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Deciding to go to university is a big decision and from the very beginning is not easy. From choosing what you want to study through till graduation, the road is bumpy and whilst the experience is life changing, it is by no means a walk in the park.
When you make the decision to go to university, you have to fill out your UCAS application, write out your dreaded personal statement which takes about 3 months of editing and once its complete, you feel like you have discovered yourself in a whole new light of bigheadedness. It is by far the most embarrassing thing I have written and read about myself to date.
After submitting your application, you face the long days of obsessively checking your emails waiting for the ‘Something has changed on your UCAS application’ email. Then come the days of delight or sadness when you check your application and find you have been accepted or rejected. I remember screaming when I got accepted by my University. Best. Day. Ever!!!
In my case, I also had to sit the LNAT, which also determined my acceptance at university because, when you apply to do law, some universities set the LNAT as an entry requirement. Even worse is the fact that there is no set mark you should achieve on this horrendously difficult critical thinking test. You must simply achieve, or go beyond, the average mark for that year. In the year I took the LNAT, the average score was around 21 out of 40 questions… that just proves the difficulty of it.
Then comes the actual studying at university. Of course I speak from the point of view of an overly tired law student, but the hours of studying are never ending. The list of reading has no end. Not only do we have university contact hours, but for each contact hour is at least one hour of independent study and on top of that, there are extra readings. Oh and don’t forget the attempt at balancing a social life and remembering to eat. Of course there is sometimes a fun side to all of this but that does depend a whole lot on the time your degree allows for you to have fun. Most of the people I know at university have tough degrees and are swamped with work. When asking to meet with friends, the response is usually ‘cool let’s go to the library together’ or ‘I have too many readings but *insert obscure timing* works well for me’ and we can’t forget the messages of desperation for example ‘OMG I NEED CHOCOLATE AND COFFEE SEND HELP!!!’
I’m sure by now you see that being at university is not as easy as people assume it to be. All those people talking about how ‘students get paid to be at university’ no we don’t. Firstly, most of us have taken out loans of £9000 which he have to pay back, along with the compound interest on that (so the interest accumulates interest) and then we have the maintenance loans (because yes, we need to live). The maintenance loan does not even cover a years worth of rent so that means, if you are not lucky enough to receive a grant, you have to ask your parents for thousands of pounds and where your parents aren’t lucky enough to be able to support you like that, you have to get a job. Getting a job means juggling more time. Don’t forget that you need to visit home sometimes too and more often than not, you really NEED to visit home, because you miss your home comforts and hate living under so much stress.
Sometimes, universities do help with things like scholarships and student hardship funds, but these are conditional. For example, I was lucky enough to be accepted to receive a scholarship but this is conditional on me maintaining a high standard of performance at university i.e. I have to consistently achieve an overall grade of a 2:1 and that is not as easy as it seems, especially doing law at one of the toughest marking law schools in the country.
If you live in a rented house (which I have done for the past 2 years) you have to pay bills, set up joint accounts with your housemates, put up with a really cold house because you have to choose between being warm and having food (food always wins). Most people have to put up with horrible landlords who don’t care about the mould on the walls or the leaky ceiling (because they don’t take students seriously).
Another major issue faced by students is mental health. Universities have different ways of dealing with mental health, some better than others. Nevertheless, it still remains an issue. Suicide is not unheard of and there are instances where the stress of university is so much that it drives people to suicide. All too often students have to suffer in silence. We have welfare officers at halls and in Student Unions to help people with mental health issues, to encourage people to talk about their feelings. Being away from home and being in such an intense environment takes its toll more than you can imagine.
Despite all of these things you have to juggle and deal with, you have the added pressure of society; the place where it is deemed acceptable to trash students, stereotype them and neglect the fact that we are HUMAN BEINGS TRYING TO MAKE SOMETHING OF OURSELVES. Society is quick to judge us for going out to a party, because apparently we shouldn’t be able to spend money on fun things and should be stuck in our rooms studying (even more than we already are) so that we lose our minds.
Also, as students we like to stand up for things we care about like the increase in student fees and the junior doctors contracts or racism, Islamophobia and things like Project Transform that will affect so many students at universities. However, when we do these things, we get called ungrateful or are accused of wreaking social havoc because we only care about ourselves. Ok. We will stop letting ourselves have a voice then shall we? Then society will start blaming this generation of students for the next generation of students’ problems because we ‘didn’t stand up against it’.
It baffles me as to why, as a group of people, students are often looked at so unfavourably. People don’t consider all those student nurses who are looking after patients for free. All those medical students working in hospitals to look after the society that shuns them. Those science students making scientific breakthroughs everyday. The law students challenging the law and volunteering at places like the Citizens Advice Bureau. Everyday we make so many contributions to the world we all live in and we don’t do this for ourselves, we do it for society, because we want to build a better living environment. We want a better place for everyone to live in.
It disgusts me to see people saying things like ‘well students get paid to study anyway’ or ‘all they do is spend their money on alcohol’ not to mention the ‘why are they going on holiday, shouldn’t they be studying?’ Firstly, these people need to keep their mind on their own business, what we are doing is not affecting them and when it does affect them, then they have the right to comment. Secondly, students deserve a break and you will not understand this until you are a student yourself.
We move away from home to study. We study to build our minds so we are equipped to progress and help society progress. I have dreams of travelling and I have dreams of achieving as a lawyer. University has opened so many doors for me and YES I PARTY because I work hard too. So, before you jump to conclusions about what it is really like to be a student, think about the issues we face on a daily basis. Think twice before you make any ignorant comments about being a student.
I would also like to whole heartedly thank every single person out there who appreciates the struggles of a student. To my family, my friends not at university and everyone else who understands what students go through, thank you. Your support means so much to me and I will never, ever forget that.
Good luck to all the students out there taking a few minutes to read this. Good luck with your revision and with your exams. GO GET IT!
All love xoxo
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My 2 great tools for revision: almonds and a pencil because 'The pencil is mightier than the mouse'
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