Each year, hundreds of thousands of bright eyed students flock to University in order to start their degrees, have a load of fun and make some great friends. Last September, that person was me leaving my teary- eyed mother as she handed me over to my new, excited flatmates as we began our university lives.... with a trusty pint of snakebite!
When choosing my accommodation for University I had a lot of choice about where to stay and how much money I wanted to spend on it. I think that most people, like me, automatically wanted to live in Halls with their own en-suite bathroom, however these are usually the most expensive ones. After weighing up all the options, I decided to choose accommodation that I never thought I would go for, however I am so happy with my choice now. My flat housed 26 people and 7 bathrooms which I was dubious about at first but very early on it proved to be absolutely fine!
The great thing, (and also the downfall) about this accommodation was that I was catered for, which meant that I had all of my meals cooked for me. This is very handy when you have lots of work to do, you are really hungover, or if you simply can't be bothered! It can also be very bad if you are trying to watch what you eat, or just if you want a bit more variety in your food choices. Overall, I would highly recommend accommodation like this because it really brings you and your flatmates together. Most of my flatmates and I ate dinner together every day which was lovely, even if they did sing happy birthday to me every day for the whole of first year as a joke!
Freshers week/fortnight provides a great few days of partying for all freshers. It is a brilliant way to meet new people and bond with your flatmates. I have found that many of the friends that I made during freshers were my friends for the rest of the year and hopefully in the future too. Everyone is more forgiving and open during freshers so do not be afraid to really open yourself up to new people during this time.
After freshers you have to do a little bit of studying though. How unfortunate! Remember the real reason you are at University, but at the same time as long as it isn't getting in the way of your studies, go and have some fun! First year was created for this reason- so that crazy young people can get it out of their system- and seriously, it works! I think that without first year and its perk of not counting towards your final degree grade, so many more people would be in big trouble. Or is that just me? Damn those £1 Jagerbombs....
I have just completed my first year and even though I am happy with my good grade, I would advise others not to bust a gut in first year and to have a good balance between work and play because I can already feel the pressure of the coming years mounting! The grade you achieve during first year does not contribute to your overall grade, so go and have fun and make up for those nights in second and third year that you can't make out!
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| Some of my flatmates and I playing dress-up |
Good luck to all you freshers for the upcoming term! I hope I have been of some help.
Disclaimer: above is all my views and I am not to blame if you party too hard.
A presto!
Olivia x
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