Freshers Advice!

Dear Freshers,

Starting University can be a scary experience, you’re going to be leaving your family home and moving in with complete strangers and if that’s not scary enough if you are self catered you’re going to have to feed yourself. The week before I left for Uni I spent most of my time searching the internet for advice on meeting flatmates and what to do in fresher's week. So being the helpful soul I am I've decided to put together some tips and advice for fresher’s week based on my own experience. I am definitely not an expert but maybe i'll be of some use! Here we go…

Try and meet your future flatmates on Facebook first

Nearly every halls at University will have a Facebook page dedicated to helping you find your future flatmates. These are great to use to get to know the people you will be living with for the next year. Four out of five of us found each other on Facebook before we met at Uni. The conversation was cute, cringey but overall very helpful!

Our original group message on Facebook!

Bring more cutlery than you think you need, and make it recognisable

If you’re anything like me you will lose all of your cutlery by the end of your University experience. I have absolutely no clue where any of it went and by third year I had a grand total of one knife and a tea spoon. If I could go back I would definitely bring more cutlery, and make sure there was something slightly different about them. To help me find the cutlery thief!

Make the most of your parents before they leave, get them to take you shopping.

Once your parents leave you its going to be up to you to do all of your food shopping. Make sure to get a good shop out of them before they head home. They will probably want to stock you up with absolutely every essential. Just to make sure you don’t live off noodles and pasta (which by October you probably will be.)

Bring name tags

One of my flatmates brought name tags with her which we gave out during our first predrinks of fresher’s. Although it sounds pretty lame it did mean that learning the names of about 50 new people was much easier and meant we avoided awkward situations on the first few nights.

First night out, with clearly visible name tags!

Buy a map

My flat was home to a map of the UK, we used this to mark down where everyone in our block was from in the Country. Again, not the coolest thing to have but it was a great conversation starter!

Our map during Freshers Week

Avoid twitter and Facebook on nights out

Now if you do drink it is very likely that you are going to be very drunk on at least one night of fresher’s week. In the event of being very drunk try to avoid Facebook and Twitter, as Hannah Montana says, everybody makes mistakes, everybody has those days. But try to make those mistakes a few months into Uni, you really don’t want to be that girl or guy when you’re first meeting people.

These are not my statuses, they were generously donated by a flatmate...

Take pictures, lots of fun to look at in the morning

Fresher’s week is the perfect opportunity to take photos which you can use for blackmail during the rest of your University life. In my flat we had a wall of Fame and Wall of Shame. Many of the photos came from fresher’s, and many of them could not be more cringe worthy if they tried.

Cup on head is a great look

Go to your welcome lectures

Surprisingly fresher’s isn't just about going out. As hungover as you may be after a night out you should probably try to make it to your welcome lectures. Definitely a great way to make sure you have signed up to the right course and meet your new Coursemates.

Sign up for clubs and societies

In fresher’s week there will be loads of fresher’s fairs advertising the different societies your Uni has to offer. Make sure you go! One of the best things about my Uni experience was my involvement in Student TV. A society I might not have joined if I had just stayed in bed and avoided freshers fair. You will probably find yourself on the email list for groups that you have no interest in, but you don’t know which ones you want to join until you try! I received emails from archery society for my whole first year. Pretty sure I never put my name down for it.

Just have fun! 

The most important thing! You only have one first fresher’s week. This is when you will meet some of your best friends and make memories which you will talk about for the rest of your time at University. You might also spend the next three years trying to piece together “Messy Messy Tiger Tiger Wednesday” although some mysteries will never be solved.

And if I can leave you with one thing, you will look back on photos from fresher’s week in despair. It does get better. Below is the first photo taken of me at University. Absolutely diabolical. This is why I hate TimeHop. 

Cringe and a half.

Feel free to ask any questions in the comments below! I'll do my best to answer, remember stay safe, have fun and share your crazy adventures! My next post will be some of the entertaining stories I remember from my Fresher's week!

Olivia

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