If you’re anything like me, the prospect of study at one of the most prestigious universities in the UK was both daunting and thrilling. I couldn’t wait to be surrounded by like-minded people and actually begin to understand who on earth I was, but simultaneously I was riddled with anxieties. Will I make friends? Am I even ‘clever’ enough for this course? How long until I go into my overdraft? It’s probably all swimming around in your head until you can’t take it anymore and open Tiktok as a mindless distraction. But that’s why you’re reading this! You’ve made the first step to figuring out how you’re going to deal with all this uncertainty and my 5 top tips will be your guide.
- Give yourself time.
Time to adjust, to make friends, to feel settled, to know what you’re doing. No one expects you to have it all figured out in the first week. Everything will come with time, and if you need to give yourself the space to put everything on pause, it is important to take that time for yourself too.
- Be open.
Sometimes, all you need to do is say yes to open up an amazing opportunity. Be open to new people, new activities, new places that you haven’t experienced before. Ultimately, if its not your cup of tea, don’t do it again! But there is no harm in just saying yes, okay, I’ll give it a go!
- There is no ‘should’.
During my first few weeks at King’s I had an overwhelming feeling that I ‘should’ be going out every day, I ‘should’ be talking to my flatmates and meeting loads of new people, I ‘should’ know the writer my lecturer mentioned when in fact I have no clue who they are talking about. But know that there is no ‘should’ there is just what you want to do, what makes you feel comfortable and what you know in this current moment. Ultimately, you’ve come to university to learn, how boring would it be if you knew everything and everyone already?
- Use the Open Library!!!
In my first week, I was inundated with books and articles and poems (I’m an English Lit student) several of which I had to source myself, and paying a tenner a week for a book is not feasible on a student budget. I signed up for the Open Library (or your local library online) where you can take out E-books online for free, just like you would with a physical book! This allowed me to keep on top of my studies within the first week (which should be top tip number 6) as that reading piles up pretty quickly!
- Budget, budget, budget!
Living in London on a student budget is tough, there is no sugar-coating it. Especially when every cute independent coffee shop is advertising pumpkin spiced lattes and you’re re-watching Gilmore Girls again. However, the best way to save your pennies is to set out a monthly budget, giving yourself a certain amount of money for travel, food, going out and treating yourself so that you’re not broke when second year rolls around. I started by living in London for a month with no budget, then tallied up my spending to see what I should be reasonably spending. And don’t underestimate the cost of travel! If you’re not within walking distance from your campus you will be getting the tube and the tube adds up – make sure to get your student Oyster card and maybe a monthly travel card if needed.
Now you are fully equipped to start your King’s journey, as intimidating as it may seem. Don’t forget that there have been thousands of students in the exact same position as you and they’ve all managed to come out the other side unscathed so you can to!