Hi guys. I just wanted to start off this video by saying congrats to the Class of 2020 and also congrats to everyone that has got their results today aswell. I mean it’s very unprecedented times as everyone’s saying and we made it so congrats and I wish you all the luck in the future.

Now that that’s out of the way, this video is largely aimed at the prospective students. This is just going to be a little video about how to prepare for uni over the summer. I’m not going to sit here and be like pack your tissue and pack your underwear – I’m sure (or I hope!) you have that down by now, if not I’m sure there’ll be loads of videos on YouTube that will tell you what exactly to pack. I want to speak more about how to mentally prepare yourself for uni. Obviously coming to uni is such a huge, huge jump and given everything that’s already happened this year it might seem a bit extra daunting. There are ways that you can prepare yourself to cushion that change.

One of my biggest tips for prospective students would be to join social media pages. At Warwick, we have a Facebook page called Warwick Freshers. That’s where there are thousands of people and you’ll find out everything that’s going on at the uni. You can just post freely in there, so for example, if you wanted to find out who your flatmates were you could post in there and find them. Or you might want to join a course-specific Facebook chat or something like that. I think it’s really good to make connections before you arrive at the uni so it’ll be a bit less daunting and you’ll feel like you already know people anyway. I’d definitely say utilise social media when you can. Try and get to know people even before you arrive so you kind of have a crutch for when you arrive.

This is kind of in a similar realm to the last one but I’d also say definitely look into societies and possible ones you want to join. Warwick has literally hundreds of societies, from everything from Chalk and Cheese Society to Quidditch Society. I’m sure you’re bound to find something that interests you. I’d say maybe get an early preview of that – check out the Warwick SU page, see what they have available. In the same breath, don’t feel like you have to know what societies you want to go to before you even arrive. You can literally just show up at the uni and do a lot of the taster sessions that we [usually] have on offer which are amazing.

I think honestly with the first two points, one of the biggest mental preparations is being in a completely new space with completely new people and being able to feel a bit comfortable. I know it can be very daunting being the new person anywhere. I think it’s quite comforting to know that you’re not the only new person – there’s literally thousands of new people in the same exact position as you. I would highly, highly, highly recommend going to societies because that is where you’ll meet amazing people from all different walks of life. You’ll meet people that aren’t necessarily your flatmates or on your course either, so you can actually just meet the greatest people you would never have met otherwise. Whenever I’m speaking to prospective students I always, always, always say the importance of societies. Not only in a social aspect but also just pushing yourself. You have to remember that you’re coming to this new place, no one really knows you necessarily, you can literally do things that you’ve always wanted to do which is amazing. I’d always say just try out anything that sparks even the littlest bit of interest. A lot of these places have free taster sessions and a lot of them also [usually] have free pizza(!), so I’d definitely say check them out. If you don’t like it, it’s not the end of the world – you’re not contractually obliged to anything, you just don’t have to go back.

Another tip that I would give to prospective students would be to practice some core skills. By core skills, I’m talking about learning how to load the dishwasher or do your laundry, or especially learning how to cook. Even if it’s just a couple of basic meals you can rotate. These are all seemingly easy things but I feel like a lot of people get thrown in the deep end when they’re at university and they have to do everything for themselves. I think it’s quite hard having to come to uni and learn new skills as well as being in a new environment and being with new people so I think if you can practice over summer that’ll put you at ease in at least one aspect, because at least that’s something that you can control. Even if you just learn a couple of meals, learn how to load the dishwasher, learn how to do your laundry (laundry’s a big one actually!), and I hope that will put you at ease as that’s one less thing to worry about.

Another tip that I’d give would be to check out your modules before the start of the year. Now that’s something that I didn’t really do I’ll be honest and I kind of regretted it because it meant that I kind of just walked in blindly – I didn’t really know what to expect.

Another tip I’d really give to really mentally prepare yourself for uni would be to enjoy the break. I mean, this summer is probably one of the last summers that you’re going to have where you have no deadlines, nothing to think about, you’re just waiting to start afresh. I’d say make the most of it. I know we’re in lockdown so try your hardest, but really chill out before you go into quite a new, semi-stressful world. But hopefully if you follow some of the tips that we’ve talked about it shouldn’t be too stressful.

Make sure you enjoy your summer, stay safe and good luck with the upcoming academic year!