4 Things I Wish I Had Known As An Undergraduate

1. Never stop learning

Learning in your degree is a necessity (for most!) but don’t just think after those required hours of learning are done that you should give up. Explore other areas outside of your subject; there is a plethora of online courses* on everything from design to code to pottery (!) right at your fingertips. It might spark a new interest or even reinvigorate your enjoyment of your degree; and you never know how useful those skills will be in the future!

There are several people that I have personally met that found the skills they learnt on online courses, outside of their studies, completely invaluable to their current career. Unfortunately for me I didn’t know the value of lifelong learning at University and I completely regret not finding these fantastic courses sooner; the knowledge you can gain in insurmountable.

2. Network is your Net Worth

Your network after University will be invaluable, whether you join a small company, a corporate or start your own business. From lectures to guest speakers to your fellow classmates, you never know where they will end up or where your paths will cross again. More than that you don’t know what you can end up learning from these people; sometimes the most valuable thing is not the ‘leg up’ they can give you but what they can teach you. Whether that’s avoiding mistakes they’ve made when setting up their business or where is best to look for work in a certain industry. If setting up a business is on the cards for you post graduation then keep in mind some of the best startup teams met at University. But don’t just think of your network as something that gives you benefit, you should also pay it forward and help those out in your network, you never know what will come from it. Have a read of our blog post on networking.

3. Make the most of your spare time

You will never have as much “free” time as you do at University so make the most of it. You will never realize how valuable that work experience, volunteering, club or society can be to your future success. You have so much time to try out different activities, make new friends, and discover who you really are. University is a great time to test that business idea you’ve always been wondering about or try that hobby, which may even turn into a career. You have all these opportunities to become the best version of yourself you want to be, don’t squander them.

4. Find your passion

While I was at University I set up a society with the aim to connect small businesses to students and vice versa. From this I began networking with small businesses and entrepreneurs; this completely clarified in my mind that I wanted to start my own business as soon as I left University. Although I think I would have come to that conclusion eventually having the opportunity to surround myself with those types of opportunities definitely helped me find my passion. More than that, the society was part of the inspiration behind founding Zealify, so without that who knows where we would be!

• Some of my favorite places to access online courses are: Udacity, Coursera, Skills Share and Treehouse.

Note: This post was originally published in 2014.