Third year can be a very hectic and stressful time. After living in a little university bubble for two years, you're finally having to contend with the outside world again. The future is both imminent and important. You've got decisions to make, jobs to apply for, interviews to attend, all while tackling the most academically challenging year of your education so far. Emotions are running high, this time next year you wont be seeing your new-found best friends everyday anymore, let alone living with them, and the little safety net that is University will be pulled from under you. It's scary, but try not to panic. As much as third year is challenging, it's also a really great opportunity to make the most of Uni life and do the very best that you can in the final push towards your degree. Here are my tips on how to handle it.
Get organised. Weekly planners and schedules aren't for everybody, but if you can commit to them then you're going to be helping yourself out a lot. Write out all that you have to do in the week, and be realistic, then get on with it. Make sure you make time for non-academic acclivities as well as academic, by third year your contact hours are usually cut down significantly, this is theoretically for dissertation research but it wont harm to include a social event in your schedule whenever you can fit it in. It's important that you don't cut off from your friends. There may be a temptation to completely isolate yourself and get your head down, but that isn't necessary. Library trips with friends might be slightly less productive, but they're a lot more fun, so go an hour or two earlier than usual to make sure you allow time for the inevitable Buzzfeed quizzes and eventual trip to the on campus pub. Try to arrange to meet up with at least one friend per week in a non-educational setting too. Lunch dates are a great way to catch up with friends for an hour or so, you can slip them into your day quite easily and work before and after them so you don't feel guilty for taking time off!
I got through this year with a lot of lunch time trips to The Rising Cafe in Lincoln for an Oreo Milkshake and a chilli dog! Of course, sometimes it's a little pricey to go out for lunch every week, so you can always have your friends round to yours instead for a coffee and a catch up.
Visit home whenever you can. Sometimes it all gets a little too much and you just need your mum.
Your once exciting and new Uni city can start to feel a bit claustrophobic, with you attending the same lectures every week, going into the same shops every day and even eating the same monotonous meals. Going home for the weekend is something that appealed to me more and more throughout my three years at Uni. At first I had serious FOMO, but by the end I was glad to take my work home and get on with it in a nice clean house, where I could eat home cooked meals without the hassle of actually making them, and got to catch up with my family and enjoy the simplicity of village life. If you haven't already got a 16-25 Railcard, then do it now. That way your journeys home will be affordable and you can make them more of a regular thing! It's good to go home for events in particular, so you have a reason for visiting and you don't end up getting bored. Last October I went home for the Pumpkin & Scarecrow Festival held in my village. I had a lovely day wandering round with my family and looking at all of the decorated houses, it was great to be home and fun to do something different!
Birthday's and local events are also great excuses to go home for a few days! Going home isn't for everybody though, sometimes it's more difficult to do work in that environment, and you can feel a bit cut off from your Uni friends. Make sure you take advantage of events held in your Uni city. Soon you wont be living here anymore, unless you're continuing your study or getting a job, but even then it just wont be the same. Make the most of the time you have left in your Uni city with all of your undergraduate friends and branch out a little! See what's on at the theatre, check out any seasonal events, get it organised between you and your friends and go! In November of last year me and my boyfriend went on the bus to the Lincolnshire Showground for the Bonfire Night fireworks display, it was a super cute evening that allowed us to explore a little more of Lincoln and do something different to just eating/drinking out.
To avoid unnecessary stress, keep your Uni digs clean and tidy. It's not easy when you're living with lots of different people who may not all share your standard of cleanliness, it might even be you who's a little messy, but one thing you don't need in third year is an overflowing bin and a dusty house. Keeping all areas of your accommodation clean means you're not just limited to hanging out in your bedroom, you can socialise in the communal spaces too - that is what they're there for after all! It's the little things that can sometimes make you feel the most productive too. So make your bed every day, hoover round whenever you have a spare fifteen minutes, and do your washing up!
Go out if and when you can. Most people are going to be turning 21 this year, go and celebrate with them, even if it means heading out to the club and not getting in until 4am! Everybody told me that in third year you NEVER went out, it was unheard of, but that just wasn't the case at all. It was so rewarding to have a night out planned for the end of the week, and it didn't prohibit me from working either. Go out, enjoy yourself, take the next day a little easier - have a lie in, lounge about a bit, get some good hangover food ordered - and then in the evening head out to the library and get some work done! You'll be well rested and hopefully ready to work. If you're not great with a hangover but would still enjoy going out for a drink then you can limit your club appearances and go to the pubs/bars instead!
Looking for something to do sober instead? Join a society. It's your last chance, so you might as well give it a go. Just be sensible and know realistically how many hours a week you can dedicate to it. I joined the yoga society in my third year, having never done it before, and really loved it. I went once or twice a week, just for an hour each time, whenever I could!
I should say though that while it is important to enjoy your last year of student life and have some fun, you do also have to keep in mind why you're there in the first place - your degree. Don't leave essays until the last minute. We all know that you don't have to work intensely from the start of the semester to the end to do well, but once those essay titles have been released, get planning and then get writing! Pick your essay topic and go over the lecture slides/seminar notes for it, get in the library and do your own research, then put pen to paper (metaphorically because let's face it you'll be working on a computer) and WRITE. The more time you give yourself, the more effort you can put into it, and the less stressful a process it's going to be!
Work on your dissertation as much as you possibly can. I had an amazing dissertation tutor who would reach out to me and offer her opinions and guidance as often as I needed it, but I know that not everybody is that fortunate. If your tutor seems a bit slack, then you have to motivate them. Suggest meeting up every 4 weeks and present them with a new chapter at each meeting, ask them to go over it if they can, and while they're looking over that you can get on with your next chapter. If your tutor isn't allowed to view each chapter once, work around this, present them with ideas in regular meetings and show them how excited you are about your project.
Overall, get your head down and regularly reward yourself working so hard. Enjoy yourself and push yourself, it's the last opportunity you have to make the most of every aspect of University, so do what's going to make you happy!