What they don’t tell you about life as a student in Liverpool
They should really put this in the brochures
Now we're going into November, Freshers' is definitely over (soz first-years x). This means that a lot of people are slowly learning the truth about student life and how unglamorous it really is. For first-years who still haven't learnt how messy uni can really get, here's a few points from personal experience to help you deal with the boring, stressful and unnecessarily dramatic aspects of uni life that everyone kept quiet about.
1. You will be living in an absolute shithole most of the time
The main issue of leaving a bunch of kids who just left home and are trying to 'adult' for the first time in charge of running a house is that it will NEVER get cleaned. You'll soon find yourself missing your mum's rule of not eating on the sofa once you've got rats in your gaff.
Now, a small majority of you reading this may be fortunate enough to live with people that don't leave their dishes to fester for ten days, but most won't be as lucky. My top tip for dealing with this would be to try to clean or, failing that, bless the mess. After all, you're going to be living in this horrible pigsty for at least the next year.
2. The absolute states you'll find yourself in
Yeah, you may think you've been in some states back home, but believe me, being left alone in a big city with no mum or dad to tell you 'not to drink too much' can be catastrophic. It's inevitable that you'll get in some very bad ways (how could we possibly say no to £2.50 doubles?) but try not to kicked out off BaaBar for chundering on the dancefloor.
Our solution? We're yet to discover one, but try to avoid getting in such a state that your night goes from being fun to being a dizzy horrible blur that you can't even remember the next morning.
3. Forgetting you even go to uni
It can be hard to remember after three weeks straight of skipping uni that you're actually a student studying for a degree, that you didn't just move to Liverpool to get pissed up at Concert Square most days of the week and spend the rest of the time asleep or hungover. If you find yourself in this cycle (and you probably will) uni work will eventually catch up with you.
The turning point is often when you have four assignments due in for a module you've attended a grand total of three times. The best advice here is the most obvious: make sure you go in for a few lectures a week. Remember, you're paying nine grand a year to study so you may as well turn up once in a while.
4. Pointless drama and arguments didn't end at high school, unfortunately
Thought all the pointless 'he said, she said' bullshit ended at high school? It didn't. Just because people at uni are meant to be 'adults' doesn't mean that's how they behave and you'll likely learn this the hard way.
Arguments still consist of telling somebody something you shouldn't have, accidentally snogging that girl your flatmate was obsessed with in Freshers', or over petty things like who ate Sean's eggs. Steer clear away from silly dramas and if you know certain people love a row, be the bigger person and let it go over your head.
5. The weird head-spaces you can find yourself in
This is one of the main things I wish I knew before uni. Everyone says its a big adjustment coming to uni but they don't tell you how it can be a bit of an emotional roller coaster. You can go from feeling happy and excited to feeling very lonely and sad quickly without really knowing why.
Many students move a long way from home and are left in charge of a house, their own money and career for the first time ever. Our advice is if you feel down speak to someone; friends, uni, family or the doctors can provide support. It's a massive achievement getting into uni so don't feel bad if you're not 100% comfortable straight away.