This time last year, I was stuck in Limbo; dangling somewhere between the boring world of secondary school and the new and exciting world of college life. Twelve months later, and although College life isn’t exactly new, it is just as exciting.
For me, I had no problems adapting to College life, but I know people who openly admit to crying their eyes out on their first night away from home. Every single one of them is now in love with UL, and more than likely cried on their last night.
For the first three weeks, I went on a bit of a bender. I went out every night with my friends from home, spend an extortionate amount of money of booze and practically lived in The Lodge nightclub. After a few weeks though, my funds were low and the workload was steadily increasing. I decided to cop on a knuckle down, and was very happy with the results I received at Christmas for putting that effort in.
On the academic side of things, my year as a Journalism and New Media Student has been one of the most interesting years of my life. My course is perfect for what I want to do in life. We take part in mock press conferences, learn Gregg Shorthand and take part in newsroom simulations, where we see if we can handle the pressure of working in a newsroom when a breaking story comes to light. All the lecturers are friendly and very approachable too.
One important lesson that I have learned in College, is to keep up with assignments and not to leave them all until the last minute. Last year, I had three 2,000 word assignments to be in on the same week. Naturally, being the carefree College Student, I kept pushing them back until I ended up doing three all-nighters in one week. I wasn’t the only one though. Most of the class ended up in the same predicament. Save a lot of hardship and do them as soon as you can. That’s one I learned the hard way.
One of the most important pieces of advice I can give is to get involved in College life. If the college you are going to has lots of clubs and societies, join the ones you have most interest in. If you really enjoy a club or society, then try and get elected onto its committee. I am the PRO for ULTV, the media production society in UL and I have made some great friends in it as well as making college a more interesting place for other students.
When going for a night out, don’t go to the same pubs or clubs all the time. There is plenty of choice around cities and larger towns. In Limerick there are pubs and clubs that cater for dance music, Art College
But once the pubs and clubs are closed, there is nothing more annoying for the poor students that have to stay at home, than hearing drunken people screaming and singing on their way home, especially if that student is on his third all-nighter of the week.
No matter where you go to college or whatever course you do, get involved in College life and make a whole batch of new friends. It will be the best few years of your life. Make the most of them.
As printed in the Star College Guide 2010.
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