The pitfalls of freshers
An average night out
Friday, 7th October 2011
The saucepans are bought, the freshers fortnight outfits are ready and your room is all packed up. No doubt you’re raring to get to university, but here are a few things to consider amongst your well laid plans:
- You will sign up to too many club and society at Freshers’ Fair. Clay pigeon shooting? Sure! Ultimate Frisbee? Why not? Ironing? Er... you get my drift. Although people sign up to clubs with the best intentions of trying new activities and meeting new people, most fail to attend many of the clubs they pay for. Some clubs and societies let you have a free taster session or introductory meeting before you pay to join, Although you want to make friends, it is important to be honest with yourself; if you’re the sort of person who has no interest in learning to knit, it is unlikely that you will have much in common with members of Knit Soc (although I’m sure they are a lovely bunch!). In short, go for it, try new things and meet new people, but try to avoid paying to join clubs you won’t go to-there are only so many hours in a week anyway.
- You will resort to junk food. A cliché but true; as most parents say goodbye to their offspring as they leave them at uni for the first time, one of the last things they say will undoubtedly be something along the lines of “make sure you eat plenty of vegetables.” And it usually goes well-for the first couple of days, but eventually junk food will tempt you over to the dark side, until you reach a point where Domino’s know your name and address when you call (a shamefully low point in my own student life). Often, eating healthily is actually the cheaper option; Country Fresh on Heslington Road (near Spar) do a great range of fresh fruit and veg-you can probably get a weeks worth for about a fiver. Once you get to know your flatmates, consider sharing the shopping with them. Morrisons do large bags of fruit and veg for £1, far too much for one person, but great for splitting.
- You will destroy your budget. Many students come to university armed with a budget and a plan to stick to it, be it self inflicted or parentally issued (and if it’s anything like the one I had, it will involve graphs and spreadsheets like you’ve never seen). With the best will in the world, it is unlikely that you will stick to it, especially in Freshers’ week. A good idea is to avoid using debit/credit cards and to pay for everything in cash. Withdraw the amount of money you need at the start of the week and keep an eye on it as the week goes on. It’s useful to budget a little more for the first couple of weeks; nights out, societies to join, new friends to buy drinks for.
- You will require fancy dress. It starts with a school disco in freshers week. Then, a fortnight later, comes Halloween. Then Wednesday trips to Ziggy’s kick in, which over the years have seen the following themes (to name but a few): smurfs, superheroes, Disney, beach party, toga party, any decade you care to name, army, Barbie...you get the drift. I’m not suggesting you come prepared for all of these eventualities (although if you have a wardrobe that does successfully cover all of these, hats off to you), but it helps to come prepared with multipurpose items of clothing, or items that you wouldn’t mind customising irreversibly (ie. covering in neon paint).
*You will succumb to College spirit. As much as you insist you will not be dragged into college rivalries, there are very few who can resist joining in with the chants of “Vanbrugh ‘til I die” (or your appropriate college chant) that resonate off of the buildings around campus and all the way into town around freshers.
Do not be put off by the above, but be prepared, and most importantly, enjoy freshers!
