10 reasons it’s bloody fantastic being a student
Top 10 things you can only enjoy as a student
It’s the best time of your life! How often are you told that? Being a student means you get to move away from home, be your own person and live more or less how you want. But, there is a catch: being a student doesn’t last forever, and some of the things you take for granted right now will soon be over, and adult life will crash in like an early morning alarm.
But real life is still ages away. So while you’re still able to enjoy getting up at midday on a Monday morning, here’s 10 things you definitely need to take advantage of while you still can, because being a student is bloody fantastic!
1 Looooong Summer Holidays
What do you mean I have to come in during July and August? It’s summer!
If you went to university straight from college or sixth form, then summer only means one thing: NO LEARNING! You get a summer job, chill in the park all day, hang out with your friends all the time and get to go on holiday whenever you want. It’s what you often work so hard towards. You see an end and a break so you can finally relax.
Outside of university, work goes on even while the sun is shining through the window. So take advantage of the long summer holidays while you can. Travel, push the boat out be adventurous and build some cherished memories, while you have the spare time. You will thank yourself for it.
2 Your Own Schedule
It’s a simple plan. We’ve all made it: “I’m going to wake up at 7am tomorrow, get to the library for 9am and work solidly all day and be the most productive student that has ever existed”.
The suddenly it’s 11 am, you don’t even remember turning those alarms off and your laptop is open still playing those Game of Thrones theory videos you have become obsessed with.
The luxury of being a student is (apart from lectures), your time table is what you make it, and you can be as flexible as you want most of the time. But when you leave and get a job, 9-5, Monday to Friday is your most likely situation and the snooze button no longer remains an option.
Sometimes, it might seem like the stupidest idea ever, but being able to work to a 3pm-2am schedule is bloody marvelous.
3 Going Out on Weeknights
Your average Monday night as a student
You know why you rarely see non-students out on a Monday night? Because having a hangover on a Tuesday morning is the worst feeling in the world. Ever. At university, Monday to Thursday are perfectly reasonable evenings to hit the clubs. Plus these nights tend to also be ridiculously cheap and full of other students in the exact same situation.
It’s the privileged position of every student to tell yourself “Yeah I’m fine, I’ll definitely make it to my 9 am” as you stand in the street eating cheesy chips at 4 am. There’s no major repercussions if you don’t actually turn up. You won’t be able to explain to your boss you couldn’t make it in because you were at the Cra-Zee AllNiter last night. Unless you want to be sacked that is.
4 Being Able to Make a Withdrawal From the Bank of Mum and Dad
University is that dreamy middle world. Yes, you have left home, you are fending for yourself and need to budget and manage your own finances. That said, it’s two weeks until the end of term and you’ve been ordering too many Deliveroo’s so can no longer afford to eat.
Fortunately, a quick text is all it takes to borrow some money if you have been that much against budgeting yourself.
Being a student gives you that mix of freedom and still being able to rely on your parents for whenever something goes wrong.
It is still perfectly acceptable to go home for a night just to do your washing and get a food shop bought for you. Post uni, that insurance disappears, and you are expected to be truly independent. Horrible thought isn’t it?
5 Classifying Anything as Dinner
Is it possible to survive for three years on nothing but chicken dippers and ketchup? Totally, if you don’t mind a bit of scurvy.
Some of the concoctions I have seen (and made myself) at university have been truly extraordinary, and for all the wrong reasons. Pesto pasta and chicken dippers do not make for a balanced diet in the outside world, but for a university student, this classifies as healthy compared to those three bags of tortilla chips you demolished for ‘dinner’ last night.
There’s something refreshing about eating just loads of trash, but post uni something magical and not very well understood happens to your metabolism. Suddenly you’ll own more than one cookery book and have complicated opinions about avocados.
6 Student Discount
Ever the best friend and mortal enemy. There is something about ‘student discount’ that instantly screams “BUY THIS IT SAVES YOU MONEY”. But in reality you wouldn’t have gone on a £100 shopping spree if you didn’t get the discount, but when something says that dreaded word you instantly jump.
Yes, a few days later when you are picking off the mold off your loaf of bread or calling the parents to transfer money, you may regret the lavish shopping trip, but hey at least you look amazing.
7 Binge Watching Netflix Instead of Doing Work
Just another 18 hours of Vampire Diaries and then I’ll definitely crack on with that reading
If there was a single word to describe “that best friend you love but hate so much”, that word would be Netflix. The ultimate distraction from writing that essay that’s due tomorrow, saying “just one more episode” 5 times in a row really makes you hate binge watching TV, but it just feels so damn good!
But the real world is not so forgiving, and sit at your office desk all day watching Netflix cause you don’t fancy sending those emails or filling in that spreadsheet is not an option. Well unless you want to get fired but otherwise we do not recommend.
8 Loads of Friends All in One Place
University allows you to meet so many amazing people, it is probably what many consider the best aspect of student life. You meet people you would never have met at home, get to experience a variety of accents, traditions and personalities that made the transition away from home so much easier.
But once uni ends, everyone goes there different ways. Some will stay, some will go, and that usually means scattering all over the country. Then you start your new job and find you know very few people and have to start the process all over again except not everyone is in the same situation.
9 Random Jobs
The great thing with university is that when you have spare time, there are always short term or little jobs that need doing to bring a bit of extra cash in for a night out or some new clothes. These range from writing for student blogs, student ambassador for your university, and the trusty standard: working behind a bar somewhere. There’s also more exciting opportunities like taking part in scientific research:
Every city has its own selection of business’ and opportunities, you just to come across them of just send a few emails. You’d be amazed at the sort of things you might be able to get involved in.
10 Just the Excuse “Yeah but I’m a student”
One of the best things about being a student is that you can always use it as an excuse. When members of your family, friends and even random people in the street try judging you for something, from eating mayo out the jar, sandals in January, or wearing the same clothes to university from the night before, using the excuse “yeah, but I’m a student” always feels like it’s a valid reason for anything. It just doesn’t sound like much of one to others.