1. Early nights will be an everyday kind of thing -

Since being in third year I have rarely been able to stay up past midnight. I don't know if it's the earlier mornings or the mental stress that has increased over the years but I am always extremely exhausted by dinner time.

While in first and second year I could easily stay up well into the early hours of the morning but I have now resorted to my elderly self and end up in bed by 10pm.

2. No one prepares you for the stress and pressure you will feel 24/7 -

First year is a breeze, second year is when you start to take things a bit more seriously however, when third year arrives, you'll find yourself having nightmares about the extensive amount of work you have to do.

All of the work you do in third year (minus one module for us) counts towards your degree and therefore, that means you instantly feel the pressure to work hard and get your best grades. However, this doesn't come easily when you have deadlines, exams, a presentation to prepare for, a dissertation to write and volunteering on the side. As you tick things off your 'to do list', you're only adding more things on and it becomes an endless cycle of feeling constantly behind.

3. You will continue to deny the existence of your dissertation for as long as possible -

When you don't have weekly lectures to attend to regarding it and the whole thing is down to your independent scheduling, it is so easy to pretend it doesn't exist. The stress of carrying out a research project, analysing the data and then writing 8,000 words on it, doesn't sound like a lot of fun. Therefore, it becomes a repetitive cycle of pretending you have all the time in the world when instead, the clock is ticking down fast.

4. Your dissertation process is nothing like you expected it to be -

As a Psychology student we carry out a piece of independent research for our dissertation and then produce a write up of it. A huge part of that is obviously the data collection aspect and when I was a first and second year student I thought this would be the super easy however, that is so far from the truth. 

Getting participants to take part in your study is a case of begging and pleading people who are reluctant to do it just so you can scrape the target number you put on your ethics. This results in spending a lot of your time wishing you had picked a different idea or chosen a much smaller target sample number. 

Unfortunately though as a second year student planning your idea, you were too enthusiastic for the following year to ever understand how much stress you were placing on yourself.

5. Your overdraft will become your best friend -

The idea of going into my overdraft during first or second year was absolutely terrifying and I did everything to ensure I stayed well clear of it. However, fast forward to third year and I have spent the whole of semester 1 and 2 just sitting comfortably in a sea of negative numbers. It no longer feels like the end of the world and just becomes the norm.

6. You will realise that although you have gained a good set of 'adulting' skills - cooking probably isn't one of them -

After a couple of years experience of having to cook for myself, you'd think I'd have the whole cooking thing perfected by now - or near enough anyway. However, it is most definitely the opposite and I feel as though I am getting worse. Although I always have good intensions and tell myself I will follow a real recipe one night, by dinner time I am usually too exhausted to cook anything fancy and opt for something like pasta instead.

7. You will have learned to deal with the most random situations over the three years of living away. Nothing will ever faze you again!

Here are a few personal examples...

1. Using outside as a fridge for a week when our one decided to break on us

2. Finding the biggest slugs sitting under the fridge at night yet not knowing how they got in

3. Having a leak dripping from the kitchen ceiling which was coming straight from the bathroom

4. Having to collect water from a broken washing machine with a beer glass and it taking about 20 trips to and from the sink

5. Constant power cuts due to the mystery electrical item triggering the the main switch

6. Having unwelcoming visits from bed bugs in my friends room and figuring out how to get rid of them

7. Living with eight plus different people within only two semesters - not knowing who will be coming or going next becomes the norm

8. Realising the way to fix a squeaky door is to use hair serum spray!

9. and living in a loud building site throughout an important exam period and still managing to get some of my best grades

8. You will find friends that will last a lifetime -

In my opinion, the key to a successful and happy university experience is finding people who you can share the experience with. When moving away from your family, creating a 'university family' will make getting through those tough times so much easier. 

These will be the people you tackle the stress with, learn all the adult skills with and enjoy all the happy times with too. They will be the strangers you met for the first time a few years ago and chances are, you will probably remember that first awkward conversation too! They will feel like a family and as though you have known them all your life and that's because you have experienced some of the most crucial skills and life lessons alongside them.

9. You will look back and realise how much you have changed over the past few years -

One of the biggest things I have gained from attending Uni is confidence. 

If I look back at the girl who arrived on her first day of first year, she is far from the person I am now. I have done some things since being here that I never would have done a few years ago and it's given me the confidence to tackle the big and the small hurdles I have faced.

Although third year may be stressful, it is the happiest I have been in a very long time. I feel like I have learned so much and grown as a person over the past few years that I'm much more content and confident in my self and abilities.

There is still a long way to go with a lot of deadlines and exams to complete but all the stress will definitely be worth it on graduation. Alongside being awarded my degree, I will also be able to appreciate and reflect back on all the life skills I have picked up along the way.

♥