Become Independent
You have to do it sooner or later, so why not now?
What's so good about independence? After all, you enjoy having someone else do all your cleaning and cooking! Well, eventually you're going to have to strike out on your own, and that means becoming familiar with all of these valuable life skills...
Laundry
Yes, you're going to have to wash your clothes (although many of you may decide to be somewhat lax on this point) which means getting to know correct temperature settings and whatnot. It is an important rite of passage of every student to shrink a favourite jumper in their first wash.
Ironing
The traditional successor to washing - it doesn't work as well if you iron your clothes BEFORE the wash. Again, many of you may simply not bother.
Cleaning
You have two choices - you can get used to the idea of hoovering, dusting and polishing, or you can live in a house that looks like it has recently survived a nuclear explosion. Many of you - sorry for doing the same joke over and over, but it's true - will opt for the latter option.
Food shopping
The most fun part of being a student outside of the student union bar. Over your three years you'll become a genius at bargain spotting - you'll swoop down on 2 for 1 offers, spot damaged tins from a mile away, double up with your mates to make the best out of bulk purchases, and save a packet on goods that are teetering on their sell-by date. It's like wheeling and dealing - but you get to eat the end results!
Cooking
And you can't just buy it and not eat it, can you? Your first faltering efforts may be useless, but in the fullness of time you'll develop your own Jamie Oliver-esque culinary repertoire. And there are no rules to what you can do! So if you fancy knocking out a sausage curry, then who's going to stop you?
Accommodation
Any student needs to be a fast-educated whiz at dealing with landlords and property agents, so that if a boiler goes on the blink at 8am, you're fully fixed and lounging in a piping hot bath by 8.30. Not that we're suggesting you have to take a bath, of course.
Hygiene
With time and money at a premium, it's all too easy for the modern student to, how to put this? Not bother washing and stink the place out. Yeah, that's how to put it. But a little effort and a lot of soap and you may find that the opposite sex feels that you stand out from the unwashed horde. Which leads us to...
Precautions
Sex is great. But if you don't protect yourself, it could soon stop being so much fun. Keep sex safe and fun by protecting yourself and your sexual partners with a condom. Condoms can protect against many sexually transmitted infections (STIs) including HIV, and help prevent unintended pregnancy. Remember, you can't tell if someone has an STI just by looking at them and as many as 70% of women and 50% of men who have an STI, don't show any symptoms. So always carry and use condoms to keep sex safe and fun.
