Tomorrow my world changes.

[Mr F.]

First, I will say my piece. Then I will give the bit of discussion value. Everything I am about to say can be skipped if you do so wish.

In 25 hours I will be arriving at University. The place I am going starts stupidly late. Regardless, I am currently packing up all my stuff into a backpack and as many bags as I can physically carry. Then I head off into town to meet my sister who will help me get my stuff from there to the Uni I will be attending which is roughly an hour away by train plus another however long in a cab.

Once I get there there will be no turning back. Fees are being paid and stuff. I will be an hour by train plus another hour and a half on two buses away from my closest family member. Living with 7 strangers in a hall on a Campus university in a city I have only ever visited once (The open day for said University). Both of my parents are very, very ill and live thousands of miles away.

Every aspect of my world is about to be shattered. From my comfortable(ish) middle class lifestyle down to being on (Or beneath) the poverty line and trying to live on almost nothing. From the friends I have built up over the last year (I moved a lot throughout my childhood and up till my very late teens) down to the very city I will live in.

Tomorrow my world changes. I am both terrified and excited beyond belief. For my sins I will be getting to Uni about 2 years later than most, the next three to five to nine years of my life are apparently the "Best years of your life" (Three for Bachelors, up to five if I manage to get a funded MA and up to nine if I managed to get a funded PhD).

I am standing on the precipice of a major life change. And it feels wonderful.

So! The bit of discussion value! (Bar people just saying "You will be fine, Uni is awesome!") what major life decisions changes have you made? Have you ever stood on such a precipice, with the rest of your life infront of you? How did it feel when you first went to University or, for the younglings, first went to college?

I guess that is discussion value. I will be honest, I am procrastinating instead of packing and just wanted to throw a few thoughts and feelings out to the ravenous dogs of the internet to get a few things off my chest.

Quick Edit: Noticed a few of you lot think this is my first time away from home. Nothing wrong with that, it is the obvious thing to think. I have not lived with my parents since I was 16 and got sent to something similar to a boarding school. Been living by myself or with my sisters since I turned 18 and am heading off to Uni aged 20.

 

[Lionsfan]

I dunno, I guess transferring from a 2-year community college to a 4-year school.

I haven't really made any huge life decisions yet

 

[IndomitableSam]

Well.. the capcha is "Life's too short" for me.. so there's your advice.

Everyone's had to do this kind of thing at some point - it's what happens when you become an adult.

You're starting off on an adevture in all the corny senses, but try and view it as such. Like a book or a movie or a game. You're leaving you old life behind (for a while, there are always points in the story you go back) and starting a new one. New people, places, things and an entirely new way of life.

I kinda wish I was you. I'd love to do that.

I haven't gone quite as far as you - I also have a twin sister whom I live with so I've never gone out on my own... but we're very close and kind of the "one person but two" twins.

I'll be 30 next year and my parents are retiring come spring and moving to the other side of the country. That terrifies me. My mom isn't healthy and they're moving partly for that reason. My dad is 60 now and starting to slow down and look older, which is something I think everyone has trouble coming to grips with.

That said, I've been watching for an opportunity to move to a different province for a while now. Change jobs and start fresh somewhere else. I'm not sure if I'll do it though because ti scares me shitless as an adult in this day, age and economy. I have a great (read: government but I hate it) job here, but it's not what I want to do. Do I stick with the job I hate and be able to retire relatively young because it is government, or do I take a risk and move somewhere where I won't have a pension or could even easily lose my job?

Everyone's got these choices to make and when it basically hits you that you're counting down the hours and minutes to the point of no return, you're crapping your pants.

You won't regret it though.

I still wish I was you.

 

[Thedutchjelle]

I went to university 2 years ago and I still live at home. I guess that's to far for you considering you got 2,5 hour travel time
I didn't really have big life changers yet. I guess going to university still applies for me as well, except I haven't moved out of my parents' home.

So far I find university rather blegh compared to high school and the social interaction between classmates there. Luckily I still have some friends from High School that are all living nearby/Skype and are also fervent gamers ;D

 

[Fappy]

Well if you're looking for advice (maybe you are, I don't know), having graduated with a 4-year degree over a year ago my biggest suggestion would be to find balance. Have fun, but get the work done. If you keep this in mind it should be a blast

 

[Sean Hollyman]

I'm going to Uni next year and the idea of living away from home terrifies me.

