For many (me included), memories of university revolve around questionable nights out and adrenaline-fuelled study sessions taking place in the early hours before an assignment is due. However, stroke survivors (me included) are likely to face unique challenges, adjusting to life away from home and navigating the neon-lit allure of societies, seminars and social events.
In this post, I wish to create a mini survival guide for young stroke survivors who are thinking about going to uni. Having had a stroke aged 4, leaving me with right-sided hemiplegia (not the best parting gift in the world 
), I went on to study Neuroscience at Sussex Uni. Here are some of the challenges I faced while completing my Bachelor’s and Master’s Degree, and how I resolved them!
Fatigue
So, you go to uni to study something you’re passionate about! You go to lectures and find the content really interesting (Great)! After a month or so, you begin to juggle your first assignments with writing up lecture notes and attending societies that caught your attention during Freshers’ week. Sounds daunting (and exhausting), right?
It’s easy to get overwhelmed, but there are simple ways to stop everything from getting on top of you!
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Getting friendly with the university’s Disability Support Team is a good start - from my experience they were happy to add an extra week onto my deadline if I needed more time to work on assignments.
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It is common for professors to email their presentation slides to students the day before their lecture. A cheat code I learned is to print out and annotate the slides, rather than spend ages writing pages and pages of notes (it’s so much easier to digest the info!).
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Arrange to meet up with your course mates to share ideas about topics discussed in lectures (possibly with the incentive of a post-study pint!).
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Take time out to relax and enjoy the freedom of living away from home! For me, I found my energy levels to deplete over time, making me sluggish. To refresh myself, I had to make sure to schedule breaks, go for walks or meet up with friend in between study sessions.
Forward Planning
A handy trick I learnt from my time at uni is to cook in bulk! While I am not advising you to have defrosted spaghetti bolognese on the menu every day throughout the semester, it is useful to have a batch waiting for you in the freezer after a tiring day. 
Be Bold
Look, I may seem self-assured to you but in the early stages of uni, I found meeting new friends an unsettling prospect. I was self-conscious about my limp and my paralysed right hand. However, I soon realised that, even though not for the same reasons, everyone was self-conscious in some way or another. All of my worries didn’t once cross the minds of the people I met, and I made some amazing friends. Don’t let your reservations stop you from having a good time!
You are far more than your stroke, and while there will always be challenges, you’ve faced too much to start backing down now.
