Hello, I’m Lauren, a fifth year law and arts student, and I’m your education officer for 2017. I’m going to be working with the university to make sure they’re actually giving you what you pay for with those fees that shackle you to student debt until you die a pauper’s death.
From experience, the key to university is your mindset. It’s hard, but sacrifices are necessary. You just can’t do it all and that’s fine. Sit down with wine, a pen and paper, and have a think about where your life is headed and what you want to achieve during your time here.
I think everyone would agree that there are essentially three things you can have but you can only pick two: good grades, a social life, or money. If you want a social life and good grades, you’ll have no time for work and you’ll be broke because the living allowance doesn’t cover your rent. If you want good grades and money, you’ll save heaps because between work and the library you’ll never see a human you care about. If you want money and a social life your grades will suffer because you won’t have any time in the library and you certainly won’t have time to write a coherent 3000 word essay the night before it’s due.
High school lied: you can’t have it all. I would recommend good grades and money. You’ll always find a bit of time for someone if you want to. This way, at the end of university you’ll have good experience, good grades, and you’ll get a job that pays you too much so you can do the things you’ve always wanted to do.
Live now like most people won’t, so in three years you can live like most people can’t.
From someone who has almost made it to the end of this journey.