5 Things You Can Do At Uni That You Can’t Do At School

The gap between high school and uni can catch you by surprise if you don’t know what to expect. Aside from having wayyyy more independence, the uni experience is also tailored to your interests and future career. 

So if you’re heading to uni this year, or looking into going later on, here are some things you can do that you weren’t able to during high school.
 

You Can Hit Up A Cafe On Your Lunch Break

If you had a canteen that served coffee at high school you were already in the 1% of schools that I still genuinely believe only exist in US television. But at uni, you’re not only guaranteed to have a cafe on campus, but there’s a pretty decent chance it’ll be a good one too. In fact, some of my best memories from uni were the times I just sat down in a warm corner with a fresh coffee and smashed out a bit of work between classes. And of course, there were also the cute coffee dates on the days when your friends’ timetable lined up with yours. 
 

You Can Come And Go As You Please

You have so much freedom at uni. You can pop to the shops during a break between classes and watch your 8am lecture online instead of heading into class. If you wanted to, you could walk right out of a class halfway through – although I wouldn’t recommend it. The tutors can’t physically stop you, but they probably will roast you instead. 

I remember once I chose an elective unit called ‘Vocal Studies’ which I thought would be great for improving my radio voice (I was doing a radio degree). But it turns out it was basically the college from Pitch Perfect. I got there late and they were just going through powerpoint slides like any other class, but then as soon as I sat down the tutor was like, “Okay now we’re going to go round the room and take turns at acapella.” I no joke leapt out of my seat and headed straight for the door. As long as you don’t look back, even if the tutor says something, you can get out of there unscathed. 
 

You Have To Take Control Of Your Learning

At uni, you won’t be spoon fed information like you were at high school. The good thing is that it’s easier to stand out as a student, but it also means if you don’t put any effort into learning the content, you could land yourself a fail. Hopefully you’ll be studying something that interests you, so you’ll want to put in the work.

On the other hand, if your motto is “P’s get degrees” you can make that happen too. Everyone has different commitments in life and capacities for study. So if you’re grinding to get qualified while working a couple of side hustles, maybe you’ll be stoked with every Pass you get. Just keep in mind that you’re paying for every unit you have to resit, so this is a risky path to take. 

You'll Learn Job Specific Skills

Sure, you’re able to choose a couple of elective subjects at school that line up with jobs you might like in the future. But at uni, you’ll be studying things that directly relate to the exact career you’re pursuing. You’ll have to do some generic industry-based subjects in your first year, but by second and third year, you’ll be getting into the nitty gritty of your chosen field, learning skills that will be necessary for a successful career.

Most of the assignments you’ll be given will also be kinda like job experience. Whether it’s crunching numbers, or taking a deep dive into a court case, everything is preparing you for life after uni. Particularly in creative degrees, you’ll be able to use a lot of the work you do at uni as part of your portfolio. I even managed to land my first journalism job based on an article I had written at uni.
 

You Get To Hang Out With People Who Love The Exact Same Things As You

At school, your classmates are usually based on geography, because you all grew up in the same area. Uni is quite the opposite. You’ll meet people from different cities, rural areas and overseas who are all interested in the same field as you. Because of this, you’ll probably get on like a house on fire since you like the same things. I was too scared to spark up a convo with many people in my classes, but the one person I did talk to is scarily similar to me and is now a really close friend. 
 

Uni can be tough to adapt to, but once you get into the swing of things, it’s genuinely one of the best few years you’ll experience. Enjoy where you’re at right now, and try to make the most of it. Talk to people around you. Join a club. Hit up the U-bar after class. Just make sure you squeeze in a bit of study too ;)