A Degree of Helpful Advice

I have been working on this post for a quite a long time but have taken a while to get round to posting it. Now I have, it doesn’t seem that well-timed, bearing in mind no one has been at university for a while, and will be dealing with a new way of learning when they do return. However, I hope this is helpful to some of you, providing some things to keep in mind for those who will be returning to uni later this year. And in fact, some of this advice shouldn’t just be applied to university study.

 

Everyone knows university is tough. Being away from home, the workload, the endless comparison… As you may know, I’m doing a languages degree, and I was originally going to write this as a ‘top tips for learning languages’ post. But when I started writing it, I realised my advice could apply to the general university degree. Because even if it a were a post on learning languages, it was never going to be advice like ‘use Quizlet’ or ‘learn ten new words a day’, which may be useful and a good idea, but is a bit boring and sometimes unrealistic.

However, as a quick disclaimer, this is still based on my experience and is my personal advice. Of course, everyone is different, with different backgrounds, motivations, and university experiences. And every degree is taught differently too. But, as said, it may be useful to just keep these things in mind.

Going to university, I have learnt one of the toughest things (in the academic sense) is the guilt I feel daily of not doing enough work. Being lazy or unproductive, giving up too fast, not putting enough effort into the tasks, not getting tasks done quickly. Not doing ‘extra work’. Ah yes, that thing you should be doing, and if you’re interested in your degree, should want to do... but I have learnt to be realistic about this.

I fully recognise that you go to university to learn, knowing the workload, knowing it was your choice, and pursuing your interests. However, it’s important to be kind to yourself too, and you are human, not a machine. Guilt does nothing helpful for you. A lot of the time, you’ll be doing what you’re capable of in that moment. If you’re finding it hard to focus, not working efficiently, and taking lots of breaks, you could take it as a sign that you need a break. Then, try to let go of the day so far and start again later, or the next day.

And remember, a lot of the time, it can be about task, not time. If you are working efficiently, and have ticked off jobs, don’t feel like you need to then find more work to do for another three hours so you’re not sitting around doing nothing. Take that break. You’ll find that you’ll work a lot better when you do return, having given your brain a rest.

I think guilt surrounding work applies to me a lot. I often struggle with motivation in my degree as it’s not something I want a career in, and it's not my biggest passion (more on this later). So, I don’t often have the motivation to do this aforementioned ‘extra work’. But, I do the homework, I go to class, and I try my best. And I’ve come to see that’s enough for me (it turns out to be a lot anyway!). My course sets a lot of work, so once I’m on top of it all, I deserve to look after myself and have a break.

Also, remember that, even though you have made the decision to go to university knowing the workload, there is so much more to going than the work. Societies, exploring the city, building friendships, looking after your mental wellbeing, they should be your priorities too. (Read that last one again). Remember, your university experience is your life at that point, and life isn’t all about work.

 

Next, comparing yourself to others. You know, that thing you will spend your whole life trying to get away from and never succeeding to do so? At the beginning of my second year, one of the German tutors brought this up. She reminded us that we are on a different trajectory to everyone else, so only focus on your own journey (as cheesy as that sounds). You have no idea where other people have come from, what their background is, but more importantly, what’s going through their head about their own insecurities and things they struggle with. Trust me, they will always be there! Something you find easier, they may find harder, and vice versa.

For example, in my degree programme, there are a lot of people who are very advanced in Spanish, some having Spanish parents, and I came to university only having studied it for three years of secondary school and still not knowing the parts of the body or being that great at the future or preterite tense (I hope none of my lecturers are reading this). I still struggle with this wide spectrum of ability of course, but I try to remind myself that I’m doing okay. I’m where I need to be, I’m doing the work and I’m learning. And, with such a varied degree, it means I probably find other parts easier or more interesting than some do (literature, for example).

The way I feel about my ‘learning journey’ and my mind-set is still developing, but all we can do is try our best.

Thirdly, your degree is not the be-all-and-end-all. Not everyone does their degree because they want to go into it for a career. That’s okay. I know this cause that’s what I’m doing. I don’t want a career primarily focused in languages, and I’m not interested in corporate or office or teaching jobs. I’m doing my degree because I want to be able to speak them fluently, I was pretty good at them, I get the opportunity to have a lot of focuses of study and a wide breadth of knowledge, and also, just because I wanted to go to university, and it was the course that made the most sense to do. Of course, I fully encourage you to follow your passions, whatever they may be. But know that, if these change along the way, or if it wasn’t something you pursued at the time, that’s okay too. 

You gain so much from going to university besides it throwing you into your dream job. You can do it just to get a degree. Along the way, you’ll pick up so many skills, meet some great people, and gain an invaluable life experience.

 

Evie x