Hey Guys!
Over the next two weeks a lot of you will be starting university and for you first years that means Freshers Week! Now that I'm going into my second year of university I have realised that there is a lot I learnt in freshers week that those of you who are going into your first year at university might like to know! If only I could do Freshers week all over again!
When it comes to Freshers Week it's completely new to you, your meeting new people, navigating yourself around a city you may never have lived in before, getting used to looking after yourself, cooking for yourself and learning to use the washing machine, so there can be a lot of uncertainty! So hopefully this will help you survive your first week!
#1 Make Sure All Your Paperwork Is Organised
In your first week you'll be having to register for your uni smart card, signing up for societies, getting your keys for your accommodation, using your new student account with a chosen bank and will be organising what modules you will be taking for your first and second semester, so you need to make sure that all of your paperwork is organised and in order. What I did was got a folder and put all my administration documents in the front, banking paperwork in the back and then somewhere in between put all the information and documents I would need to get access to my accommodation key. By having it all in a folder it makes life so much easier when it comes to looking for all the paperwork needed to hand in. Also, when you go to register for your smart card so you can access uni you'll need specific documentation, for example I needed my confirmation letter for acceptance to the university and the document they emailed me to print off. Being organised is essential as you won't need just one lot of documentation you will have collected a few over the past couple of months.
Another tip is getting all the administration tasks done straight away, so all the boring queues are all out the way before your start partying! Nothing worse than leaving it till last minute and then having to worry about it on your first week of lectures and induction seminars. So, by knowing what paperwork you need prior to going it will be a much easier process!
#2 Don't Be Afraid To Meet New People
That first day when you move into your accommodation and see all these new faces and people can be scary, kind of like starting primary and secondary school all over again! But don't worry everyone is in the same position and everyone will be nervous, believe me everyone worries about not making friends! So, don't by shy and say hi to everyone when you pass them on the landing, introduce yourself, try and remember everyone's names and just be yourself! The people in your flat will all be nervous too so just be friendly and offer to help them move things into the flat. Before you know it you'll be chatting and talking about your courses and where you are from etc! Luckily for me when I moved to Newcastle I already knew who I was living with because I met them all on Facebook through our accommodation group chat so it wasn't so scary going into my flat as I'd already spoken to everybody I lived with and saw familiar faces! You will actually be surprised how many people you will meet at freshers. It is nothing like secondary school, at uni everyone is so friendly! You'll be surprised how many friends you'll make in that first day! :)
That first day when you move into your accommodation and see all these new faces and people can be scary, kind of like starting primary and secondary school all over again! But don't worry everyone is in the same position and everyone will be nervous, believe me everyone worries about not making friends! So, don't by shy and say hi to everyone when you pass them on the landing, introduce yourself, try and remember everyone's names and just be yourself! The people in your flat will all be nervous too so just be friendly and offer to help them move things into the flat. Before you know it you'll be chatting and talking about your courses and where you are from etc! Luckily for me when I moved to Newcastle I already knew who I was living with because I met them all on Facebook through our accommodation group chat so it wasn't so scary going into my flat as I'd already spoken to everybody I lived with and saw familiar faces! You will actually be surprised how many people you will meet at freshers. It is nothing like secondary school, at uni everyone is so friendly! You'll be surprised how many friends you'll make in that first day! :)
#3 Save Your Money
This is an obvious point because now that you are moving to university and becoming more independent you'll be having to pay for your own shopping, machine uses, nights out and treats like the cinema, so you'll need some spending money other than your student loan! But what I mean by this point is for freshers week you'll be spending a lot of money on tickets to events, club entry fees, drinks, pre drinks and the university will hold some events that you will have to pay for as well, so save as much as you possibly can in this short time so you can make the most of the week and not have to worry financially. There is nothing worst than wanting to go and spend time with your new friends experiencing this new city and constantly checking you have enough money and working out what you can and can't go to. Just be sensible! Don't go spending £300 on a night out, when I've heard people have spent that much I don't understand how, you can easily go on a night out with just £10 in your pocket! So, have some spending money to treat yourself but don't go overboard and regret it later!
This is an obvious point because now that you are moving to university and becoming more independent you'll be having to pay for your own shopping, machine uses, nights out and treats like the cinema, so you'll need some spending money other than your student loan! But what I mean by this point is for freshers week you'll be spending a lot of money on tickets to events, club entry fees, drinks, pre drinks and the university will hold some events that you will have to pay for as well, so save as much as you possibly can in this short time so you can make the most of the week and not have to worry financially. There is nothing worst than wanting to go and spend time with your new friends experiencing this new city and constantly checking you have enough money and working out what you can and can't go to. Just be sensible! Don't go spending £300 on a night out, when I've heard people have spent that much I don't understand how, you can easily go on a night out with just £10 in your pocket! So, have some spending money to treat yourself but don't go overboard and regret it later!
#4 Sign Up To Societies
Everyone always says to sign up to as many clubs and societies as you can and they are right! But don't sign up to absolutely everything as that would be too overwhelming and in the end you won't end up going to all of their meetings and socials anyway. For my first year I stuck to just signing up to one society so that I didn't fill my time up too much and I didn't have to constantly go to every society event. I heard of people signing up to five or six societies and then when it came to socials they wouldn't go to half of them because it clashed with their work, uni schedule, time with their friends and they couldn't afford to keep going to all these different events every month. So, I would suggest signing up to two or three as that isn't too overwhelming and you still get a great chance to meet loads of new people! For my second year I'm going to attempt to sign up to a few more societies and make the most of what is on offer. Like I said you can ensure you are using all the great opportunities given to you but you don't have to do it all in one go!
