Freshers Survival Guide

After just finishing my own packing to go back to uni tomorrow I am now writing for you my ultimate guide on how to survive freshers with lots of handy tips that are not only useful during freshers week but also during Re:Frehers and other nights out!

I am going to be telling you all the do's and don'ts so that you don't have to make the same mistakes and give you and idea of what to be expected.

So, you've just arrived at your university for the first time. Your uni should have sent you out emails about arriving with the information about collecting your keys. A lot of people worry about when to arrive, but honestly it's not worth worrying about. Everyone arriving are all in the same boat as you and they feel just as anxious about meeting people too. One thing that my uni did was to create a facebook group for each hall and then our hall decided to make a group that, this was set up a couple of months before we moved in which meant we could get to know people before we arrived and had an idea of who our friends might be. This helped me because when I went to collect my key I saw three girls I recognised from the chat and I said hi and we've been friends since, one of them becoming one of my best friends!

If your parents are able to keep them around to help them unload your car and maybe unpack if you want the help, I didn't, I just had my mum make my bed for me!

But what feels weird is when they leave, and your left in your room. I was already familiar with this feeling having spent the whole summer in Spain as an Au Pair, the moment when they left me on my own at the airport felt weird, but it's totally okay, everyone is going to feel a bit weird having being left on their own. I decided to unpack and get my room feeling homly (unfortunately I don't have pictures to show for this) and I left my door open, this is a good thing to remember for the first week or two, leave your door open so that people can see that your a freindly person. My mum had made me some rocky roads and packed those for me to give to people, treats are always a good thing, anyone that came to my room I was like 'have some rocky road!' and most of them were very happy at the thought of free chocolate!

What to expect:

During our freshers week (which we aren't allowed to call frehsers week, it was referred to as welcome week haha), we had different events every night. There was a club night each night which was exclusively freshers only, there were no other students except freshers, what was great about these were the freshers buses, there was such a good vibe and good energy on the buses!

Because there are so many different activities it's a good idea to take any fancy dress things you have at home with you. I had a look at the calendar before hand so I knew what to take from home, you can also pack extras such as halloween things. If you don't have any fancy dress things don't wory, at our fresher fair we had a fancy dress stall with discounted prices and we also have a big fancy dress shop in town (but that's a bit more expensive!).

PS. Tip for halloween or big fancy dress events eg. pub crawls, the fancy dress shop will probably be packed full of students. In Nottingham we have two universities and during the halloween week we actually had to queue to be allowed into the fancy dress shop (if you are from Nottingham, loveyababes has everything you'll need!), but also they sometimes give out discounts. I was with a friend buying fancy dress for an event and as there was a UoN vs. Trent pub crawl event coming up they were giving discounts for fancy dress outfits for that event so it's worth a try (H&M don't do a student discount, but New Look does, plus at Body Shop students get a free love your body membership card!)

There was also non-alcoholic events throughout the week, like acoustic night, open mic comedy, quiz nights, movie nights and we also had some different activites during the day. A lot of socities did free taster sessions so if you are interested in something, eg ice skating they might do your first session for free. Remember these socities have really really good discounts! I go horse riding and at home a private lesson for me is nearly £40 but with uni an hour group lesson is £10/15.

Going out:

These are my main tips for when you are out which I try to stick to:

Alcohol: Have fun, if you want to drink that's totally okay, but don't make fun of someone who doesn't want to drink and don't pressure them to drink either. Try and know your limit and don't go over it. Also don't leave your drink unattended, even if someone is buying you a drink I always stand with them whilst they are buying it, this way you are able to watch it and you aren't going to end up getting drugged or spiked.
Don't take your credit card with you: This is for two reasons 1) You may loose it and end up in a panic, or it could get stolen and 2) By taking only cash you have set yourself a limit for that night, even if you take out a lot for one night like £40, that's better than taking your card and spending an excessive amount on other peoples drinks, this is especially useful if you are in your overdraft!
Stay with a friend: Go to the club with friends and stay with them. I hate being on my own in a club, I get quite anxious if I get lost because it's always so hot and crowded. Also don't go home on your own. This is an important one to remember, drunk or sober it can be dangerous to walk or get a taxi home on your own, it'd be nice to think it'd possible to mind your own business and walk home, but in this world there aren't always nice people so it's better to be safe
Transport: If the event doesn't have transport, share a cab with your friends as it will make it cheaper, pack in as many people as possible. In the first week or two try and find one or two trusted taxi companies so that you know they are safe to go home with. Usually there will be a lot of taxis outside clubs when you leave anyway, but my advice would be never to get in an unmarked taxi. Your uni might offer a safer taxi scheme, we have this and how it works for us is one taxi company has a contract with the Student Union and they will take us home even if we don't have money, they then take our student ID and the next morning you go to the SU and pay for the taxi, I really like this because it means I will always be able to get home, and becase I'm such a cheap student, I quite often don't have enough money by the end of the night!
Time off: This is super important during freshers to take a break, there will likely be one night you're not as interested in, or a night your friends decide not to go to. Do it. SLEEP (since you won't be doing that much on any other night). During my freshers week I took wednesday off and stayed in (probably still stayed up late), but gave me a chance to try and have an early night and a night off drinking. During Freshers week your body and immune system are probably going to have a hard time: no sleep, lots of alcohol, probably being infected by freshers flu (which I got terribly and still haven't got rid of the cough!), so at least give your body one night. Even when freshers week ends, continue going out if thats what you want to do but take time off too! But the absolute most important thing I'd say is...
HAVE FUN!! Freshers is only going to happen once so make the most of it. But you can still find ways to keep the fun going and be sociable after freshers ends.