shouldn’t be at the expense of other things you have due in. Keeping in mind what deadlines you have come up will help you work out what needs to be done first and what should be your priority at a given time. Also, keep in mind somethings will take longer than others and so you may have to begin these things a bit earlier.

Plan your time: I personally use a planner to keep myself on top of what work needs to be done. I ensure that I have all my deadlines written down, so I don’t get any surprises from forgetting something is due. I then plan what I’m going to work on each day in order to keep on top of everything. It is important to work out how much time will go into things but also how much time you have on a particular day. If you’re in lectures every day you don’t want to be planning to do 8 hours of work on that day as it’s just not going to be possible to fit all that in. Also, realising that you need to plan a lot more time for a 5,000-word assignment than a 2,500-word assignment is important.

Don’t overexert yourself: Remember you’re going to have off days where you may not feel like working and so I make sure to plan a rest day each week. Though in my plan this will be a specific day, if I need to I’ll move the rest day, I may feel I really need it on a specific day. Also, making sure you leave time for breaks and out of university activities is essential in order to not wear yourself out and to keep your mental health in check.

It’s not all about work: As much as you are going to university to get your degree, you will have so many opportunities you don’t want to miss out on. Making time for extra-curricular activities and socialising is very important to make the most of your time at uni. Make sure you find a balance that works for you, you don’t want work to become like a chore; it should be something you enjoy.

Juggling a job at university

We all know the student stereotype of being broke and for a lot of us that is a reality. Yes, you can apply for a student loan but that may not be enough, for some it doesn’t even cover the cost of accommodation. You may be able to turn to the bank of mum and dad but for one they may not be able to fully support you and two it takes away that independence moving away to university brings. This means you may want to get a job and there are so many ways to go about doing this, but I will save that for another post. This post is to advise you on how you can juggle a job alongside your studies.

I am able to speak from personal experience as I had a job for about three months in first year and for the majority of second year. My experiences differed between the two years due to different commitments and workloads, but it is definitely possible to juggle if you’re prepared to put in the effort. Both my jobs were in waitressing as this is what I had experience in prior to uni.

In my first year I didn’t get a job until after Christmas, I had saved enough money over the summer that I didn’t need one as soon as I got to uni. This would be first tip, try and work over the summer before uni so that you have some cash when you arrive. Of course, enjoy this summer! The summer between sixth form and uni holds so many fond memories for me and it’s important that you take this time to relax. Hopefully, you will feel you don’t need to get a job straight away but if you do, I would recommend waiting until after freshers if it is something you want to take part in. If you are planning to go out every night you don’t want to have to worry about having to get up in the morning or getting out of work to go home and be ready for a night out. Also, first impressions are crucial you don’t want to turn up hungover especially if it’s a new job. Once you have found a good time to start a job, you then need to decide how many hours you are willing to do. This will greatly depend on contact hours and how much work you need to do out of class, personally doing history I had very little contact hours and so I was able to be more flexible with when I could work but I gave a limit of how many hours I was prepared to work each week. This is very important as you need to give yourself time to socialise, do uni work and to make the most out of your uni experience. In the end I gave up my first-year job because I wasn’t enjoying it and didn’t need to be doing it, there was also a bit of FOMO so be careful of that. Friends were however understanding and would often work nights out around my shifts but if I was working when there was an event on it couldn’t be helped.

In both years, I would still work shifts at the job I had before I went to uni during the holidays. This is perfect if you feel you could do with a bit more cash going into the next term without the full commitment of having a job while you’re studying. This again is something you need to balance with your social life, if you have friends from home you don’t get to see often, you’ll want to spend time with them. It was, however, nice to go back to work, somewhere familiar and tell all my work friends about life at uni and have a good catch up.

Second year was a very different experience, I got my job almost straight away as I’d applied before going to uni and the attended interviews in the first couple of weeks. This is something I’d recommend if you are serious about getting a job when you get to uni; start looking before you move so you have something lined up for when you arrive. Again, I had little contact hours, but I did take up Tango in second year, so I worked my availability around that. It is important when giving your availability that you not only think of lectures but if you plan to take up any extra-curricular activities you don’t want to double book yourself. This year again I gave a maximum number of working hours I was able to do and when I began being put on shift for a lot more, I brought this to the attention of my manager, and it was sorted. Remember your uni work comes first and you should not allow that to be compromised for a job. I felt that because we went out a lot less and I had an established group of friends in second year there was a lot less FOMO with having a job. In fact, I was actually able to make friends through my job and see colleagues out of work which was a plus. The downside with having a job in second year is that the workload does increase and so you really should prepare yourself for that and maybe commit to less hours at work at least until you have a good routine worked out. Due to coronavirus my place of work closed in March and so I didn’t have the experience of doing exams alongside going to work which was something I was beginning to question how manageable it would have been. This is something to think about, you don’t want to sacrifice your exams for the sake of a job but then at the same time work could be a fitting distraction.

Overall, I’d say my main piece of advice is finding that balance, make sure you put your studies first as that is the whole reason you are putting yourself through uni. Getting a job can have many benefits; money, meeting new people, learning new skills and having a distraction from work to name a few things. It’s all about finding what’s best for you!

