Welcome to my new series, ‘Uni Mag’ (that was as creative as I could get – I’m open to suggestions!)

I want to blog about my uni experience as it’s content I myself would love to consume but find it hard to relate to uni bloggers who aren’t from Aus as the system is so different.

Let’s begin!

This week has been massive for me – I started uni (again!)!

Quick recap, last year, as a fresh Year 12 grad, I started uni doing a communications degree. I went for a week and *hated* it, so I deferred my place. This decision was very hard to make and I worried that if I left uni then, I’d never go back.

But having started a speech pathology degree at uni this week, I have a whole new outlook.

It honestly feels right.

And it made me realise that choosing to leave uni last year was the right decision to make.

It’s also made me realise a heap of other things that I wanted to share with new uni students, because no one tells you these things.

Understand that your life is about to change

When I started uni last year, I was not prepared to make uni my number one priority. So I started my course with a LOT of resistance. I didn’t want to dedicate any more time to it than what I was spending in class. Looking back, I realise that the root of this resistance is I wasn’t ready for my life to change. Or at least, I didn’t anticipate how big the change would be. My wake up time, morning routine, transportation etc etc all of that is different now that I’m at uni. But I think this year I understood the changes that were about to occur, I could anticipate them, and I was ready for them.

Remain committed to what’s important to you

Let me just give you a quick rundown of what my life look like this week…

Monday: Uni

Tuesday: Uni

Wednesday: Work (8-4:30 at one job then 5-10 at the other)

Thursday: Uni

Friday: Work

Saturday: Work

Sunday: Day off!

Fair to say my calendar was pretty booked. But something I did, without much conscious effort really, was still make time for the gym.

Now, I am no gym-junkie by any means, however, it’s something that has become a regular part of my routine and so just because I was at uni, didn’t make me think to forego my gym time.

My uni classes are in the morning, and my gym classes are at night. With daily 5:30am wakeup calls, no I’m not exactly bouncing off the walls come 6pm to go the gym. BUT! I honestly think that by going to the gym on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday this week – I’ve kept myself sane.

Not only for the physical benefits, but the fact that it is something so familiar- which is nice considering there has been lots of ‘newness’ in my life thanks to uni. So, whatever is familiar and important to you – maybe work, gym, a club, dog walks etc, make sure you still do this activity with as much normality as possible. By that I mean, try to do it on the same days as usual, at the same time with the same people.

When I realised the gym has kept me on track this week, I nearly fell over. I’m not that kind of person. But breaking down the fact that it’s regular and normal to me, made me realise how important these sorts of things are, by way of giving us a sense of comfort.

Last year when I started uni, I took the whole week off work and socialising just so I could focus entirely on uni. It gave me false reality- and I felt like I was missing out on other parts of my life.

Uni is a new priority

I mentioned *the resistance* I felt towards uni last year, and to be honest, I still felt a bit of that this year. I didn’t know how much extra study time I’d be able to fit into my days.

But, I think the fact that I’m enjoying my course so much more is making it easier for me to allow time to do my readings and stuff, even when I’d prefer to be doing other things.

I’m not a very academically motivated person, I tend to procrastinate. So I am scared when it comes time to do a different subject, that if I don’t like it, I won’t study for it.

But we’ll cross that bridge when we get to it haha

For now, I dedicate my train rides home from uni to doing uni work. I connect to my phone’s hotspot and finish off class notes, or do my pre/post class activities. It’s a 40 minute train journey, and often I take some time to eat too.

But it’s one habit I’m trying to implement whilst my brain is still in ‘uni mode’ to try and get uni stuff done, rather than just scroll my phone.

Every uni day this week, however, I’ve still had to do more work once I’ve got home, but getting into on the train makes it seem less daunting, and I have a clear direction for the work I need to get done once I’m home.

Due to my work schedule this week too, I’ve had no time to get uni work done of Wednesday or Friday. So I had these time constraints on me to make sure I did get all my uni work done so I didn’t have to focus on it then.

I guess my point here is find out how to manage your new priority of uni, alongside your other existing priorities. You may not find an even balance. You can only do so much. But realising that you have to make some changes is a good thing to face before you actually start, so it’s not so much of a shock to the system!

Understand your fears

I was scared to defer my place at uni last year because I felt like it would put me one year behind my peers. I was also scared that I was just ‘giving up’ on uni, because it’s actually not supposed to be easy- and I was scared by how hard it was.

And to be honest, it’s only been the fact that I have now started a new course that I was able to finally let go of these fears.

Am I behind my peers? NO! Not only is every single person on their own path and journey in life and that should be reason enough not to compare, but also because of this – only one person in my course is straight out of high school. It is more common than I realised, to NOT go straight to uni.

Is uni hard? YES! I can’t gloss over that… but I was not ‘giving up’ on my course because I thought it was hard. I gave up on it because I wasn’t happy. In just one week, it made me miserable. When I decided to defer, I felt like all this weight lifted off my shoulders and in 2019 I was the happiest I’d ever been.

But now in 2020, I am even happier!

Because I’m doing a course that I love, after only one week.

If it doesn’t feel right, it isn’t.

** And I just want to clarify too, that whilst I’ve found this experience to be mostly positive, I’ve actually cried a few times this week. I’m tired, overwhelmed and stressed. I’m not perfect and I’m still getting used to this new aspect of my life.

So, wide-eyed-new-uni-student, my advice to you, is TRUST YOURSELF!!!!!

Good luck, I believe in you… to make the best decision for you at this moment.

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