Commuters Guide To Surviving University

Gong to university is a giant step in anyone academic career, with that it can be the most daunting one of all.  A lot of students will take up residence in Halls and move to university, some however chose to commute (which is what I did/am currently doing) there are a lot of different reasons people chose to commute and with the transport that is available today it's sometimes the best option. 

As a commuting student I remember on the run up to my first day I was somewhat of a nervous wreck, one of my main thoughts was that everyone else would have already moved to university and had already got to know people and I would just be alone (even as an adult this is still one of my biggest worries). This is a common thing for everyone, as at fresher's there are thousands of people that are in the same boat as you, but just because you don't live at university doesn't mean you can't get to know people before you go.

• Check out your universities page on Facebook- I found that they had created a group for fresher's who all would be going to university, this way you can start getting involved with people, you are also able to get in touch with other people who are doing your course. 
• See if there is a specific group for the course that you are doing, this way you are able to get to know the people that you are potentially going to be spending the next 3+ years in a lecture room with (depending on your course) 

The university that I go to is about an hour away from where I live, as I currently live in a little village that meant that the university was in a complete different area (as I'm from Yorkshire, the university that I go further south) and I hadn't spent much time there before, so I was massively worried that I would get lost and be late which is not good one your first day.

• Try and do a trial run before you start, that way you know the route that you are going to take and how to get there. This is a good option if you're driving to familiarise yourself with the roads and to see where parking is available. If you're using public transport it's also a good idea (especially if you have to get a connecting train/bus so you know what the stations are like, also so you know how to get to the university from the station. 
• See if anyone else from your area is commuting to the same place, that way you could travel together if you're driving this would help to cut the cost of parking and petrol as you'd be able to split the cost. If you are using public transport you could arrange to meet, on my first day there was a number of us getting the train in so we arranged to meet outside the train station and go for coffee before lectures began. The people that I meant are now some of my closest friends.
• If you're using public transport make sure that you have a couple of different roots that you can take just in case, this year I have found myself stranded a number of times in different places because there has been problems with trains. 

A lot of people can be put off commuting to University because of the hassle that can be involved in it, and some can find it isolating, it doesn't have to be that way. 1000s of people commute all over the country for a lot of different reasons including University or work, you can do it and it doesn't have to be bad. 

If you have any questions or need any advice feel free to email me at hayley1315advice@gmail.com, also if you are commuting feel free to check out my essential commuting items here.

The best advice I was given when starting university was simply don't forget to breathe, you can do it. Also, don't forget to have fun with it.