 

[Scarim Coral]

Yeah I had a similar experience (well getting my stuff from home to the new place was more convient) when I move into my uni based flat but wasn't that great big of a deal you're making out to be (in saying so I didn't exactly missed home much and I was glad to start living on my own and not under my parent rulings).
Well ok I admit leaving on your own and being fulling indepdant (unless you're lived with your parent during uni) was quite mind blowing.

 

[Musette]

I haven't gone quite as far as you - I also have a twin sister whom I live with so I've never gone out on my own... but we're very close and kind of the "one person but two" twins.

I'm very close with my twin sister too, and yet we are at different colleges, which was a huge change for us, considering that until we were 17, we had never spent more than 24 hours straight apart from each other. I'd have to wonder if I'll end up living with my sis once we're both done with our education.

You would be surprised how rarely I see twins that are close with each other, I see twins that are competitive with each other or just plain hate each other more often than not. It always makes me smile when I see twins who really value each other =] Mind if I ask if you're fraternal or identical?

OT: I think one of the biggest thresholds I crossed was when I finally made the decision that music is what I want to do with my life. It was quite a decision I had to make, but I love it too much to really do anything else. Other than that, college was a change for me, but my family is still supporting me financially so I don't have a mountain of debt before I graduate, so it wasn't quite as drastic a change for me compared to others.

 

[IndomitableSam]

Snip.

We're mirror image identical, yeah. Not to say we don't hate each other a lot of the time, too. We always were in different classes growing up, and lived at home for University, but never had a class together. We've taken seperate vacations and such, too. But we're quite happy living together. It saves a lot of money, means there's someone to come home to and share the load of ... everything with, and basically you live together like you're married. Minus the sex, of course. Except any argument we have can be over 5 minutes later and we never have to worry about breaking up and such.

It can be hard sometimes though, as each other comes first, even ahead of anyone we might be in relationships with. And we're honestly not sure if we could ever add anyone else to the household (other than animals) as it's a weird, and very fine balance we have.

 

[triggrhappy94]

Congrads, man.
I wish I could have moved out.
I'm also a college freshmen, but I live 15 miles (25-ish minute drive) from my school.
You'll love living on campus. Much beter then spending over a hundred bucks on gas a month.
If your considered about your personal finances, you can get a job on campus or in the area.

Honestly living this far away sucks. It feels just like high school, but with a longer comute and I only have 2 friends here. I never hear about anything going on on-campus, and I spend an hour a day on the road.

 

[DoPo]

Four years (less a week) ago but.

Fees are being paid and stuff.

I took a loan.

I will be an hour by train plus another hour and a half on two buses away from my closest family member.

Several hours by train (or bus), and then a flight. At the bare minimum. Then another 5 hours to see any actual close family members. All in all, the lowest amount of time it can take me to go home is 18 hours. That's in theory, though. It's always more than that, generally more than 24, closer to 30, at least once 36. Oh, and the commodity costs me something like a monthly rent. More than that, actually, depending on when I'll be travelling.

Living with 7 strangers in a hall on a Campus university

20 people. I lived with 20 people I had never before met. Some of them weren't complete morons, even.

in a city I have only ever visited once (The open day for said University).

Never visited it before hand. I had seen pictures. In the uni website and brochures and stuff, though. You know how accurate they are, I assume. And that's about it.

Both of my parents are very, very ill and live thousands of miles away.

Not ill and not quite thousands. But more than a thousand miles, for sure. I'm too lazy to convert the distance into Imperial units. It would something like 1.5k miles.

and trying to live on almost nothing.

Heh-he-he.

down to the very city I will live in.

But it's still the same country, right?

 

[someonehairy-ish]

Welp, I just moved to uni.

RIP: My liver.

 

[CoL0sS]

Oh you lucky bastard.
If you need advice you can't go wrong with this :

Have fun, but get the work done. If you keep this in mind it should be a blast

Speaking as a guy who got fed up with educational system, disappointed by his university and just decided to say fuck it and spend his time boozing with his friends, satisfied with only passing an occasional exam....just get your studies done. If you get bored or annoyed by shitty, unmotivated professors, don't give up and get it done by yourself. Be nice and helpful to people but don't forget to have some fun in between. Set your priorities and stop worrying. You'll have plenty of time for that.

