How To Prepare For University Life

{In less than 24 hours I have an English examination to write. Part of the exam will require me to write an essay on a topic, the following is my attempt to write 750-800 words in approximately an hour. I'm posting it here on the blog because I think my practice topic of choice is something relevant in the finance world. I'm also opened to you critiquing it, offering suggestions and corrections along with any tips. If you are a teacher by profession even better. I had meant to post it sooner but I suck, plus I just wrote it after having so much time to do it before.. Sorry and thanks in advanced. I have not used auto correct as this will be a written exam and I will have to try and spot errors myself}


Preparing for university life should be undertaken long before you have even considered what university you would like to attend. If your parents have not been assisting you with this throughout your final years of secondary school then the following will be a starter guide for you to consider when making your preparations for this gigantic stage of life.

First, before even deciding to go to university do a review of yourself. Do you really know yourself? Consider a few things, do you enjoying reading and learning or are you more of a hands on learner? Are you good at self teaching or do you need an instuctor to fully guide you throughout your experience? What is your reason for going to university? Is it because all of your firends are going, or is it because it has been your parents dream for you from as long as you can remember? What is it you want to do in life? Are you displined? Are you willing to sacrifice things you enjoy in order to achieve that higher education? These are just a few of the questions to ask yourself when doing your personal review. They may seem simple but they require a lot of thought if you can answer these honestly then I can guarantee that you will be halfway through the battle of preparing for university life.

The next important step in your preparation should be the financial aspect. How are you going to pay for your lust for knowledge? Are your parents going to pay for you? Do you have the money in  savings to pay for this? Have you recieved a scholarship or are you on track to recieving one? Will you be working part time while attending university or will you be attending the university part time while maintaining a full time job? Will you apply for a loan? Ask yourself these questions because financial problems are big problems when it comes to any aspect of life. Select your university of preference, look up the tuition cost and then work out how you will be tackling them. With your university of choice, look up ways to save money while attending that may be offered by the university. Also doing a quick google search on ways to save money while attending university will bring up a wealth of informaiton on the topic, ranging from buying books second hand to making your own lunch. There is a vast amount of knowledge available on the internet.

Now that you have tackled the review of yourself and how you will be handling the financial aspect of it, it is time to review your choice once more. Is a higher education what you truly desire? Don't go in believing that having a degree will guarantee you great job with a big salary. Lots of people have degrees so you have to do way more to market yourself than flash your fancy degree. When choosing your major of choice, my advice is to choose a field you are passionate about or you are fairly adept at and have some sort of interest in. Don't go choosing a major because the careers in that field pay the highest. You don't want to be stuck doing something you don't like and you want to avoid switching majors mid study and setting yourself back.

Attending university will require a lot of discipline and sacrifice. The discipline will be needed when in the times when sacrifice is necessary and sacrifice will be necessary. Things like television and video games will have to be serverly cut down or cut out. Going out to parties every other night and every weekend will have to stop, especially in times when you know you have studying to do. Hanging out with your friends will also have to be cut back on. A lot of your personal hobbies will also need to be scaled back. Cutting back on these things will even be more important if you will be working and studying at the same time. Finance wise, you will need to save money however possible so cut out buying new clothes and gadgets while attending school. You need not keep up with the Jones as that will just be a detriment on you. Save money where you can especially if your path of finance was to take out a loan. I am not saying to completely focus on work alone, you will need time to relax, all work and no play makes jack a dull boy you know.

The path to success is paved with hard work and sacrifice. Follow your heart, know what you want and go as hard as you possibly can in that direction.