By Akansha Singh
You’re fresh out of high school, you’ve spent the summer relaxing after the HSC and now you’re finally ready to start university.
Right?
Wrong.
You’ve probably heard about what to expect at uni from just about everyone you know – teachers, friends, and that weird uncle you only see at Christmas.
But O-Week will quickly teach you that there are some things you can’t expect. In fact, the trick is to forget certain things you’ve learnt from high school.
Cue drum roll.
- Students and teachers: In high school, it’s pretty straightforward. Teachers, whether loved or hated, are able to keep a relatively close eye on your progress and warn you when you begin to slip. When it comes to uni, you’re no longer spoon-fed. After all, how can a lecturer remember every student in the lecture hall?
- Studying: You’re probably familiar with the tried and trusted pastime of consuming copious amounts of Red Bull in order to get your work submitted before a deadline. In high school, that’s slightly frowned upon. But if that works for you at uni, then go for it! You can count on the fact that almost everyone at uni is running on just as much caffeine as you.
- Friendships: If you’ve watched any John Hughes’ movie, you would know that high school is infamous for its cliques. Whether you’re still in touch with your high school group, or dropped them like it’s hot at the graduation, you’re bound to make new friends at uni. Either way, you can breathe a sigh of relief because there’s no such thing as the ‘cool’ group at UNSW.
- Social life: In high school, you’d have to cram your social life into the hours after school and on the weekends. At uni, the line between your social life, class hours and workload is blurry at times. It’s tempting to spend some weeks of the semester in a tequila-induced haze, particularly with the Roundhouse so close, but don’t underestimate the amount of time you should spend studying.
- Food: Ah, food. It brings us all together. If you didn’t like how expensive the canteen at high school is, you’re absolutely going to hate it at uni. You can forget about 50 cent Zooper Coopers and dirt-cheap party pies, but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t treat yourself once in a while.
So, whether you were Molly Ringwald in The Breakfast Club or Molly Ringwald in Sixteen Candles, high school is behind you now. It’s time to get your uni caps on.
(Oh and also, don’t forget your coffee order. You’ll need it.)