Book Review: ‘We Need To Talk About Kevin’

Synopsis: We Need To Talk About Kevin by Lionel Shriver is a series of letters written by Eva to her husband Franklin about their son Kevin. She writes about her visits to see Kevin in prison after he murdered fellow students, a teacher and a cafeteria worker in the gym of their school. The reader is given an insight into Eva’s mind with the story of Kevin’s upbringing and the time leading up to this event being told through her eyes.

My thoughts: I’ll warn you this is not the book for you if you are looking for a quick read. It took me a lot longer than a book of its length would normally take and it was a difficult book to get into. I decided to persevere as I had heard many good reviews and I am glad I did because it turned out to be a very interesting and thought-inducing read. Normally, when I read a book I feel disinclined to carry on reading when I find the characters to be unlikable and Eva is definitely that however the story made me want to read on. Having Eva presented this way as selfish and pessimistic works for the story, it creates questions for the reader as to the effects this had upon Kevin and makes us question whether her accounts of Kevin’s actions and the intentions behind them are bias because of her outlook. Kevin is an interesting character too, there is a sense of frustration that we are never able to see inside his head except what he has told Eva which wills the reader to continue reading in hopes that their questions will be answered. I was also impressed by the twist towards the end it was not something that I had personally guessed which I always find pleasing in a book as it gives a sudden change to the tone of the novel. The book itself is very well written, using articulate and intricate language. I would have to read another of Shriver’s books to see whether this is her writing style or whether this was the voice she chose to give to Eva. The voice does work well; Eva herself is a travel writer and very passionate about it so it would make sense for her writing style to be this way. Not only this but she is an arrogant character and so such a tone makes it seem like she is intending to show off how educated she is. The only downside to this is that it made it difficult to understand at times and so slowed down the reading of the book but then again allowing yourself more time to read this book will allow for you to really think. After speaking to my own mum about this book, I realised being a mother would definitely mean you have a different perceptive on this book as you would be able to more understand the difficulties a mother goes through with her children. Perhaps I would read it again if I ever had children of my own and see how my views towards it change. The book itself opens up much discussion as you are left with unanswered questions that force you to come to your own conclusions.

Would I recommend? Overall, I feel it is an important book to read as it gives a new perspective on life and allows the reader to contend with the ideas of nature vs nurture. I would definitely recommend this book as it different to anything I have read before and I see it sticking with me for a long time to come. The only reason I gave it four stars instead of five is because it was very difficult to get into at first!

Up next… Blood Orange by Harriet Tyce

Keep up with what I’m reading: goodreads.com/studentlifeandbeyond

Travelling as a student

It may seem impossible to have university and travel in the same sentence as students are notoriously broke. However, if you do it properly, you can have an amazing holiday and not have to break the bank. When else are you going to have this much time to travel and have all your friends free at the same time? The way I see it, make the most of the freedom you have as a student. I often look to the future, having a full time job, having a family and other commitments as somewhat constricting. Not only my own busy life, then take into account all my friends will be doing the same and trying to find a week or two for a gals holiday will be next to impossible. I don’t like to have such a negative view point of my future but it does make me want to live my life while I’m still young and travel is a great way to do that. Experiencing new cultures, exploring new cities and spending time with my besties all while taking photos I will forever treasure and making memories I will never forget. As cliché as it sounds there is a whole lot of truth in it.

Now that I’ve given all the great reasons to go travelling whilst a student I’ll get to the money bit. Unfortunately, you’re probably not going have the budget for a month long get away on some private island in the middle of nowhere but that doesn’t mean you can’t have an amazing holiday. Going a bit closer to home can be so much fun; me and my friends have had great trips in Wales and Scotland. There are so many getaways just a (cheap) plane ride away in Europe if you know what you’re looking for, but do remember if you are setting a budget, you’ll end up spending on the actual holiday so don’t splash it all on the flights and hotel! Look out for my guide of how to holiday on a budget, in the near future.

Sadly, my most recent holiday was cancelled by the coronavirus and now may not seem like the best time to be thinking about going abroad. However, planning a holiday for next year will give you something to look forward to, me and my friends are already coming up with ideas and I have something planned at Christmas that will, fingers crossed, still be going ahead.

Introducing me

First I’d like to say welcome to my blog and thank you for checking it out. Let me introduce myself; I’m Eden, I’m 19 years old and I’m going into my third year of university at Reading where I study history. My blog has six sections; uni life, food, travel, books, budgeting and after uni in which I aim to give advice on everything you need to know about university life.

Where to look for what?

Travel – you may think being a student or a graduate on a budget makes travel impossible. Read how you can still enjoy travelling on a budget and my recommendations on the best places to go on holiday.

Budgeting – if I’d have tried giving budgeting advice two years ago, it would not have gone well but I’ve learnt over my past two years at uni. Learning from my own mistakes has really helped me develop a good relationship with money and to stay out of my overdraft.

Food – going to uni may be the first time you start to cook for yourself which can be difficult. Read my tips and recipes for easy to make food that you can easily make single portions of or make a large batch to freeze and enjoy later.

Uni life – there is so much going on at uni that you may need advice for, so check out this section where I will hope to answer all your questions about being a student.

After uni – as I’m going into my third year of uni I’m having to think about what I am going to do after uni. I want to document my experience in learning about the options out there and the path I take.

Books – want to know what to read next or whether a book is even worth the read? Have a read of my book reviews.

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