Starting University - Tips for Freshers!

Any day now, most cities are going to be absolutely jam packed by fresh-faced and wide eyed freshers, taking their first independent steps into adult life as a university student. I was a fresher 2 years ago! I can't believe I'm about to start my 3rd and final year! Being a fresher and attending uni is a GREAT experience and is something that every student should look forward to. As nerve-racking as it may sound, meeting new people, starting something new and possibly being away from home, you need to go prepared. Below are some top tips for freshers to make sure you have the best start to university!

GET INVOLVED
Most people always say how you make "friends for life" at University. Freshers week is the perfect opportunity to build friendship groups so make sure you don’t hide away in your room and ignore the world. Try and come out of your shell. Get to know your new flatmates / class mates as you will be seeing them a lot and also try and take part in the countless fresher activities your university provides.

BUDGET
As boring as this may sound - BUDGET BUDGET BUDGET! Getting your first student loan / grant feels amazing! It automatically makes you think that you have all this money to spend on anything you like. You might want to go out and enjoy freshers which you can, but make sure to spend your money very wisely. I sound like a nagging parent BUT it's true! As much as we would like to go out every night or grab a takeaway, maybe try and limit yourself to a few times a month compared to everyday. Trust me, it will help you out in the long run! If not, then make the most of your Pot Noodles and beans on toast. It might help you budget if you work out the general weekly spends for things you need and then give yourself some extra money for treats. That way, you wont starve and you'll have extra money for nights out or takeaways. Best of Both! Another way of saving up more would be to set up an ISA account with your bank!

GET A JOB
A job will help you get a bit of extra money for those takeaways and nights out! But don't forget to prioritise university! Work might be fun, but at the end of the day, that job isn't your life long job and uni work needs to get done, so don't over work! You need to find the right balance to manage uni and work. 

BE A CLEVER SHOPPER
Try and be smart when you do your food / toiletry shop. Look around for different prices. It will get you familiar with the types of things you can get else wear for a fraction of the price! For things like your fruit and veg, try and look for local market stools as they tend to sell stuff really cheap. What I've noticed throughout the past 2 years is that the small savings add up very quickly if you do it right!

MAKE THE MOST OF STUDENT DISCOUNT
This will become your best friend! Make sure that before you start university you purchase an NUS card and sign up with Unidays! These will get you discounts in tons of clothing shops / restaurants. You even get Spotify for half the price and also a discount in places like Apple, MissGuided, boohoo, Pizza Express, Cinemas! You will realise that student discount will save you a fortune! Make the most of it and grab yourself some loyalty cards in large supermarkets or shops such as Tesco, Morrisons, Boots etc.

DO THE WORK
At first you might think that as a fresher you want to party make the most of loving life, but that shouldn't be the way of thinking about it. You'll realise that the first year of uni is going to be your easiest year and my gosh it flies by! If you spend a majority of your first year messing around and not taking things seriously then you will have a big shock when you have to tackle 2nd year. Take the work seriously and do things on time! The worst thing that I done was ask for an extension over summer and I left it till last minute which felt awful and stressed me out so much.

TURN UP TO CLASS
This is a must! Make sure you are on time and go to every class / lecture. Even if you think it's not that important... GO! Or if you are ill, email your teachers and let them know before hand and ask them what you have / will be missing. You never know whether the topic might pop up surprisingly... and attendance means a lot! Some lecturers might not help you when you need the help if you missed a lesson. The attention will be on someone who did turn up and make the effort. Also, try and go to as many guest lectures as possible. As geeky as that may sound, some of them can be really eye opening and inspire you to do well.

CUSTOMISE YOUR ROOM
Your bedroom at uni is going to be the only space in which you can actually call your own, so make sure it feels homely! Make it somewhere that you are happy to spend time in. Fill it with photographs of people you love / miss, posters, accessories, and in my case, FAIRY LIGHTS! Whatever you decide to do though, make sure you meet your tenancy agreement as you don't want to be drilling holes in the wall or painting etc when you aren't aloud! That would be a HUGE charge. Just make your room a very positive place and fill it with things that you love.

ENJOY THE EXPERIENCE
You really need to make sure that you enjoy yourself at university. Even though the tips above are important, enjoying yourself is most important. University years fly!

I hope you have a great freshers and first year at university! Good luck with your studies! Have you got any tips you’d like to share? Or anything you wish you knew when you were a fresher?

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Panic Attacks - Tips and Tricks

Nowadays there are a lot of people who suffer with panic attacks and absent seizures...Sadly i'm one of them. They are very real, very awful, and emotionally debilitating. I've suffered with them since the age of 9. 11 years on, and I'm still suffering with them. Not as frequently but they seem to be getting worse each time - I never used to twitch and never used to go numb in my legs, arms or lips.

Some people who suffer with panic attacks describe the feeling as if they think something bad is going to happen to them "right now at this very moment". Others feel as though they are having a heart attack as their heart races so fast and they tend to think the worst of everything. For me personally it's been getting easier to control, I know now how to try and help prevent an attack or at least make sure I'm in the best place possible before it happens. My attacks happen mainly because of stress and what goes on in my life - even if it's something silly. My brain for some reason likes to take every little bit of stress and swirl it up and BAM - panic attack! 

When I was younger I was always told by the doctors  that it was a "Hormone Thing" and the doctors just assumed that as I get older it would just gradually fade down, which it did at one point...I hadn't had an attack for about a year, but then I had another one and knew that hormones wasn't the reason behind it. So they continued to scan me and to this day, I'm still having scans but there isn't much that they can do. It's all about how I can control it and prevent it. Panic Attacks have stopped me from doing a lot whilst growing up. It would affect me going out with friends, meeting new people, going out to parties, clubbing etc. Below are a few tips on how I prevent myself from having attacks or to calm myself down in the process.

Tips on what to do when your feeling 

stressed or anxious:

Take time out: 

Stepping back from the problem helps clear your head

Eat Well Balanced meals: 

Eat Healthy and keep hydrated (Maybe keep an energy snack in your bag)

Limit alcohol and caffeine: 

It's known to aggravate anxiety

Get enough sleep: 

When your stressed, you tend to need more sleep to calm the body down 

Take deep breaths: 

slowly exhale and inhale

Count to 10: 

slowly and repeat

Laugh: 

A good laugh goes a long way

Maintain a positive attitude: 

Make an effort to replace negative thoughts with positive ones

The main ones that help me, are to take deep breaths and avoiding junk food because I find that it affects my mood the most. I also think that keeping a positive outlook helps too. We just all need to remember that instead of aiming for perfection which isn't possible, be proud of however close you get to achieving something. Accept that we can't control everything. We just need to put our stress into perspective and wonder if it's really as bad as we think it is. 

I hope this post has helped at least one of you! Let me know your hints and tips on panic attacks too!

#M O N D A Y M O T I V A T I O N

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