High School and University, depending on whether you decide to move out or across the world… can be very different – take it from a girl who moved to a city 5 hours away from home.

Because high school teachers always tell us these stories of how university professors don’t care about you – how you are nothing more than a student number to them. For me, I’ve also had high school teachers tell me that making friends - or should I say ‘keeping friends’, is completely different.  And it is.

This may all be gibberish to you unless you have actually lived through it yourself – and trust me, I’ve had my fair share of new, old, lost and fake friends. I’ve also had my fair share of alcohol, and of heartbreak.
I’m not saying my university experience is any more special than yours, or of any else’s at that – in fact, I would say university has been pretty stereotypical – grow up and move out for the first time; drink for the first time and then get drunk for the first time; have a ‘friends with benefits’ for the first time…

Now, if you’re still reading this, it’s not too late - but you’re probably wondering what the point of this article. There is no point - unless you’re willing to re-live the rollercoaster I call “to infinity and beyond”.

Now, where do I even begin...?

First-year University was a lot of fun – don’t get me wrong. It’s like the start of something new, you get to be someone new and different and unique – and you can change who you are on a daily basis.

Because making new friends is only the tip of the iceberg.

Making friends and getting noticed is the complete opposite from high school – you really have to make that effort to keep those people you call “friends” around. There’s no such thing as “okay, cool. I’ll see you tomorrow/next class” in a 400 persons lecture that happens once a week.

Also, it wasn’t until coming to university that I realized how big this world is – and not just in a physical, geographical sense.  University has definitely opened my eyes to all the types of people that exist in the world – my mother always tells me to imagine the most outrageous, ridiculous - the sky is the limit, kind of person… because there is probably someone like that.

And trust me, there is.

(Wake up a friend at 3 am because you’re hungry and don’t want to eat alone? Been there.)

Friends are an important part of university, and life and in general – they make up your experiences.
Now, I’m going to spare you the details and stories of MY university life – I learned to live with a complete stranger, and how to make new friends, and catching feelings for a guy… There are those nights that you end up crying yourself to sleep and there are also nights that you don’t remember how you got into bed…
The bottom line is that you really start to grow as a person – as cheesy and cliché as that sounds. In university, you are given so much more freedom and you are also being exposed to so many more things.  And because this is your final transition from Disney shows to Reality TV.

Thinking back, High school was a rainbows and unicorns in comparison to university. While University is all drugs and alcohol – great in the moment, but the aftermath isn’t always the greatest.

Just remember to hold on tight, because it only gets crazier.