Lessons I Learned During My Time at University in Scotland 🏴
St Andrews, ScotlandThroughout our lives, we have a certain amount of structure. Through elementary, middle, and high school and even through college/university we have some life structure in the form of required classes, extracurriculars, and set goals. There’s always a next step to work towards.
I remember being so excited when I started university to have all this free time to myself and take all the classes I wanted before realizing I had to take some required classes I didn’t like and . . . my free time? It was swallowed up by studying, cleaning, and figuring out how to live on my own.
My case is slightly unique in the fact that I went to university in a completely new country (Scotland!) at age 16 and have just graduated, now 20. Below I have shared a few of the many lessons I learned during my time at university - I hope you find them helpful! 😊
Research everything yourself
When I first started university, I was thrown off my game. All throughout high school most of the information (even in my AP classes) was spoon-fed and there wasn’t much external research you had to do to get an A. UK schools in particular are known for being quite hands-off and you only attend lecturers and possibly tutorials if your module has them. The coursework is usually one or two pages of text outlining your task, and then you’re sent off to write the program yourself. I came to University with essentially 0 coding experience - I knew some HTML,CSS, and JavaScript and that was it. I quickly learned that in order to keep up in class, I had to extensively research everything I didn’t understand. I checked out Java textbooks from the library, watched YouTube tutorials, and scoured StackOverflow for explanations about code. It was a steep learning curve but in the end, the research skills I learned are extremely valuable.
Google first, ask second 💻
It can be intimidating to email a lecturer and ask for a 1-1 meeting if you’re confused and need clarification about some of the material. My best advice is to Google first, ask second. Meaning, thoroughly prepare for your meeting. Come up with a list of questions you have, make notes about what you researched and what you still don’t understand. That way, your teacher can see you’ve done your homework and know what you need help with.
Get comfortable speaking up in class 🙋🏻♀️
This one was hard for me during uni but get comfortable speaking in class! Answer questions the teacher asks even if you’re not 100% sure, and ask questions of your own. When new information is being taught, your teacher doesn’t expect you to have all the answers or know everything about a topic. Even if you think your question isn’t important - ask it. Chances are, someone else in the classroom has the exact same question and are too nervous to ask. It’s great to get used to speaking up in public and using your voice, it will make you more confident!
Networking is important! 🗣️
Networking is a difficult topic. Sometimes when you attend networking events it can feel like people are only interested in how they can leverage you as a connection to get where they want to be, and it’s not a good feeling. However, I like to think of networking as simply connecting with people. Whenever I go to networking events, I try to think of people as potential friends and talk about shared experiences and interests. Especially with tech, it’s often hard to explain to my friends what I do but at tech networking events, there’s a room full of people who understand exactly what you do and you can connect about it! Of course networking is also important because post-uni if you’re looking for a job, it can be very valuable to know people who work at the company or in the sector who can help you out. It’s like that saying, it’s not what you know - it’s who you know.
Grades aren’t everything 🤷🏻♀️
Especially in the UK where you have degree rankings, grades are not that important in the end. When you graduate, people aren’t going to ask what your ‘GPA’ was out of 20. They’re just going to ask what degree class you got, and job qualifications usually just ask if you got a First (1) or Second: Division 1 (2:1). There are going to be some classes that are badly taught and boring, and while it may be tempting to try for a 20 each time this can quickly lead to burnout. I recommend picking which classes you’re passionate about and working hard on those pieces of coursework. For the others, aim for a fairly good grade but don’t stress if you got a 2.1 on an assignment instead of a 1st! My last semester was cut short due to covid and one thing I wish I had done more of was just hanging out with friends and enjoying life in uni. It’s easy to get caught up in classes and work, but as we all know - work isn’t everything.
Make time for hobbies 🥧 🎶 📚 ✈️
For the first 2 years of uni, I was so caught up in coursework that I abandoned the hobbies I used to have. Going in to my 3rd year, I started making time for hobbies I enjoyed including baking, singing, reading, and traveling. Everyone needs time to de-stress and hobbies are the perfect way to do so. Also, remember that everything you do doesn’t need to monetized. I saw this post the other day that was talking about how in this capitalist culture, we want to make money off everything we do even our hobbies. I recently took up sewing because I’m interested in sustainability and wanted to learn how to make a dress and there is 0 profit, just a fun learning experience for me. Of course there’s nothing wrong with trying to make a little extra cash on the side to support yourself but remember that it’s also great to do things just for yourself!
Since graduating, I’ve been struck by this idea that I’m really, truly in charge of my own life. While that idea is terrifying, it’s also . . . exciting. Of course we are always in charge of our own lives, but now that I’ve finished my formal, structured education I’m realizing that it’s up to me to decide what I want to work on, what makes me happy, what I want to achieve. Recently, I have been journaling and trying to identify what I want to do with this next chapter of my life. Whatever it ends up being, I’m looking forward to working on projects that I am passionate about with people who are just as excited!
I hope these tips helped for those of you who are about to start University or are currently studying for your degree! If you’ve already graduated, comment below and let me know one tip you wish you could have told yourself before starting uni. Hope you all are staying safe and wearing masks and I’ll talk to you in the next post. 😊