Everyone always says to sign up to as many clubs and societies as you can and they are right! But don't sign up to absolutely everything as that would be too overwhelming and in the end you won't end up going to all of their meetings and socials anyway. For my first year I stuck to just signing up to one society so that I didn't fill my time up too much and I didn't have to constantly go to every society event. I heard of people signing up to five or six societies and then when it came to socials they wouldn't go to half of them because it clashed with their work, uni schedule, time with their friends and they couldn't afford to keep going to all these different events every month. So, I would suggest signing up to two or three as that isn't too overwhelming and you still get a great chance to meet loads of new people! For my second year I'm going to attempt to sign up to a few more societies and make the most of what is on offer. Like I said you can ensure you are using all the great opportunities given to you but you don't have to do it all in one go!
#5 Don't Worry About Being Homesick
Everyone feels homesick at some point and that is normal. For some of you it will be your first time away from home, away from your friends and family and it can be quite scary and stressful. You don't know anybody, you don't know what to expect and you have to suddenly start doing everything on your own and have to be independent, so of course you are going to be missing home and the comforts. But one thing I suggest is to not go home as soon as you feel homesick, you have to stop yourself from rushing home, stay positive and of course you can call your family and friends as much as you want and need! And after two or three weeks they might come and visit you or you go and visit them but I suggest for the first few weeks of settling in keep going and stay at uni. The reason I say this is because the moment you go home it will make things worse as you'll be reminded of what you are missing back home and then you won't want to go back. I know a few people from my accommodation that went back home after one week and they never came back because they realised how easy it was back home. I didn't go home till November and even that was unplanned, so coming from me in the short term it will be hard but in the long term you will see why. Also, your flat mates and course mates will be a great distraction! Whenever I feel homesick I go and spend time with my flat mates and I'm fine again. I do also call my mum for 5 minutes every day, so that helps haha! ♡
Everyone feels homesick at some point and that is normal. For some of you it will be your first time away from home, away from your friends and family and it can be quite scary and stressful. You don't know anybody, you don't know what to expect and you have to suddenly start doing everything on your own and have to be independent, so of course you are going to be missing home and the comforts. But one thing I suggest is to not go home as soon as you feel homesick, you have to stop yourself from rushing home, stay positive and of course you can call your family and friends as much as you want and need! And after two or three weeks they might come and visit you or you go and visit them but I suggest for the first few weeks of settling in keep going and stay at uni. The reason I say this is because the moment you go home it will make things worse as you'll be reminded of what you are missing back home and then you won't want to go back. I know a few people from my accommodation that went back home after one week and they never came back because they realised how easy it was back home. I didn't go home till November and even that was unplanned, so coming from me in the short term it will be hard but in the long term you will see why. Also, your flat mates and course mates will be a great distraction! Whenever I feel homesick I go and spend time with my flat mates and I'm fine again. I do also call my mum for 5 minutes every day, so that helps haha! ♡
#6 Start Getting Student Discounts
There are so many places to get students discounts and they will help you out loads! For the first 6 months I didn't bother getting getting money off any of my shops but when I started to take advantage of student discounts it saved me so much! I got a dress for my media ball for £13 when it was suppose to be £21, I saved money on meals out with my friends and even when you are in a club on the weekend you can get money off drinks because of being a local student. The best apps I recommend are Uni Days, Voucher-Codes, NUS and just plainly using your student card. You will be so surprised the places you can get money off, such as Co-Op, New Look, Waitrose, Starbucks and even really fancy restaurants! Honestly, you won't regret it!
There are so many places to get students discounts and they will help you out loads! For the first 6 months I didn't bother getting getting money off any of my shops but when I started to take advantage of student discounts it saved me so much! I got a dress for my media ball for £13 when it was suppose to be £21, I saved money on meals out with my friends and even when you are in a club on the weekend you can get money off drinks because of being a local student. The best apps I recommend are Uni Days, Voucher-Codes, NUS and just plainly using your student card. You will be so surprised the places you can get money off, such as Co-Op, New Look, Waitrose, Starbucks and even really fancy restaurants! Honestly, you won't regret it!
#7 Don't Try and Go To Everything
In freshers week there are so many different events on and you'll be getting Facebook invites left right and centre but don't feel like you have to go to all of them to make the most out of your freshers week. At some point you will need a break, and trying to go to every different event will drain you. They may all sound so fun and it will be hard to choose which to prioritise and choose, but what I found worked for me was speaking to my flat mates and those who lived in the flats on our floor and we discussed where we thought would be the best place to go and what tickets to get. By doing that we all could go to the same events together and then could space out the week. When I was a fresher I was desperate to go to absolutely everything but in the end I'd brought all these tickets to these events and I didn't go to all of them so I ended up wasting my money. Don't feel like its a must and you'll miss out on something huge because a few months later that event organisation and club will be throwing more events for Halloween, Christmas and celebrity appearances so don't panic!
What university are you guys attending? Let me know in the comments below!
See you on Sunday my lovelies!♡
Amy xx
In freshers week there are so many different events on and you'll be getting Facebook invites left right and centre but don't feel like you have to go to all of them to make the most out of your freshers week. At some point you will need a break, and trying to go to every different event will drain you. They may all sound so fun and it will be hard to choose which to prioritise and choose, but what I found worked for me was speaking to my flat mates and those who lived in the flats on our floor and we discussed where we thought would be the best place to go and what tickets to get. By doing that we all could go to the same events together and then could space out the week. When I was a fresher I was desperate to go to absolutely everything but in the end I'd brought all these tickets to these events and I didn't go to all of them so I ended up wasting my money. Don't feel like its a must and you'll miss out on something huge because a few months later that event organisation and club will be throwing more events for Halloween, Christmas and celebrity appearances so don't panic!
What university are you guys attending? Let me know in the comments below!
See you on Sunday my lovelies!♡
Amy xx
No comments:
Post a Comment