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After you graduate from university, you will have a lot to think about and a lot to sort out. One of the many key things you will have to give some thought to is your financial situation. As a university graduate, it is now time to stand on your own two feet, which means looking at ways to get your financial situation off to a good start.

While you might not have had a huge amount of experience when it comes to finances - after all, for most students finances are pretty limited - the sooner you start planning the better. Some of the things that you will need to think about in order to start life in the real world on an even footing include:

Earning some money

In order to sort out your finances you actually need to have some finances to sort. This means getting a job sorted out so that you have some money coming in. You should avoid the mistake of waiting for the ideal job to come along, as you could be waiting for some time in the current economic climate. Instead, get yourself any job that pays a decent wage and start earning some money while you wait for the perfect job to come up.

The Best Festival Tents

If you've been to festivals before, you're more than likely to have suffered from the ‘wisdom' of a friend who claimed that you should save money on the tent for beer. After said beers, you return to your campsite, with the tent hanging off a tree and your belongings strewn across the grounds.

On the other hand, you could invest in a sturdy piece of gear that could last you several festivals - like the following:

• The Constellation DLX Cygnus is a perfect choice for you and your buddies. Set-up time clocks in at around 10 minutes and features a LED lighting system inside.
• The Vango AirBeam Genesis 300 is definitely a pricy investment, but a worthwhile one if you value your time. No poles, just inflatable tubes and it just takes 4 minutes to set up.
• The Antic White is the cheapest and fastest option in terms of setting up. It's customisable for your own designs if you want to make it stand out from the crowd, too.

Read on to find out how those who opt not to bother with a tent survive - you might find you're glad you don't share their apparent reckless attitude; not least when you consider how utterly unreliable the British weather can be. Staring up at the stars as you drift off is a nice idea, but what if you can't see for your eyes being filled up with rain?

Reginald Smith Jr. from University of Kentucky gave a shot to opera 5 years ago when he went to Atlanta from Lexington to audition for opera. Fast forward to today, he's an international opera singer in the making, flying from Lexington to Houston for a studio artist vacancy in Houston Grand Opera.

He used to sing in the choir at his local church while growing up in Georgia. Smith's mother was the director, and opera was eventually introduced to him despite the fact that he didn't have any other formal music training. He and his brother joined elementary choir together. His brother gave up singing in school choirs but Smith continued.

Choosing the Right University

Smith saw his first opera in the 10th grade, and he says that was the turning point of his life and the moment when the ‘opera bug' bit him. Smith then began to look for colleges for further education in the field. He looked into the programmes that were being offered, how they were being perceived, and the activities alumni were involved in after graduation.

Smith was aware that music education degrees and coaching can help students in major cities such as New York and other lesser-known music culture cities to enhance their singing skills.

In the UK we're lucky enough to enjoy a wide choice of broadband providers with a huge number of packages up for grabs. That's great because we get to select a service at whatever price suits our budget, but the array of options can be slightly bewildering.

And if it's confusing for those of us who have lived in the country for some time, the problem is worse for visitors, particularly students coming to the UK to study who already have enough to contend with. While libraries, coffee shops, universities and colleges all offer free Wi-Fi it's very useful, if not essential, to have your own connection at home.

If you're new to the country and looking to sign up for internet service, here's what you need to know about getting broadband in the UK as a student.

Broadband and Contracts

Signing up to a fixed line broadband service will involve some kind of commitment to stay with the provider for a set amount of time. If you break this contract by leaving early you are liable to be charged a fee for the remaining months.

This can obviously be problematic for students who may not be staying in one place for a long period of time, and don't typically have a lot of cash lying about.

The British summer has finally decided to join the party, after much consternation and anxiety from sun-worshippers across the country. The change in weather, of course, also calls for a change in clothing, which means you're going to have to start thinking about making some serious fashion decisions in the coming months.

Before you charge into stores to buy denim hot pants or those breezy summer dresses, we urge you to have a browse through some of these fashion tips for students this year - it'll definitely make a difference to both your comfort and your look!

Metallic Colours

Metallic colours are making a comeback this season. Of course, if you're choosing outfits for evening events, you'll perhaps want to avoid gold and silver and go for the more pastel-metallic colours and materials instead.

Going metallic is a style commitment - those brave enough will dive in at the deep end to achieve this shiny, retro-futuristic look. But if you don't want to go for full-on sixties sci-fi gal, it's still possible to work the trend to your advantage subtly, with a sheer gauze top or maybe a skirt.