3 LESSONS FROM UNIVERSITY - WHAT I HAVE LEARNED SO FAR

I started the second semester a few weeks ago, and now I'm all busy again with assignments and other homework. Since this was my first year as a university student, I wanted to sit down and evaluate my experience so far. These are some of the lessons I have learned so far (which aren't school related):

Ewan Robertson

1. YOU WON'T BE THE BEST STUDENT IN CLASS ANYMORE

In secondary school I would be the best in my English class. I remember that everyone knew that English was my thing, and I would usually stand out in that subject. Since I have always loved languages and it's something I was comfortable with, I decided to enrol a language degree. Now my English class is filled with many people with an excellent level, who also adore languages. Those students are the ones who were the best in their high school class, and now we're all together in university, therefore, some of them are better than me. This isn't a negative aspect, I see it as a challenge. It was shocking at first, because I was used to another class environment, but now I got used to it, and it's more than fine. You learn to compete with yourself instead of your classmates, and the good part about being surrounded with such good students is that you can always ask for help!

Alexis Brown

2. YOU WON'T GET ALONG WITH EVERYONE, BUT YOU MAY FIND AMAZING FRIENDS

The good thing about university is that you go there once you have reached a certain age, which means you have created an opinion about the world and you know what you're looking for in a friend. In secondary school we are still growing as people, which means we go through a lot of different friendships while we figure out what we are and who we want to be (at least that's what happened to me). Although we are a work in progress, when you go to university you have already developed your approach to the world and you have your own ideas and thoughts and a unique voice to stand up for what you want. That's why you're very likely to become close to people who have similar ideas as you and don't bother to meet other classmates that you know straight away that don't share anything with you. The difference with high school is that, back then, you would have several friends until you found "the right one", and now, there is a high possibility that you find them sooner than you think. It's okay not to be friends with every person in your class, of course you have to be nice to them, but that has nothing to do with building a friendship.

Olu Eletu

3. YOU DECIDE THE HOMEWORK (TEACHERS WON'T DO SO)

The less hours you have of class, the more hours you'll need to study at home. It's tricky because you think that there's only a small amount of content, but in reality, you need to spend time on your own working and doing research in your house/library/ wherever you choose. This means that you must dig deeper, investigate, be curious, don't go for the first thing you find, look up as many pages as you can, combine information, take the best from each source you check... The sooner you start getting used to this, the easier it will be to keep up with.  You should also keep your notes up to date and always ask the teacher if you have any doubts, because, unlike secondary school, the teacher won't come after you. Just keep in mind that all the effort you put now, will be worth it when you have your degree!
As a university student you should also read the newspaper and stay informed about what is going on. This is something I'm still working on, but it's important you have a general idea of the current situation.