When I moved to the UK to undergo my undergraduate studies, I was a mixed bag of nerves and excitement. I had heard stories of the university experience here before, but I truly didn’t know what to expect and how to make the most out of it. Fast forward to three years later, I’ve made some of my best memories at university! Here are five lessons that I’ve learnt that I wish I knew coming into the experience that may help you:
1. Sports clubs are a lot less intimidating than you think
In my first year of University, I was under the impression that to be a part of a sports club you had to have the skills to play at a highly competitive level, similar to what the NCAAs in North America was like. As I found out in my second year, I couldn’t be more wrong.
Although some sports in certain universities do compete at a competitive national level (like mine did), most clubs across all British universities have multiple teams for all different levels, from complete beginners to aspiring professionals.
More importantly, every club is extremely welcoming to even non-playing members to participate in social events, and most clubs actually have more non-playing social members than playing members. And don’t get me wrong, competition is fun and important, but some of mine and my friends’ best memories related to sports at University were actually the socials, not the tournaments.
So don’t be nervous and go join a sports club, even if it’s one you’ve never played before. You might find yourself becoming an executive member of the club and playing for the first team one day like I did!
2. Take seminar preparation seriously
One thing that I struggled to adjust to academically in the UK was the lack of contact hours I had with teaching staff. Lectures were largely non-participatory and conducted with hundreds of students in the room, and we only had one hour of seminars per module per week.
This meant that I only had four hours in a week where I could truly talk and engage with my professors or seminar leaders. This was a stark contrast to high school and my preferred learning style, which involved a lot of discussion and back-and-forth.
How I learned to adjust to this was to prepare very well for those seminars— if one hour was all I got, I needed to be determined and well-prepared to make the most out of it. This meant doing all the readings, preparing answers to all the questions posited for discussion and to prepare my own questions beforehand.
It may sound like a lot of work, but it’s so important to do as this means that you will make the most out of the one hour you have with your professor, instead of just sitting there without a clue on what your coursemates are discussing.
And trust me, it will come in especially handy when you’re studying for your exams in the summer term. You won’t be able to prepare perfectly for every seminar every week (I certainly didn’t), but it is so important to try your best for your own good.
3. Best friends don’t always make the best flatmates
In your first year you live in university halls with random people (who, if you’re lucky, will turn out to be some of your best mates), but in your second and third year, you have to find your own bunch to live with in town. I learnt the lesson that the people who make you laugh the most won’t always be the best co-habitors very early on into my university experience, as I found that some of my flatmates who were my best friends (and who still are to this day) were nightmares to live with.
They were either dirty, or were never home, or like to host pre-drinks at the flat a little too often without informing the flat beforehand. It’s so important to consider these things when picking a flatmate! Yes, you have to like them, but your living styles also have to be compatible.
The house-hunting process can be extremely intimidating, as you don’t want to be without a flat, but trust me, take your time in deciding who you want to live with. Your budgets, location desires and expectations have to match. Just be patient and don’t be afraid to have honest discussions with your friends if you don’t think you would be suitable living together. If they’re truly good friends, they would understand.
4. Don’t bother trying to predict the weather
If there’s one thing that’s for certain with British weather, it’s that it’s notoriously unpredictable. You can get four seasons in one day (more like three— it is never sunny or warm!), and the rain is always too stormy and windy for umbrellas to protect you against anything.
Here are a few tips and bits of advice I have to impart when it comes to the weather:
wear a lot of layers that you can take on or off whenever, and to make sure that your coat has a hood so that you can shield yourself from any rain. Don’t bother checking the weather app, even God doesn’t know how the day’s weather will pan out in the UK. Don’t be too upset if you wake up, pull back your curtains and find that the sky is literally grey— because that will be most mornings.
In the winter, get out into nature as much as you can during the daytime so that the longer nights don’t affect your mood as much. If you do look outside one day and fine that the skies are clear and the sun is shining— run, don’t walk to go outside because you’ll probably want to make the most out of it. Lastly, the British love complaining about the weather to one another— so if you ever need to vent, go forth, you won’t be the only one!
5. You should actually read in reading week
(but you probably won’t!)
If you do a social-sciences based degree (like I did), you will get one week off of classes during half-term in what is called a reading week. And yes, as the name suggests, you should probably spend that week catching up on your readings and lectures that you’ve missed from all those days spent hungover and tired.
In my first few terms of university, I’d spend my reading weeks travelling and relaxing, treating it as a half term holiday. As fun as it was, it didn’t feel great when I was studying for my exams in April and I realised that I was missing notes that I should have taken in November the year before! What I did towards the latter terms of my university experience was that I would plan trips towards the end of my reading week (so effectively a long-weekend break), but plan to spend the first few days of that week diligently doing what I was supposed to be doing— reading.
That way, I got my trip but I also didn’t hate myself a few months down the line during exam season— now that’s what I call a win-win!
My conclusion
The UK is an amazing place to study, and I truly had the best time. I hope some of the lessons I’ve shared with you today will help make your transition into this new country and this new experience easier for you.
The bottom line is to make the most out of your time there, and say yes to everything within reason, of course!