If you're tired to cook, to wash your clothes, to vacuuming, to do your homework, you have to know that there are a lot of things to do in Dijon that permit you to escape your new adult life.

Indeed, it's a town especially composed of students and, as a consequence, there are plenty of places where you can go to “breathe” and to have fun. If you just want to go outside and pass an evening more funny than an evening in front of your TV, you can go to cinema, theater, opera... You have plenty of things to discover. You can discover new films, go to the Eldorado or to the Darcy's cinema and by the way take the opportunity to visit the town center.

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The opera of Dijon is also very known and there are a lot of famous pieces which are played. For some it can be a habit and for others it can change of everyday life and permits to see new things.

As you have understood, Dijon is a huge cultural city, where each one can find his pleasure, whether it's, for instance, dance or singing you want to see. Moreover, if you're a fan of art, you must know that in this city, you can find different museums. This year the Museum of Fine Arts opened and it's a very enriching place, in which paintings, sculptures and rare objects are exposed and you cross over the years in each room.

Furthermore, in Dijon, you can see a lot of famous artists, especially singers with La Vapeur, or Le Zenith. Indeed, soon, Stromae will come in our city to make a show, Keizah Jones and M too, and thanks to the culture card you can assist to these performances cheaper. There are spectacles for all taste, jazz, electro, classic, rock...

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However, if you want something “harder” and if you just want to have fun, you can go out in such places like bars or nightclubs, with your friends or alone, to meet new people and have a drink. Like for music and art, you have plenty of different bars like the Shooter's where you can only drink shots, but also the Annexe, a warmest bar where there is a large choice of beers. You have also the Jamaique, mix between a bar and a nightclub, it's a famous place in Dijon. All these places permit you to have a good evening (and a good night for those who want to return late) but generally, the wake-up is less pleasant for your head..

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As you understood, Dijon is far from being a city where you get bored, you always have something to do and it's perfect for students who want to enjoy life !

The first difference between high school and college concerns the class and the courses.

First, there are now more than a hundred of students in our section, even more than in the Faculty of Law. Consequently, we have the opportunity to meet a lot of people, especially people who tend to like the same things, who are willing to achieve the same experiences, who share the same culturel references, and we can help each other within different groups. 

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Secondly, the courses that take place in auditoriums make a strange impression at the very beginning, because teachers use a microphone, and students don’t have much room. It is hard not to disturb the classmate next to you. Besides, teachers speak really quickly.

There are also contrasts inbetween the different university curricula. One of them, for example, is that, contrary to medical students, SLIC students are altruistic and totally ready to help each other, like sending the homework to the missing students. As one of the student representatives, I think that I am in a good position to see how relationships between students work, and I can also assure that, unlike what students usually imagine about university teachers, these are definitely abordable and glad to talk.

What is interesting is that no one has had the same school curriculum before : some who are older got their baccalauréat a few years ago, and are now more than 20 years old. But unlike high school, where the different generations and classes don't communicate or frequent each other, it is the norm at university. The paths of students are so heterogeneous that some students didn't even made their study in France, for they come from Japan or Brazil and want to discover another culture ; it is also a way for us to learn different languages and different traditions.

Students chose this university curriculum for very diverse reasons. Some of them are interested in linguistic, others in information and communication sciences... While some would like to become speech therapists, others see it as an opportunity of becoming journalists.

As a conclusion, we can say that university is the place where diversity becomes commonplace, not creating conflicts but, to the contrary, encouraging solidarity and promoting acceptance and tolerance. In a certain extend, we could also talk about the end of the social barrier between generations, as all age groups mix together without rejecting each other.

Starting university is also to start having responsibilities. In fact, for once in his life, the student can live without someone behind him to say what he has to do, when he has to tidy his bedroom, what he has to eat and when he has to sleep… This absence is first worrying, then very curious, and thereby disconcerting.

Indeed, university means freedom. There aren’t any obligations in this place, and this can be a problem or a huge asset, depending on the student.

For example, lots of students face a real problem of motivation, because of this lack of authority. What is the problem of laughing all day long if no one is here to quarrel with you ? They thus prefer having fun working at school, and it’s understandable, even if that can cause problems during the final examination.

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 Besides, a difficult and recurrent choice is made each night - go party or study? (nevertheless, generally, the answer is quickly found, even if it has consequences, such as lack of sleep or very esthetic rings!)

Furthermore, an other issue caused by this independence is the cooking issue. The biggest part of the students are bad cooks, due to lack of time, on the one hand, and laziness at going shopping to eat healthy on the other hand. This causes a real food problem, which can trigger, for instance, illness like constipation, or other problems. The everlasting pasta rules like bossy master for each student who is too tired to prepare a decent meal.

