So I have officially handed in my dissertation, completed my assignments and smashed my exam. And I have finally graduated! No more stress, hassle or worries. No more trecking an hour to uni at ridiculous hours. I am so overwhelmed by the three year experience and so grateful for the journey and the friends I have made during the journey. I am so thrilled that there are no more 9am starts, urghh.
Looking back from when I had finished college and started university I now feel like I have completely matured and became independent and confident. During college I used to go completely red in the face when I had to speak to the teacher whereas looking back during university I was confident enough to speak out during lectures and be self-reliant in my work. Liverpool John Moores is a phenomenal university and I have no regrets of this choice. 
Firstly, university is not easier than A-Levels. Teachers would say they make the mocks harder to prepare you for the real exams, just like A-Levels prepare you for university. In fact, they said it would be a breeze! I found university hard! The university lecturers expected us to do approximately 200 hours of reading per module. I took 5 modules; therefore they expected us to 1,000 hours along with seminars, lectures, assignments and an 8,000 word dissertation.

Secondly, I graduated in July and still don't have a clue what I want in life. Before university, I was so sure I wanted to a primary school teacher. However, throughout university it opened up more career choices that I never thought of, such as a Family worker and Therapists in play, speech and language. I am also so bad at saving, one week I'll be saving for driving lessons, the following week it will be travelling and the next it will be a flat. But then I just blow it on nights out, getting my hair done, or buying outfits and makeup. I have a basic idea of taking a year out to see what I really want to do and next September doing my teaching qualification (PGCE). I also take into consideration that I am only 21 and still have a lot of time to get a good career in what I have graduated in so I am just enjoying life as it is at the moment. But then again next year will come and I probably won't apply for a PGCE, ahaha. 

Thirdly, time flies so don't leave it till last minute. Enjoy it whilst it lasts, especially first year. Blink of an eye and I've graduated! I wish I hadn't volunteered myself to work as many hours including night shifts as I ended up with no social life and living on only a few hours sleep as I would have to do the assignments and revision in the day. This had a massive impact on my health including my mental state and migraines. The workload was crazy!! Luckily, I was good with time management and decided the best way to ensure my uni work was stayed on top of was to limit my work hours (which meant working one day in the week - dependent on the day I was given off in uni - and limiting my blogging work). Yes some weeks I was doing night shifts and doing uni work in the day so I was absolutely exhausted. And yes some other weeks I was staying up till 3am trying to get things done and in the end my room would look a state (because I didn't class that as a priority). One tip I found to help was to make lists. I had so many on my phone and on post-it notes dotted around the place. I also kept hold of a diary which never left my bag. 

Fourthly, you'll definitely gain (and maybe lose) friends & guaranteed to meet at least one fantastic person. I have 5 very close friends back home and was very lucky that only 1 friend went to Chester and all the rest of us went to Liverpool. So therefore, I didn't lose any friends and still stay in close touch with them through Whatapp and try and meet every few days or once a week, depending on our work schedules. However, I did reconcile with some old friends from high school, which I am very happy about. Although, I haven't spoken to them since high school, it felt like we had never been apart and we just continued where we left off. Furthermore, I have walked away from university with a best friend (more like sister). Chloe, who is Irish, is my partner in crime and dancing partner. Its insane how much we are alike, I have never met anyone like her. I am so so grateful to have her in my life as she was there for my ups and downs and gave me so much advice. Vice versa. However, on graduation, it was mad to think how many people I didn't recognise which just shows I could have been a bit more sociable and could have joined some societies. Although, its quality over quantity isn't it...

A fifth tip to take into consideration is to manage your money and budget yourself well. When you get a student finance, everyone tends to blow it straight away. I know I did, but luckily I did have a job. But I know students who didn't have a job. How did you's cope, I wanna know?! To be honest, I had to keep my part-time job as I got the minimum loan and although I didn't move out I didn't really see it. It was always going on phone bills, iTunes, my travel pass and other necessities. 

Another tip is to take part in hobbies, even if its for first year. I know quite a few people who took part in hobbies and ended up making more friends and doing sporting events and nights out. I did sign up for dancing and football but ended up missing the inductions for both... thanks alcohol. I did become more passionate for cooking (and being adventurous with dishes) and going to the gym more, which is a positive. Napping will become a major daily hobby, which everyone can agree is the best. Even after university I still have to have a nap majority of days as I am always exhausted. Pre-night out naps are the best naps. 

Finally, the last tip I would say is to take each opportunity that comes your way. Your paying £9000 a year with maintenance and student loans on top, so you may aswell make your moneys worth. Unfortunately, I didn't take this advice and ending up missing out on a trip to Nepal and Bangkok.  

One thing I do regret is not moving out. Everyone says how they learnt to become independent and gain life skills in organising bills, flat sharing, learning how to cook, etc. However, since my dad works away Monday morning to Friday afternoon and the fact he and my mum have 7 kids (including me) I have had to take on his role, especially when I turned 11 and my mum had a newborn. Therefore, as soon as I went to high school that was when mature and independent Nadine hit. I'm unsure on electric and water bills and house bills but I am very efficient in working a washing machine, dryer and doing ironing and cooking, aswell as the usual cleaning such as polishing, emptying bins, hoovering and dishwasher etc. 

Overall, university has allowed me to develop many skills, which I never would have thought, including; peoples skills. I was always the one in class who would never speak and go red in the face when asked a question. However, when I reached 2nd year, I started raising my hand or speaking out in the lecture. I was becoming more and more confident. I have also become more resilient and university taught me that I can get through anything and everything. I was so close to a 1st and ended up with a few of these in my assignments including my dissertation, which I am extremely proud of, especially as I didn't have the easiest of times. As I have previously mentioned, I was working crazy shifts and living on limited sleep aswell as having severe migraines and cluster headaches. I was going to 9am lectures after wild nights out and 3 hours sleep and learning to deal with family and friendship problems/arguments aswell as dealing with idiot-type boys.