7 Things I Wish I Knew Before Starting Uni

Starting uni can be a scary time. After you finally get used to high school (someone tell me why that took a whole six years), you've gotta do it all over again. There are new people to meet, new learning styles to adapt to and a whole new (and much bigger) campus to navigate. I would've loved some inside knowledge before starting uni bc honestly, I was so overwhelmed in the first week when they were already talking about assignments that were coming up and I didn't even know where to find them. So, to make your first weeks and months a little more chill, here are some things I wish I knew before uni kicked off.

You are your own boss

In high school, teachers were there to hold you accountable and tell you exactly what you needed to do to get a good mark. They told you what to read, where to find the answers and what they're looking for when they're marking. In uni, things are completely different. The teachers will help give you the skills and background info you need, but you'll have to do your own research, create your own opinions and show them you know what you're talking about.

You don't need to buy every textbook

You're already racking up a HECS debt, so it feels pretty brutal that you're expected to buy a bunch of textbooks on top of that. Hot tip: most textbooks can be borrowed or bought secondhand or *wink wink* downloaded as a PDF (but you didn't hear that from us).

Get ready to relearn essays

Remember how you spent the majority of your high school English classes learning how to craft the perfect essay? Well, get ready to forget all that. Jks, not all of it. But the writing style teachers are looking for in uni is pretty different to high school. The fundamentals are the same though, you'll still need a thesis and evidence to back up your points, but you'll find the tone and writing style they're looking for is pretty different. You'll probably second guess yourself many times while you get used to it, but make sure you ask your tutors for reassurance if you need it!

 

What is a reading?

Once you start uni, you'll notice pretty quickly that a lot of your homework is to read academic papers assigned to you by your teachers. You'll be expected to get through your weekly readings before class (and have some thoughts to share on them too). These are written in a way you don't see a lot in high school, so they can take a bit of getting used to, but I found that starting with the conclusion and getting a better idea of what the whole thing's about, then going back to the start is a great way to get the most from readings.
 

Log into the student portal before your first class

I have a very distinct memory of being in my first-ever uni classes and being so overwhelmed because my tutors were talking about upcoming assignments already. To avoid that, try to familiarise yourself with the online student portal and the online library resources. Work out where assignments and classwork are held and take a look at the tasks you have coming up. It's also a great idea to write down all of your upcoming assignments in one place so they're easy to find and you're not trying to hold too much info in your head!!

Don't put things off

Don't put off making friends until everyone's formed little groups, don't put off going to your first campus party until it feels like you missed out on the uni experience you'd hoped for. Definitely don't put off starting your assignments. Even if you just sit down for 20 minutes and write every thought that comes to your mind, it's so much better than having a blank page. Towards the end of my degree I got into the habit of making small starts to all my assignments the day I got them and it honestly made my whole uni experience so so much better!! 
 

There's no 'right' way to do uni

All this said, there really isn't a good or bad way to do uni. I mean, there is an argument that not trying and flunking every single one of your subjects could be the wrong way to do it. But aside from that, make your experience the one you want! If you want to be super social and meet as many people as possible - do exactly that. If you just want to turn up to your classes and then head straight home again, that's so fair. Make your experience what you want it to be - as long as you're getting what you want from it and having a great time, that's a slay.