UNI LIFE
Student life is about more than study. It's about more than sex and drinking. There's a goldmine of opportunities in sport, music... anything.
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a wider education
University is not just about the course. Even the most conscientious student is only likely to work for eight hours a day, six days a week (and for some it’s more like six hours a week — not to be advised).
That leaves 120 hours a week (or more than 70% of your time) to do other things. Admittedly, one of those things is likely to be sleeping (probably at strange hours), but even that can be fun if you’re doing it with the right person. Let’s say that you sleep for another eight hours a day. You’re still left with 64 hours to fill every week, plus long vacations.
The university experience is as much about those 64-plus hours a week as it is about the course. That time is filled by your social life, for a start — and imagine the social life you get when you put several thousand like-minded people together in a place with cheap beer.
The time is also spent doing other non-course stuff which, while it may be all very sociable and fun, is too worthwhile to be called a ‘social life’. We’re talking about extra-curricular activities from sport to religion, music to travel. These include things that students have a once-in-a-lifetime chance to try and things they do simply because they want to — but which also, at the end of the day, turn up as extra points on their CVs.
Even if the course and the career boost weren’t convincing, the fringe benefits should be a good enough reason to choose student life, for three years at least.
That leaves 120 hours a week (or more than 70% of your time) to do other things. Admittedly, one of those things is likely to be sleeping (probably at strange hours), but even that can be fun if you’re doing it with the right person. Let’s say that you sleep for another eight hours a day. You’re still left with 64 hours to fill every week, plus long vacations.
The university experience is as much about those 64-plus hours a week as it is about the course. That time is filled by your social life, for a start — and imagine the social life you get when you put several thousand like-minded people together in a place with cheap beer.
The time is also spent doing other non-course stuff which, while it may be all very sociable and fun, is too worthwhile to be called a ‘social life’. We’re talking about extra-curricular activities from sport to religion, music to travel. These include things that students have a once-in-a-lifetime chance to try and things they do simply because they want to — but which also, at the end of the day, turn up as extra points on their CVs.
Even if the course and the career boost weren’t convincing, the fringe benefits should be a good enough reason to choose student life, for three years at least.
CV BENEFITS
Employers are impressed by graduates simply because they have a degree, but what makes them begin to salivate is a candidate with a degree and a CV full of other interests and experiences. For more tips on your CV click here.
But the best part of it is that gathering CV points isn’t a chore. These extra-curricular activities are as much a part of student life as falling asleep in lectures or discovering that Baileys and cider don’t mix.
Most universities offer a gob-smacking variety of opportunities to pursue interests — new or old. But, and we think we may have said this before, not all universities are the same.
If you’re into karate, you may find yourself breaking bricks on your own some places. Or if politics ticks your box, you may find yourself somewhere where, even if there were an apathy party, none of the students would be bothered to vote for it.
While some are stronger or weaker across the board, every university has its extra-curricular strengths and weaknesses. Standards swing from the profoundly professional to the amazingly amateur.
During the course of your student life, you’ll almost certainly find yourself involved in activities that you thought you’d only ever do under the influence of mind-altering substances — but you can probably already think of a few things that you‘d like to try (or be able to continue).
When choosing a university, check out what students can get up to apart from study and drink. If you have a particular interest, make sure it’s catered for. If you haven’t, see what else is on offer and whether there’s anything that stirs your cup of tea.
In this section is a breakdown of some of the things students get up to. At some universities, some of them are obsessions. At others, they’re not even on the radar.
But the best part of it is that gathering CV points isn’t a chore. These extra-curricular activities are as much a part of student life as falling asleep in lectures or discovering that Baileys and cider don’t mix.
Most universities offer a gob-smacking variety of opportunities to pursue interests — new or old. But, and we think we may have said this before, not all universities are the same.
If you’re into karate, you may find yourself breaking bricks on your own some places. Or if politics ticks your box, you may find yourself somewhere where, even if there were an apathy party, none of the students would be bothered to vote for it.
While some are stronger or weaker across the board, every university has its extra-curricular strengths and weaknesses. Standards swing from the profoundly professional to the amazingly amateur.
During the course of your student life, you’ll almost certainly find yourself involved in activities that you thought you’d only ever do under the influence of mind-altering substances — but you can probably already think of a few things that you‘d like to try (or be able to continue).
When choosing a university, check out what students can get up to apart from study and drink. If you have a particular interest, make sure it’s catered for. If you haven’t, see what else is on offer and whether there’s anything that stirs your cup of tea.
In this section is a breakdown of some of the things students get up to. At some universities, some of them are obsessions. At others, they’re not even on the radar.