10 things you never thought you were capable of before you came to University

So as we rapidly approach the Easter break, it makes you realise how quickly this first year at University is really going. We’ve gone almost 7 months without Mum and Dad and have had to find that independent human from deep within us. So I’ve compiled a Top 10 of the things you never realised you were capable of before you came to Uni.

A present from Mum!

1. Cooking – there’s no way around this – you have to eat. But it’s amazing what adventurous concoctions you can create when only given some chicken and rice. Mum would always save the left overs from dinner and we’d question as to who would ever eat yesterday’s food, but you come to realise that every scraping counts and that you can box up absolutely ANYTHING! Spaghetti Bolognese has never tasted so good and well, let’s face it, there’s always someone who thinks they can cook like Ramsey when really their cooking skills are as useful as a chocolate teapot.
2. Cleaning – to most, Detol spray and a dish cloth were a new life form when they came to Uni. Having to clean up after dinner really makes you appreciate having a dishwasher when you go home! But I guarantee one thing you never realised before Uni, and that’s how well and how quickly you can tidy up your kitchen and lounge after last nights ‘prinks’. To any adults reading this- ‘prinks’ is an abbreviation of ‘pre-drinks’ – something us students do before we go on a night out (you don’t want to know any further details). It’s amazing what things you throw into a bin bag, things you didn’t even know were in your house the night before.
3. Washing – as much as we would like it, Mum doesn’t come and do our washing for us once a week – it’s down to the washing machine (if you can work it) or the laundrette downstairs. So you’d never have thought that you could make those jeans go a day further without washing them, or creating outfits that you’d never worn before because your best top is amongst the pile of washing in your basket. And as you’ve limited yourself to one wash a week (as it’s such a painful operation), jumpers can definitely been worn more than once before needing to be cleaned. Say goodbye to putting things in the wash because hanging them up was too much of an effort!
4. Putting the bins out – sorry boys, but this is a MAN’S job. No woman should have to strain herself by lifting a weeks’ worth of rubbish from the bin, down the corridor and into the outside bin. Just no. So for most girls, this is something that has benefited them since coming to Uni, but as a boy, I bet you’d never have realised how much rubbish you actually consume over one week. And if you miss the waste collection day you are SCREWED because there is just TOO much rubbish that the bin will eventually overflow.

   

   The Art of Procrastination

5. Procrastination – to most students in their first year, procrastination becomes their second name. You know you’re trying to put off work when you opt to wash up or do the hoovering instead of the 3000 word essay that’s due in tomorrow. I bet you never thought you’d take on the tedious task of rearranging documents on your laptop as an alternative to actually doing the coursework that’s right in front of you.
6. Ironing – who would have thought you could go 6 months without ironing a single item of clothing?! Well you can, as I’m sure you have found out. The new alternative to ironing is most definitely using the hair-dryer. Give your top a quick blast before you go to Uni and jobs a gooden’. So when you, along with all your other house mates, turned up on moving in day with an iron and an ironing board, I can tell you’re now regretting the decision to bother with this in the first place. Don’t worry though, there’s always next year to give it a go (never going to happen).
7. Making things last longer – this is more aimed at the girls, but make-up. We all know it’s expensive, even boys realise this, but it has never been clearer that you are a student when you get angry that you’re lecture is cancelled as you’ve wasted a whole face of make-up on a day when you don’t even need to leave the house!
8. Creating games out of day-to-day essentials – I know that for me, personally, I never thought I would get bored during the day as I just assumed I would be tied down with work. But it is clear that you need to take a break from studies and what better way to do so than a game of ping-pong using 2 frying pans! Or a game of football tennis (not even too sure what this is but it definitely happens in my house) played on a court made of string and plastic bin bags in the garden? I don’t think we can ever be blamed for a lack of imagination, after all, it takes a lot of skill to be able to limbo under a piece of string that has been tied between 2 door frames!
9. Catch up TV – TV license? What’s one of those? It’s safe to say it’s a shock to the system when you are able to go home and watch TOWIE on Wednesday rather than a Thursday as you’ve had to readjust your TV guide to the catch up timetable on ITV Player! TVs may as well not exist at Uni as most of us just watch on our laptops anyway. Catch up TV is the best way to spend a hangover day but most of the time you know what is going on anyway as you’re a day late and everyone else has kindly posted the episode over Twitter and Facebook. PLOT SPOILER!
10. Living away from home – So the last one is simple. Moving to Uni is simply moving house, but by yourself. It’s a scary thought at first but it’s something that is fairly easy to adjust too. Living independently gives you the chance to see how bad your cooking really is, and that you really don’t know how to work a washing machine and that ‘cleaning fairies’ don’t actually exist.

So as you’re reading through laughing and nodding because you know this is exactly like you, then it’s safe to say you’re not alone. Everyone gets to a point during the term where they think their entire brain is about to explode or that they are on the verge of a mental break down so, if that’s currently you, just remember that you’re going home in a couple of weeks for the Easter break!