When you go to university, you expect to learn more about your chosen subject, and come out an expert in your field. While that may well be the case, it's not everything you learn. There's all kinds of learning opportunities while you're away from home, so what is the most important thing you'll learn at university?

For most students, this will be the first time they've ever lived away from home before. This in itself is a huge learning experience. You no longer have anyone telling you when to get up, what to eat for dinner, or when you should be home by. You can stay out all night and miss class, if you want. You can eat nothing but fast food until your money runs out, too. However, you'll soon learn that these are all extremely bad ideas.

You've never had to manage your time in the same way you will at university. You're in charge of your own sleep schedule, class timetable, and work shifts too. Somehow, you've got to juggle that all together, without dropping any of the balls. Sure, one day you'll drop the ball by oversleeping or forgetting a class, but you'll learn from that. Hopefully, you won't do it again.

Budgeting is another huge thing you'll learn while you're living away from home. At university, you're in full charge of your money. You can blow it all in the first week, if you so choose. Many do. However, if you do you'll soon learn that you really need to budget your money. Having to take responsibility for your cash will happen in a hurry, especially if you have bills to pay and groceries to buy.

Socialising changes dramatically when you're at university. When you first start, you'll have access to parties and events that will have you up until the small hours having an amazing time. When you get into your studies proper, and have to deal with the other responsibilities you have, that will change. Students will learn how to make friends without having to yell over loud club music. You'll learn how to socialise with others and make connections that can last for the rest of your life.

Now, some students come to university knowing how to cook and do their laundry like a pro. For others though, it's a steep learning curve. You're living alone for the first time and you need to figure out how you're going to run your day to day life. That can include figuring out how a washing machine works, or learning how to clean your room before it becomes uninhabitable. You're thrown in at the deep end, so you need to learn these skills.

Sure, you're studying your subject so you can get foothold in your chosen career, but you're learning a lot of soft skills too. There's a reason why you're asked to do group work, presentations, and other tasks for your grade. They teach you how to work in a team, manage your time, and stand in front of a group and explain an idea. You may think they're useless skills now, but in fact you'll be using them a lot once you graduate.

As a student, you'll be living with someone other than your family for the first time. At first, this can sound freeing, but then you realise the reality of the situation. Your housemates won't have the same values as you do, and there'll be at least one argument before the year is out. As an adult, you learn how to deal with these issues, and how to live with others without annoying each other.

All of these skills boil down to the fact you're learning how to cope in the real world. It's the first time you're living without your parents, and you're figuring out how to make it alone. University is the best place for this. You're given the freedom to make mistakes, but you have the framework of university, and the support of family back home, to get you through. After you graduate, you'll have the skills needed to get ahead in life.

So, the most important thing you learn at university is how to live as an adult. There's a lot of skills involved in it, but university gives you the chance to develop them all.