PEDESTRIAN.TV has partnered with The University Of Queensland to help make your transition from school to uni a lil’ easier. UQ Open Day – taking place at the St Lucia campus on August 7, then at the Gatton campus on August 21 – will give you an insight into what uni life’s all about. Keep reading to find out more about the event before planning your day by heading HERE.
University, much like navigating your first fling with bae, is best entered into with some sound advice. Are we the best ones to be providing you with that advice? Hmmm, that’s debatable.
JOKES LEL. We reckon we know our stuff, predominantly because P.TV‘s staff have done their dash (and then some) at campuses Australia-wide. Collectively, we’ve rounded-up 11 points we wish someone would’ve bloody told us before starting at uni.
Good luck, person of the internet, on all of your tertiary endeavours.
1. Your tutors / lecturers aren’t going to force you to do your work like high school teachers do.
Tutors and lecturers want to see you do well, but they’re not gonna call up your ‘rents and tell them you haven’t submitted something. The lack of pressure can come as a shock if you’re not prepped for it.
2. Worship your course outline like a holy scripture, ‘cause it’ll be your saving grace.
Your course outline is designed to cover all bases in terms of what’s expected of you, as well as when you’ll need to deliver your assignments / sit your exams. If you have any questions about your course or assignments, there’s a good chance it’ll have the answer you’re chasing. The most frustrating thing you’ll experience pre-semester will be waiting for your course outline to be released – it’s enough to drive the average person to the brink of insanity.
3. Have a crack at making friends with your peers, ‘cause those mates could end up being mates for life.
Photo: Friends / NBC.
Y’know when you meet someone whose interests are so similarly aligned with yours and you’re just like “damn, is this some sort of orchestration of fate, lol”? If you keep an open mind, that’ll happen a lot at uni. Why? Well, considering an interest in what you’re studying is advantageous to your degree, you’re bound to meet like-minded folk undergoing your program.
4. Study something you want to, not something you’ve been pressured into. If you’re digging it, the motivation to do the work will come naturally.
Uni’s an avenue for you to carve out the rest of your existence, which is ace. Don’t study something your parents or friends want you to, ’cause ain’t nobody got time to wake up at 40 and think, “what have I done with my life?”
5. Even though there’s a lot less contact hours than school, it ain’t gonna be super chill. The workload will likely be a lot more full on than what you’re used to.
You’ll be needing to conduct in-depth research for assignments, manage your required readings and generally put a lot more effort into your work to succeed at uni. Just because you’re not there from 9AM-3PM erryday doesn’t mean it’s all going to be easy.
6. Make a bangin’ budget and stick to it. Balancing your finances at uni doesn’t have to be as hard as it’s made out to be.
Photo: David McNew / Getty.
Depending on your employment sitch, balancing your cash while at uni can be hard. That being said, it’s not as if it isn’t possible. Just like everything else with uni, it’s your responsibility to be a savvy saver, so make a budget and stick to it.
7. Don’t let your new-found independence make you go cray cray. Just because you don’t have to go to your lectures doesn’t mean you shouldn’t.
Yep, your study’s all on you. So is distributing your time to get everything done. If you reckon the freedom will go to your head, put some structures in place to keep you focused.
8. If you’re chasing insider info, wanna make connections and generally have an A+ time, then head to a uni’s open day.
UQ Open Day – taking place at the St Lucia campus on August 7, then at the Gatton campus on August 21 – is a must-attend if you’re wanting to learn what uni life’s all about. In addition to chatting with tutors, lecturers and students who’ll share pearls of wisdom about the transition you’re about to make, there’s a whole bunch of other fab stuff going down, including:
- Campus and accommodation tours
- Happy Paws Happy Hearts (PUPPIES, PEOPLE. PUPPIES?!?!)
- Orange Sky Laundry (the champs who wash clothes for the homeless)
- A virtual reef (using Google cardboard)
- Food trucks (jam-packed with festival staples like popcorn and fairy floss)
- The Brisbane Broncos
- A Spotify chill out zone
- Ben Milbourne (Masterchef finalist)
If you’d like to plan your day (yep, you can do that), or if you’re just wanting more info, then head over HERE.
9. Be savvy and buy your books second-hand, but be sure to check they’re the edition you need for your course.
Just like with many things in life, you don’t need to buy things outright – and that includes your text books. Be careful, however, to have the edition of the book your unit requires. Assigned readings or keeping up in lectures is near-impossible if your second hand text book and the latest version don’t correlate.
10. Uni assignments aren’t like high school ones, which means leaving ‘em to the last minute won’t be possible.
Uni assignments often involve conducting interviews, or scouring through 400-pages worth of research to back up your points. Get a jump on them ASAP.
11. Don’t be afraid to throw ya hand up and ask a question. Odds are there’s someone else wondering the same thing.
If you’re lost during a lecture or tutorial, make sure you ask what the hell’s going on. Seeing as lectures, for instance, cater to so many students (often more than 100), they just keep going unless otherwise prompted. If you’re struggling, trust us when we say that someone else is in the same boat, so don’t feel awkward about raising your hand.
Wanna learn more about what to expect from uni? UQ Open Day is your go-to destination for answering your burning, uni-related Q’s. UQ’s gawjus campus and world-class facilities will be all yours to explore to get you hyped for your academic kick-off. Oh, and if organisation is your forte, you can plan your day by heading HERE, or by downloading the nifty UQ Open Day app (iOS HERE and Android HERE).
Photo: Gossip Girl / Warner Bros.
