Let me tell you what I wish I'd known...

...when I was young and dreamed of glory, you have no control, who lives, who dies, who tells your story?

One day, I will stop with the Hamilton references. But not this day.

(Yeah, I slipped a Lord of the Rings reference in there too, I have a problem.)

But seriously. There's so much I wish I had known when I was younger. Like what A-levels to take, (oh man, if I could go back in time, I would change EVERYTHING) what university would really be like, why I should appreciate my clear skin and fast metabolism before it all turned to shit (oh, do I miss those days). I wish I had a better idea of what I wanted to do when I was younger. I chose my A-levels purely based on what I thought would look good when applying for unis, and I so wish I hadn't! I took History, English Literature and Government & Politics at A2, and Philosophy and Psychology at AS. If I had the knowledge I have now, I'd scrap all that, only keep Gov&Pol, take Maths and Physics at A2 instead, and do Drama at AS. Seriously, these qualifications determine where you go in life, so choose wisely (thought they've changed the A2, AS system recently, haven't they? Ugh, I'm so old now, I have no idea how it all works). Same with university. Pick a subject you actually like! And do more than just study. I wasted so many opportunities at university. Why on earth didn't I join more societies? There was so much to do! And so much of it was FREE! I mean, I'll never say that I DON'T love sitting in my room watching Netflix, but I could have done both. One of the main things I wish I had done is join the theatre/drama society. I was always absolutely rubbish at acting (that B in Drama GCSE perpetually dragging me down) but I did really enjoy it, and I was always too afraid to do anything drama-y at uni. Now thinking back though, surely someone would have let me be villager #2? Or background crowd member #7? Will I ever know? No.

We even had a food appreciation society. All they did was go to different places, eat the food, and judge it. The whole society was based on EATING FOOD. Could anything be more perfect?

Now that I'm working, I look back on all my days of freedom and all the time I wasted doing nothing and reminisce...ahh, youth. I miss being young and carefree and having the time to do whatever I wanted. These days, I alternate between spending my days reading, watching Netflix (and Amazon Prime, yay for Amazon finally fixing my account issue) and being in denial about my future and what I'm going to do with my life. Everything's fine. Nothing to worry about. It will all work itself out. There is no war in Ba Sing Se.

If you're starting out at uni, I have five main pieces advice that I wish someone had told me: 1) JOIN SOCIETIES, 2) actually try to make friends, they aren't going to fall into your lap no matter what anyone says, 3) for the love of God, budget! Do not end up living off noodles for a month because you spent all your money on something you'll never use, 4) if after a while, you still really don't like your course, see if it's possible switch, don't just suffer in silence, 5) apply for student loans way in advance, because something WILL go wrong. Most unreliable system ever.

While I'll always wish I had been better informed back then, I guess part of being an adult is learning to accept your mistakes. I can now look back at my A-level days and almost not cringe! Progress!