The University Life

16 common student types

2012-09-08T02:16:00.002-07:00

Laptops

2012-09-04T00:12:00.004-07:00

A laptop; those who don’t own one already are most likely going to buy one sooner or later. They are incredibly convenient in an era where life becomes more and more digital by the day.

When it comes to going to university or college, you might want to narrow in on a few mostly technical properties.

The operating system

In general I would recommend going for the old classic Microsoft Windows. Everyone knows how to work it, all software is compatible and the price is reasonable.

For those who are into graphic design and art might want to consider going for Apple’s OSX. Although the price of an Apple laptop is considerably higher, there is a lot of software related to graphics and design available for OSX, and it’s one of its main purposes.

Lastly, there’s Linux. Although Linux is free and the possibilities are basically unlimited, you have to do 90% of the work yourself, and the final product is never really as good and usable as you’d like it to be; kind of like Ikea furniture. Anyways, if you’d need Linux you’d most likely know it.

Battery

Commonly overlooked, but one of the most important aspects of your laptop once you’re in university or go to college. It’s extremely frustrating when you have still work to do, but no more battery and no power source. Spend some money here, you’ll thank yourself later.

Hard disk and RAM

This is where you might want to a little money as well. A big hard disk drive is convenient at any time, and RAM memory increases the overall speed of your laptop. Personally I advise going for more than 320GB hard disk drive, and for RAM you’re good at 4GB.

The CPU

The two big players here are Intel and AMD. The discussion whether one or the other is better will go on forever, but recently the Intel i-series are very common. Here’s a brief overview:

i3: Uses very little energy, and still manages to deliver some reasonable computing power. It does what it needs to do, but not a lot more.

i5: Reasonably low on energy, especially for the good computing power. Very good overall choice if you still want to watch some high quality movies or play a simple video game every once in a while.

i7: Extremely strong CPU but uses a lot of energy. Since your laptop preferably needs to make it through the day without recharging, this might not be a good choice. Practical if you are a hardcore gamer, but again: if you’d need one you’d probably know it.

Graphic cards

Again, there are two big players: Intel’s nVidia and AMD’s Radeon. Both do a good job, and unless you’re a hardcore gamer it doesn’t really matter. Today’s standards are good enough for HD video and even most games.

Netbooks

These are actually very interesting. They’re not only very cheap, but also small, lightweight and usually have very long battery life due to the very small CPU. If all you need to do is working with text documents, spreadsheets and internet pages, you might want to at least consider buying a netbook instead.

Intro Activities

2012-08-30T23:56:00.003-07:00

A lot of universities start the year with mainly social activities that target getting to know each other as soon as possible. You’re now in a course with hundreds of other people, and making new friends doesn’t come all that naturally to some people. It is advisable to take part in these activities. In fact, most of my best friends are people I met on my first day, two years ago.

It’s usually not very hard to notice who has the potential to become your friend, and who has not. People with similar interests usually find each other really soon, making friend groups in a matter of days. However, this obviously requires that you are open an honest towards other people. If you decide to pretend being someone you are actually not, you are going to get trouble maintaining friendships sooner or later.

These activities can vary between meeting up one afternoon in a small pub and a whole camping trip in a deserted forest. Either way, it’s usually a lot of fun and really worth the small effort.

Whether you are a very shy person or the extremely social type of person, making new friends at the start of the new academic year is a great opportunity, since everybody is new here and eager to meet new people. You are only new once; don’t miss out on such an easy chance to make new friends!

But it’s not only the social aspect of these activities that is very important and helpful. Usually you can hang out with older students and such, who know everything about the university and the city, and they had the same experience of being new as you have now.

It’s usually a good idea to listen to their advice; you will most likely benefit from it sooner or later in your academic career.

Roommates

2012-08-30T01:20:00.000-07:00

Once you move out, the chance is big that you will be living together with one or multiple roommates. This is a pretty new experience, and you have to make sure you can get a long at least for a bit. You are living in the same place, after all.

A very big advantage is when your roommate is or becomes a good friend of yours. This depends on a lot of different factors, like interests, personalities, time schedule and a ton of other reasons.

Actually, living with a roommate does not require being friends with him/her, but offers a very good opportunity to make a new good friend. You’re probably going to be together a lot, so why not make the best out of it?

Tons of sitcoms and movies always bring in roommates being best friends, and this is one thing that is true for a large part. I’ve been living together with someone for almost 2 years now, and this guy is also one of my very best friends.

One thing you should look out for is roommates becoming romantically interested in each other. I’m not saying that it is impossible to pull off, but I have also seen it go wrong countless of times. After a roommates-break up things can get very awkward.

This can prevented by moving in with a roommate you could never become sexually attracted to. It might seem unnecessary at first, but it is probably a better idea to search for romance outside of your living room.

A good idea is to set up some basic rules or a cleaning schedule. This will most likely positively affect the living atmosphere of your apartment or dorm. I’ve seen places where the kitchen turned into a dirty dishes storage room, and who knows what kind of creatures grow under all those piles of garbage.

Going Abroad

2012-08-29T01:09:00.003-07:00

Going abroad for a semester, a year or even longer can become one of the greatest experiences in your life. It has tons of advantages, like learning a whole new language, experiencing a new culture, meeting a lot of new people, seeing different teaching methods and of course expanding your career network.

Personally, I have never studied in my own country. After high school I moved to Germany to study there. At first I had a lot of trouble learning the language, but my friends helped me very well and I learned really fast. I will never be a native German speaker or a native English speaker, but that will never hold me back from trying to improve.

I still think going abroad was the best choice of my life, it was great for my personal development and it also opened a lot of doors for me.

