So. Everyone has degrees these days, or at least it seems like it. And what does it mean when absolutely everybody is special? That's right. No one is.
Any naive and slightly unable-to-hold-their-drink, wide-eyed A2 Level student will tell you just how much better their job prospects/ life/ mating talents/ burial casket will become when they have put in a little bit of work for three years and gotten a degree. The pay will be better. The opportunities more frequent and fruitful. Their fame and fortune in any field they want to approach far more likely.
Fast forward to the other side of the spectrum. "Beyond undergraduate [INSERT SUBJECT HERE]" is seen in most subjects in most unis at some point, normally towards third year, and is almost always not compulsory to attend. So students don't. And then, the poor graduate on the "other side" we've just spoken about who either hasn't been to said lectures, hasn't listened to what was in them or has tried to follow advice and ended up realising it's too late in the day to get the work experience he needed last week sometime to apply for, say, a position in the States, is left with just a degree.
I say just a degree. At the end of the day, it is a degree, and that's definitely something. They come in different shapes, sizes and difficulties even among the same subject, across unis and teaching approaches. But after the training the student is left naked in the wilderness armed with an undergrad certificate, and told to build a castle from it.
So, how do you go about getting ahead of the pack? Top tips, from what I've gathered in my first two years, are below.
10. In at number ten, DO STUFF. Don't just sit on your arse for the three years when you're not doing essays or coursework. And don't waste the extra time purely on getting drunk. If you've got the right attitude, you can get anything you want.
9. Start looking early Obviously enjoy your uni life. Don't be a prude who sits in their room the minute freshers' week is over and pores over job pages from day one. At the same time, the quicker you get in on the act, the better. Aiming to do an internship between your second and third years is normally a good way to go- you've got experience on your side, and yet you're not a dreaded 'graduate' looking to flounder into the light of the real world.
8. Be social You ain't gonna here nuthin' 'bout nuthin' and nobody if you ain't gonna talk to nobody. That is- the more people you know, the likelier you are to be told about that great training thing you'd otherwise miss out on. Keep your friends close and their ambitions/ events closer.
7. Be society-able Societies are great. The best run ones can really turn you around to a new set of skills, a new avenue for a career or just a bunch of things you hadn't thought of before. You can never have too many strings to your bow. Just make sure you don't spend too long plaiting them and forget to build the bow.
6. Be open to anything Be willing to have a go. End of. At the same time, don't whore your talents to ridiculous stuff, but don't dismiss things off the bat because you wouldn't necessarily do it normally.
5. Be nice, to everybody Or at least try. You're never going to be 100% universally hailed as a great bloke or gal, god knows I've found that out, but if you do your best people will be more likely to think of you if stuff crops up, or if they need someone to do something important.
4. Don't let extra stuff bugger your degree Don't go overboard. Know your limits. You can't do everything. A lot of people have the Kryptonite syndrome (including myself)- "If I go crazy would you still call me Superman?". Cheers 3 Doors Down. It stands to reason though- keep an eye on what you've done. If after a month you've written no essays but you have got your society's Prince Charles effigy looking as realistic as the real thing then you might need to priorise a bit more.
3. Don't let your degree bugger your extra stuff Don't spend every night (similar to point 8, this one) just reading degree books or redrafting essay after essay. Give yourself time to concentrate on other stuff. If you've signed up to a society and enjoy it, do yourself and it justice by spending time on it. Become good at whatever the society does as well as your degree. A history scholar with a healthy interest in middle eastern cinema, for example, will trump a history scholar who has only looked at the set texts on his course.
2. Know what it is you want to do This is the best thing, more or less, that I ever did. And I didn't even know I had done it at the time. But deciding what you're good at, what you want to pursue and recognising what you might have to do to help you on your way is the first step. From Sixth Form, I've wanted to be a writer and gone after it tooth and claw. Whatever field you want, narrow it a bit, then get experience. Hard work pays off.
1. Expect the unexpected I fully expected to come to uni and be able to write a few novels, sell them off and become an established name. Naive, yes. But when I got involved in the uni newspaper, realised I was good at it, and got involved in the radio, realised I was good at it, and got involved in society and realised I was good at being in charge of some things, I had a chance to reevaluate. Be wary that things might not fall into your lap the way you want, but there'll be lots of stuff you can have a go at and become good enough at to pursue after uni that crop up along the way.
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