Getting into university is a fascination for most adults and a major turning point in a person's life. And it is particularly true in the case of Pakistan, a developing country, where the majority does not get a chance to enter university-life. As growing-up, teenagers dream about their time in a quality institute and as a result, some students start obsessing about their university degree. They make it their ultimate goal and as a result ignore many other aspects of personal and professional development e.g. they may side-step their hobbies.

During their time in university, most students do not realize the importance of personal development. They only concentrate on getting higher grades and more oven than not, once they enter their professional life, they realize that they lack leadership, communication and many other skills. Following are my advices for student starting their university life, sorted by their importance

1: Spend some time figuring out whether the major you are to graduate is suitable for you. Most students choose their field of study based on random advice from their relatives or friends. If you are not sure about your field, it’s ok to change your major after one or two semesters rather than struggling for four-years and at the end getting an average degree. It becomes a hundred times easier if you pursue your degree in a field which is suitable for you and you have passion for the subject.

2: Develop your hobbies. Gone are the days people used to get together and talk for hours face-by-face. This is the age of the internet and people communicate with each other using social media. To live a balanced, happy life, it is quite important to develop once hobbies, be it playing some sports, reading, writing, science etc.

3: A side project: University education is important though one should not put all his fruit in one basket. As a teenager, one has lots of time, mind capacity and stamina. There are diverse catalogue of courses online covering all possible fields. A side project could be a channel on Youtube, Teaching home-tuition, taking online courses, developing leadership skills, etc.

4: Keep looking for other opportunities, do not convince yourself that you will only choose a professional path linked to your degree. One thing that I realized after entering professional life is that I ignored certain opportunities thinking that they are so ordinary. Though they may be minute but they add up as you keep learning them. Lastly, I would say “The slow and steady wins the race”, so always keep learning new things.