What I wish I would have known before starting my 3rd year at university.

Having just completed my 3rd and final year at university, I thought I would write a blog on what I wished I would have known before starting my 3rd year, so prospective students are aware of these things.

Workload

From my experience, the workload was more intense in my 3rd year and more things overlapped. If I would have known this prior to starting my 3rd year at university I may have taken the opportunity to socialise more in my 1st and 2nd year.

Regarding the workload, it is essential that time management is put in place. I have used tools such as diaries and wall calendars to ensure my time management was effective throughout my three years at university. Effective time management resulted in me being able to have a social and work life.

Furthermore, food preparation also helped me to ensure when I did have a lot of work, I didn’t have to spend a lot of time preparing and cooking food. This included preparing dishes such as Bolognese and curries and freezing them in portions. This has helped to save time whilst at university, giving me more time to be able to study or socialise.

Getting a ‘good’ classification

Although getting a high classification is important to enable you to progress on to things like a master’s degree it’s not the ‘be all and end all’. There is a lot of pressure in 3rd year with the workload and applying for jobs. I tried to have a positive mental attitude and not put the extra pressure on myself to get a high classification, as long as I passed my degree, I needed to be proud of myself whatever grade I got overall. The main thing is coming out of university with a degree and a job or postgraduate education to progress onto.

Finishing university and starting a job

When finishing university, I noticed the gap I would have where no student finance money would be coming into my bank account, so I wouldn’t have any income until I started earning money when I started a graduate job. I think if I would have known this when starting university in my 1st year, I would have made sure I earnt and saved enough money to cover these months to ensure I could enjoy the last few months off before starting work.

Job shop is a great service provided by the university. https://www.cardiffstudents.com/jobs-skills/jobshop/students/ The website enables you to look at flexible jobs available for students. I have been able to gain work with Job shop to help me to tie myself over the months between graduating and not having a job. Job shop is available throughout your university life, so knowing you will have the gap between graduating and starting a job, Job shop is a great opportunity to earn money to enable you to save so you don’t have to stress about it in the future.