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Otherwise, parents can be too demanding and stifle their children. On the contrary, they can also be too laid back, or ignore their kids for different reasons. Whereas the students had been hoping that their parents would finally stop to be a burden, they can be actually much worse than before. (I have mainly in mind one of my friend’s, whose mother sends him an average of fifty messages a day!)

However, even if I almost talked about the negative aspects, there are also many positive things in independence.

First and foremost, we are now in our own environment, we don’t have to rely on anything. For instance, if we don’t want to eat one day, or if we want to go to sleep at 5 o’clock in the morning, we are free to do so, even if we have to face responsibilities for it. Besides, we even chose our lessons ! Given the fact that we are future adults (or simply adults, for the oldest among us), we are responsible of what we do. In a nutshell, we can do what we want ; that’s freedom. And this is priceless.

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The Campus is interesting for the new students who discover the city because there is a possibility to meet new people (there are 23 500 students in this campus) and to work in the better possible conditions. For example, the workspaces that we can find are the university library (BU) or the student’s house.

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We can also have a rest or work outside in the spaces-green with friends.

Moreover, the Atheneum is a place loved by students because it is entertainment’s place, like concerts, shows, exhibitions... In it, we can too buy a sandwich or drink a beer with some friends, in a friendly atmosphere.

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Students see the campus as a little town because everything is possible : we can eat in university canteens often open and be connected at the Internet everywhere on the campus (even if some places have a net a bit disturbed and irregular). In this campus we are lucky, we have our classrooms and our amphitheaters in the same building that allows us to not be worried about changes of buildings every time.

Furthermore, given the fact that they spend most part of they free time reading books, many students see university library as a second home. I think it’s revealing about students’ feelings of their campus, despite of difficulties and tiredness.

To recap we feel comfortable in this new life because we have the impression of being finally free. We have the possibility to do what we want without constraint, and the campus is a perfect home.

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It’s a lot of change to become a student. That’s why it needs a little time of adaptation to get used to the college’s life. Lodging, food, transports, money, activities…All things that a student has to be careful of and that bring responsibilities in his daily life !

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Everyday life of a student starts with the lodging, simply because the most important place for him, apart the university of course, is this one where he sleeps, works, eats…Lives. Indeed, if some students stay at home with their parents, quite a majority has come to Dijon since September to be closer to the university and the friends and to be part of the city life. It can be just during the week or all year long, 24/7, but anyway with a flat or a residency room come a lot of preoccupations. It’s time to think about rent, administration, supermarket and cleaning !

For example, there can be different advantages and problems with the question of the lodging. The independence procured to the student by taking care of himself and being free of doing what he wants is a point that many appreciate. But this big asset is counterbalanced  by some defaults. One of the big problems for students is money. Buying food, clothes, hanging out with friends, using public transport…Everything costs, and added to the rent, sometimes it really feels like money is spending itself while no one is noticing it. That’s why many students have a job parallel to their studies, in restaurants for example (concerning the jobs offered by the CROUS in the university canteens), or at people’s houses with baby-sitting or homework’s assistance.

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 lodging in a building or in a dwelling is also a lodging in a community, with all its daily surprises : too much noise when the upstairs’ neighbours have a party, a broken elevator, the fact that sometimes you have to share bathrooms with complete strangers, some fake fire alarms because of a forgotten kettle…but also good times when you come into another resident and talk a little.

This freedom has also impact on what students eat. Eat what you want means buy food, cook for each meal, wash dishes…Sometimes, doing it again and again is too annoying, so other possibilities are offered to students.  University canteens allow them to eat a complete and cheap meal, but aren’t really varied : chips and steak at every meal is certainly good at the taste but can tire. The campus has so also some restaurants : cafeterias or bar with sandwiches like the Atheneum. You can also skip a meal, or eat just a sandwich…The problem is that if you don’t have the money or the time to get wealthy lunch, you can quickly be caught in the trap of junk food or scribbling. 

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Indeed, the time seems to be changeable according to the things you have to do : too long during some classes or when you have to wait in a queue to eat, too short when you have to go somewhere, especially when you have an appointment ! The worst is probably that during the night, the time flies away and you have to wake up just like if you had just laid down. And then, you have to speed to have a bus, a tram or just to walk and arrive at the good time. Talking of the transport, it’s also an important data in the daily life of a student, particularly in Dijon where all the city is thought around tram and buses. And it’s truly practical when you have to move to the city centre just for a purchase and come back for a class. Although, it’s easy only when you have memorized the schedule and all the lines, that’s to say if at the start it can be a little stressful or surprising. 

Student’s life is also full of activities available during the free-time (when all the work is done, of course !) : associations, sport…The uB offers many possibilities to the students, who can practice dance, boxing, running, singing, art, journalism, music…Quite a choice !

With everything that’s there, the daily life of a student is already well-filled, but there are also classes, entertainment… There’s no place for boredom when you study in Dijon.