Going to university?

Sup Witches! ⭐

If you're starting university this September, you're probably going through a whole range of emotions currently. From excitement (the elation of moving away from home) through to anxiousness (the fear of moving away from home). For many of you it will be your first taste of going at it alone (although you won't really be alone, there's loads of help out there for students these days), and you might suddenly find yourself forced to think about things you've never had to think about before, like "How can I feed myself regularly and still have a social life?" 🤔

Well, there's plenty of student cookbooks out there if you're not already a dab hand in the kitchen. Invest in some tuppaware, because making big batches of stuff that you can then freeze for later is gonna be a life saver, honestly. There's plenty of cheap grub you can live off without making yourself ill. Expect to get through a lot of pasta and baked beans over the next 3/4 years. Tinned or frozen fruit and veg is pretty handy for getting your vitamins too, since it's inexpensive and doesn't spoil, just don't make the mistake of getting tinned fruit preserved in syrup, that's not gonna do any good for your teeth or for your waistline. 🍒

Some of you might be worried about losing touch with certain friends, some of you might be worried about making new friends, but trust me, everyone you'll meet there is going through the same stuff. You're all in the same boat and you'll be going through the transition of leaving home together. If you're staying in Halls of Residence, chances are you'll make some good friends there. But if you don't gel with anyone you're living with, don't worry, you've got your course-mates, whom obviously share a mutual interest with you, and even better than that, you have societies. 🕺💃

There are loads of societies nowadays that cater to all sorts of interests, from anime fans to kayaking enthusiasts. You're bound to find a society that interests you. For me it was Rock Soc: we'd just get together in a pub every week, listen to metal, go to gigs now and then, and once a month we'd have a clubnight on campus that didn't involve all the usual chart anthems that you'd hear everywhere else. There's even Harry Potter & Quidditch societies now at a lot of unis, so all you budding young witches and wizards are set! They might even let a few muggles in. 🧹

Another thing you're going to experience, unless you have a real strong moral objection, is a heavy increase in nights out! No such thing as weekends when you're at uni, there's clubnights on pretty much every night of the week. All I can say about this really is take advantage of the fact that you can go out till 3am on a Tuesday and still make it to your 9am lecture on the Wednesday, because that ability is not something that will stay with you in your later years. I do also feel the need to add a word of caution to this section: when you go out, don't go home alone, don't carry on drinking if you feel ill, and don't ingest anything if you don't know 100% what's in it! We don't want you to hurt yourself, and neither do your friends: if you hurt yourself you'll ruin the night for the rest of them, and you don't want to be that person. 🍸

If you're expecting uni to be one long party, well you're kinda right to be honest. But still, don't expect it to be a total doss! ESPECIALLY after first year! Realistically, you wanna knuckle down in the first year really. Get your head around the whole structure of your course, what's expected of you, the facilities on offer to you (the library will be your sanctuary) and try and get yourself into a decent working routine, because once you get into second year, it's serious business! 📚

Hopefully now you might feel a little less nervous about starting uni. Potentially you feel more nervous (sorry). Either way, you will have a blast. There will be ups and there may be downs, but hopefully way more ups. You will make memories that stay with you for life (if you can actually remember anything) and hopefully also some lifelong friends. Remember to make use of all the help and facilities on offer to you, don't be afraid to try new things (in fact we insist that you do!) and be tolerant of other people, because there'll be a real mixed bag of folks wherever you're going. 👍

Good luck from everyone at R + W! ❤️