My Ten Commandments - part 1

No longer will I be at the receiving end of a ‘Down it fresher’ chant. In university terms, I am a year older and wiser than all the newbies that are joining us in a mere two weeks. But what have I learnt from my first year at the University of York and how will I be acting differently now I’m middle aged – in university terms of course.

The next two blogs shall encompass my Ten Commandments for second year.

Thou Shalt not Date

I started my university life loved up. We’d been together for two and a half years; nothing could come between us, not even university. That soon changed. He came down every weekend and all he wanted to do was stay in, watch movies and hang out. I didn’t. I wanted to go out and soak up the university life. My doubts about the relationship began to grow and peaked around Christmas time when we saw each other once in the three week holiday. I stayed with him until February. It was one of the most difficult things I had ever done, ending a three year relationship, but, for me, it was the right decision.

You probably think that my idea for this year is to avoid relationships at all costs, but that is not the case. If the right person comes along I am willing to give it a go. But until then I want to live my life to the full and have as much fun as possible.

Thou Shalt not Binge

Before coming to university I wasn’t a big drinker. I’d gone through that phase when I was a rebellious teenager. But in freshers I drank a lot, in fact, in the first two terms I drank a lot. I had made a drinking buddy and every few days we’d head to a campus bar and try to out-down each other. Needless to say, I am not encouraging this behaviour - quite the opposite in fact.

In third term I didn’t drink much, just on a few occasions and I am thankful for that. I know some students who need a drink in the morning to get them out of bed to lectures and who binge on units of alcohol every night. This can seriously affect your health and I for one am not willing to suffer for a few units of alcohol.

So this year I will be sticking to limited alcohol and only drinking on special occasions – or when I need the courage to leave the house in hardly any clothes.

Thou Shalt Look Good

I am a firm believer that university is the place to create a style. For years you’ve lived in uniform and outfits your mum approves of. Now you’re out on your own and you have to choose a new outfit everyday for lectures and a new outfit every Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday for nights out.

I’m not going to lie, I literally spent first term in jeans and a hoodie, but it was bloody cold last winter. However, in second and third term I discovered the delights of shopping and now I have more clothes than I can account for. Whilst I recognise the need to create a personal style, my bank account doesn’t, so this year is all about working with what I’ve got. I am not going to succumb to skinny jeans and hoodies, no matter how tempting.

I am going to remain stylish no matter how cold it gets.

Thou Shalt Join Societies

To manage my timetables, in the first year I only signed up to a handful of societies, I wanted to be loyal to them and keep my attendance high. Looking back I wish I’d joined more. Societies and clubs are more a part of my university life than my degree is. I’ve met most of my best friends through societies and had some of my best nights out on socials.

This year, whilst being loyal to the societies that I am already a member of, I am going to try and expand my horizons, join clubs that I’ve never tried, meet new people and make lots of new friends. Obviously I don’t want to jeopardize my writing for the Yorker, so I’ll be sure to put my readers first.

Thou Shalt Stop Spending

Last year I believed I could and would be careful with my money. I laughed in the face of students who fell face first into their overdrafts within two weeks. That would never be me. I wasn’t too wrong, I’ve never been in the red, BUT I have been close. In term one I spent my money on alcohol and terms two and three on clothes. Food and travel were only minor expenses. Fortunately I had a well paid job to come back to in the holiday, but without that I would have been skint.

This year I am going to try to be a bit more frugal – massive shopping sprees are out of the question, and I will be putting money into a savings account.

After all someone has to pay for my ridiculous holiday next summer.

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