 

[Mr F.]

Four years (less a week) ago but.

Fees are being paid and stuff.

I took a loan.

I will be an hour by train plus another hour and a half on two buses away from my closest family member.

Several hours by train (or bus), and then a flight. At the bare minimum. Then another 5 hours to see any actual close family members. All in all, the lowest amount of time it can take me to go home is 18 hours. That's in theory, though. It's always more than that, generally more than 24, closer to 30, at least once 36. Oh, and the commodity costs me something like a monthly rent. More than that, actually, depending on when I'll be travelling.

Living with 7 strangers in a hall on a Campus university

20 people. I lived with 20 people I had never before met. Some of them weren't complete morons, even.

in a city I have only ever visited once (The open day for said University).

Never visited it before hand. I had seen pictures. In the uni website and brochures and stuff, though. You know how accurate they are, I assume. And that's about it.

Both of my parents are very, very ill and live thousands of miles away.

Not ill and not quite thousands. But more than a thousand miles, for sure. I'm too lazy to convert the distance into Imperial units. It would something like 1.5k miles.

and trying to live on almost nothing.

Heh-he-he.

down to the very city I will live in.

But it's still the same country, right?

By "Fees are paid and stuff" I actually meant "I have taken out the loans that will be like the proverbial albatross around my neck from now until the day I die". I cannot exactly back out (Not that I have the inclination) simply cause of the debt that I am already in. My first year of tuition has already been transferred.

I guess I am lucky cause I am within three hours of being able to see my sister, but my parents live five and a half thousand kilometers away on a 7 hour (If I can afford to fly direct, which I cannot) flight away. All things considered, with transfers and whatnot, usually takes me about 24 hours to get to where they are.

Yeah, its in the same country as where I have lived for the last year. But not where I was living the year before that. Or the year before that. Or the year before that. I moved around a hell of a lot. Its why I am weird. Notice my knowing the exact distance in kilometers but working in pounds? Half my brain is on metric, the other half is on imperial. Expat upbringing ruins things xD

As for the trying to live on nothing, I mean it. I have my savings (Not that much) and I have limited parental support but my loan to cover my food, clothing, books and housing comes short of covering my housing. I am in a situation of either managing to find a part time job (Incredibly difficult over in blighty, especially where I am headed) or trying to live on 3 grand over three years (As in, a grand a year).

Its scary though.

Heh.

As for the rest of you? Have a blast and do not drink too much. Been getting lots of advice from my sisters, both of which have been through Uni (Although one of them is doing her PhD and is suffering from perpetual student syndrome cause she went BA/MA/PhD without any break).

And cheers everyone for the congratulations and the words of encouragement. Its nice to get some support from random internet strangers.

And for those of you who feel like the education system failed you? I flunked out of college. Twice in a row. Second time around I had a full on mental breakdown and ended up on a couch for 6 months snorting illicit substances and smoking stupid things. I picked it up and went to a further education college that did what is known over here as an "Access to Higher Education Course" and I am now headed into one of the top ten Unis over in Blighty. (After being rejected on a technicality from one of the top in the gorram world).

I learnt more failing and messing up than any of my friends did from doing things the normal way. This is just a random guy saying that although the education system may fail you, you did NOT fail the system and you can still get whatever you want to get done academically!

As long as you are willing to languish in student debt for the rest of your life

 

[The Funslinger]

I'm going to Uni next year and the idea of living away from home terrifies me.

I would be going through the same thing, but after my A2s, I'll be taking a gap year

 

[Esotera]

I'm currently on placement year at university, so I'm living very far away from home whilst working in a town which I hate and don't really know anyone. I'd say in the long-term it will turn out to be the right decision as it's already taught me a lot.

Also, try not to drink too much after Fresher's, and the library is your friend...I nearly failed my second year by making those stupid decisions.

 

[deathninja]

Masters year, so it's being a student but without the free time.

 

[Hylke Langhout]

When living with other people, being able to cook is VERY important. Ordering take-out is expensive, going out for dinner more so. The local supermarket will become a place you frequently visit. Also, people like someone who can cook but that means they'll have to do the dishes.
I'm liking college so far, I started my first year about 5 weeks ago. Intro week will be very tiring, and then the workload will kick in right away. It will be hard adjusting to it at first but if you push through it you should be fine. Just don't fall behind.