If you’re abroad, you are going to be a foreigner in a country you probably don’t know that well yet. The transition is actually surprisingly easy, especially because most people are willing to help you out. Don’t be prejudiced about the inhabitants of a certain country, they won’t be about you. Although, after living abroad for 2 years, my friends and I can have a good laugh about the rumors about both my home and my new country.

Having studied abroad will also help you later in your career. During your abroad studying, you built up an incredible arsenal of skills. You learned a new language and showed that you are not afraid to take risks to improve yourself, and companies are in desperate need of people with these skills.

You will have a lot of career potential. Not only will it be easier to find a job, your existing career will also grow a lot faster.

Most universities host one or more programs that involve studying abroad. This will make it easier to pick an abroad university, preparing your stay, finding a place to live there and getting some advice to take with you on your adventurous trip.

Eating Healthy

2012-08-28T10:49:00.002-07:00

You just moved out, probably live on a very small budget and don’t have any time either. Eating healthy might not crack the top ten of your priorities list, but don’t underestimate how important it really is.

I get it, ramen noodles are cheap, fast and they even taste kind of good, but if you take a little time to learn some recipes, cooking healthy will eventually come natural to you. Book stores usually sell cooking books for students. These contain cheap healthy recipes that usually only take little time and skill to make.

Here’s something I regularly make (2-3 people, or just put it in the fridge and eat it later):

Ingredients:

Head of lettuce

2 Eggs

1 package of feta cheese

1 paprika

2 Tomato’s

Half a cucumber

Few strips of bacon

1 Apple

Some mayonnaise or salad dressing

Some bread, preferably whole grain.

How to make (10-15 minutes):

- Boil the eggs

- Bake the bacon

- Wash lettuce and tear into medium size pieces

- Slice paprika into strips

- Slice tomato’s into quarts

- Slice cucumber into little pieces

- Slice apple into, well, slices

- Slice eggs into quarts

- Slice feta cheese into cubes

- Put everything together to your liking with the bread as a side

You can add some nuts, tuna or other ingredients to your liking.

Enjoy your cheap, healthy delicious meal!

Sports

2012-08-27T05:41:00.003-07:00

A lot of people tend to give up on playing sports once they go to university. First of all, playing sports will greatly improve both physical and mental health. Remember, a healthy body equals a healthy mind!

Second of all, university is a great place to try out new sports. Most universities host a sports program where people can practice all kinds of sport, usually for a very good price. Always wanted to try kite surfing? Go for it.

If you’re not sure what sport to do, you can always try fitness. It’s pretty cheap (or even free if you go for a jog outside) and although it might seem like a lot of unnecessary work, it’s actually a lot of fun once you get started. I personally go to the gym three times a week with a good friend which is really great, and who wouldn’t want to be the proud owner of a nice six-pack?

Studying

2012-08-20T06:36:00.000-07:00

You’re in university now, and hardcore studying is going to be a part of that sooner or later. Don’t underestimate it, studying for an exam is more than just staring at an opened book for a couple of hours. You need to understand and usually practice the content.

Now your studying method might vary more or less depending on what you study. Doing physics requires a whole different approach than studying law.

Few things to effectively study:

- Starting early. You probably have some time to study for your exam, and you should use it wisely. Starting early buys you a lot of time later on, and it helps estimate how much work you have left.

- Planning. You need to plan what you are going to learn on what day. Estimate how much time it is going to take, but you should plan chapters for example rather than hours. One chapter will always be one chapter, whereas the content you study in one hour varies greatly.

- Learning environment. A clean, calm environment without distractions is the best place to learn. Don’t just turn of the television, unplug it and put the cable away somewhere. Do the same for the computer if the matter you are studying doesn’t require the use of a computer. The library is always a great place to study, and it even has additional recourses in case you need them.

- Practice. If the subject you’re studying allows it, practice the matter you just studied. This will not only give you a clearer view of how good you have studied, but also help increase your knowledge. Practicing old exams are always a great choice.

- Being honest. A lot of people tend to lie to themselves regarding how much they have done, and how much left to do. Try to avoid this and objectively look at how much work you have left. However, if you had a great learning day, reward yourself with a nice meal for example.

- Fresh air. Preparing for an exam usually means spending a lot of time inside. Notice how this turns you into some sort of zombie? Go for a walk every day, get your head out of the books and enjoy the fresh air. If the weather is nice, you could even take your books to the park and study outside.

- Procrastinating. Yes, your wall could use a fresh paint, and yes, your cd’s would look awesome if you align them by color to recreate the visual spectrum, but now is not the time to do those things. Focus on what’s important or you’ll lose too much time.

Glorious Freedom

2012-08-16T02:01:00.002-07:00

One of the many nice aspects of going to university is all the freedom you will have. No rules to follow, no detention if you don’t go to classes, no parents who whine about cleaning your room and so on. Great and all, but self-control is an essential skill.

It’s ok to skip a lecture every once in a while, but remember that you’ll have to study sooner or later. And once you’ve missed a few, it’s easy to justify not visiting lectures at all.

Same goes for going out. There will probably be parties every night, one even more awesome than the other. You have to set up some rules for yourself, for example only going out on Friday. This prevents you from being hung-over on lecture days, it’ll teach you self-control, you’ll save money and your liver will be thankful.

Oh and don’t forget to clean your room every once in a while. We know you mastered the art of stacking dirty dishes by now, but it’s not appealing to guests and you don’t want to breed unknown animal species in your kitchen sink.

Welcome!

2012-08-14T14:00:00.005-07:00

Hello and welcome to The University Life blog, the blog that will guide you through your years at the university. You can expect posts about social life, how to study, food, living healthy and countless other helpful tips.