BiMM Brighton Year 2

1.

Don't leave or stop attending mid term as this will only leave you with student finance debt and definitely don't take the loan for a semester you haven't attended. Seems obvious but my attendance sort of dwindled as I was working and depressed in October/November so by the time the Christmas holiday came my last date of attendance was stupidly far enough back where I have to pay that entire first chunk of the loan back now as they decided I wasn't entitled to it.

1.

Know what you're leaving/going back home to. I thought I would go back home and work to save and maybe even find an apprenticeship and so on but truth is, or atleast where I live in the north east, it's pretty difficult to find a decent job [even part time] and is definitely hard to what feels like near impossible to find an apprentice or get your foot in the door of somewhere new you have no previous work/study experience in. I mean we studied music, and I did in college - not engineering or a trade or so on. My friend is in exactly the same position now in year 1 Bimm Manchester and i've tried to pesuade him to just stick with it everytime he's mentioned coming back or i've said he should atleast give year 2/potentially a new living location a try, see what it's like, might feel different. Uni/bimm won't come round again so easy and even though Bimm can feel like a lost cause, it's a safety net and a means to get up and go somewhere that's easy to take for granted - also it's a cool means to live elsewhere. Uni is sort of the last educational or systemal setting where young people are helped as they go along, the last school per say, if that makes sense. Though you can always go back you're a fresher attending for the first time and that's a one off. There's likely no job waiting for you back home. (In my case, of course will be different for others). It's harder to find yourself an adventure afterwards without saving a bunch of money.

1.

Tell the lecutrers how you feel, talk to student wellbeing. They do want to help. I've had a couple of tutors with my old guitar lecturer since coming home and he always said why didn't you talk to someone, i just didn't see the point but perhaps it could've helped atleast on the mental health side.

1.

Potentially consider looking into taking a break/gap instead of flatout dropping out, unless it's a hell you're totally done with.

2.

Atleast try to make it different, maybe think about living somewhere else or changing your routine. It's crazy how much where you live can effect your perception of your situation/routine. I moved from above a gammy pub in hove to a nice house next to the hills and Country side in Saltdean (both from spareroom) and I did feel alot better, though uni still wasn't cutting it.

1.

Go out more if you can, do more. Attend more gigs if anyone you like is about and you can afford it, try some new food spots or go out for more nights out with friends. Just have a good time while you're there. I know you probs do and that wasn't the question but I've visited my mate who's in Manchester Bimm a few times and that Uni lifestyle is so weird to look back in on now, even tho some of them are in dorms and I never was. Uni life is just something else and it can be a bubble, even though brightons almost like a bubble as it is. You can't take it for granted but I know it's not all sunshine and rainbows.

2.

You don't have to know what you want next just yet, but it's something to think about. I think in life its always best to have something you're gonna try next or something to look foreward to. Especially being in late teens/early twenties. I'm trying to get into camp canada and on the last hiring stage of the process, and even if that doesn't work I'm done being a miser and will find something else to work towards. I was too miserable during uni and coming back it was hard to readjust but BiMM isn't everything, what's graduating even going to get you? And overall Uni, or atleast studying arts in Uni, there's no massive gain from it - rarely a job in the arts waiting after - no reason to really stay and torture yourself if you know it's not for you. Lots more people drop out than you think and do just fine. But what matters is what you do next.

1.

Even working and slowly becoming self sufficient on that could be cool if you like Brighton, I mean you may be nearer home still than I was with friends family nearby. Look for an affordable nice room and save and stuff, you don't have to return home if you left. Also one last thing is the money like you get as a student, that doesn't come by free again. Those chunks of loan are alot of money so imagine saving some of that if you could. That's another thing to bare in mind. You don't get help like that once u leave. Though you ultimately are paying to go to Uni, don't screw your future self over for something you don't even like. Baring in mind the fakeish debt after you leave end of term (probs worth checking you wont owe) or graduation is better than the real debt you have to pay if you take more than you should've or if they decide you weren't entitled to any money.

1.

You can still do music outside or uni, and without uni. Though uni might be the last place you can revolve your life around it.