My Freshers' Week
My Freshers’ Week
By a student who’s been there, done that and bought the freshers’ hoodie.
So, I'd done the colossal (and obligatory) parent-funded trip to Tesco, I'd survived the final booze-up with my friends from home and was now squished against the window of the car, hoping not to be crushed by an avalanche of everything I owned. Yes, I was heading off to uni.
Freshers’ events
Our union had something on every night during freshers’ week. There was a pub crawl, union club night, music festival, laid-back night and more. I didn’t go to everything and, while I don’t regret it – I was having fun with my newly acquired friends – I do wish I’d gone Sumo fat-suit wrestling.
Freebies fair
One thing I’m glad I didn’t miss was the freebies fair. I bagged myself a free hair cut, pizza, little bottle of Jägermeister, cinema tickets and masses of discounts. And a frisbee. All in a day’s work.
The Pirates Society
No, I didn’t join this one, but dressing up as a pirate on a regular basis for socials and random outings did look like mighty good fun. Some course mates and I set up a Linguistics Society and, even though it didn’t give us an excuse to dress up as pirates, we did make some great friends along the way.
Labelling food
I don’t consider myself a criminal. Really. I’m one of the good guys. But this is uni, and a pot of Ben & Jerry’s sitting there in the freezer is irresistible. I mean, it had no name on it, so technically it’s no one’s… or everyone’s, right? I only had a spoonful or seven. And I only needed a drop of milk for my tea and a slice of bread for my beans on toast and… oh dear.
Fancy dress
I didn’t have many fancy dress experiences as a fresher. Yes, I’m slightly bitter about this. Surely every fresher should be entitled to a toga party? The sports societies embraced this part of student culture on a weekly basis: guys dressed as girls, human crayons and lots of nylon.
Barn dance
One fancy dress night I did go to was the Freshers’ Barn Dance. We dressed as country bumpkins, drank cider, learnt proper country dancing – there was even a pie-eating contest. I felt a tad stupid at the start, but I soon got over it and had tonnes of fun. It was the best night of the week.
Nerves
Of course I was nervous. I was so nervous that the first thing I said to my new housemates was “Err, hi, sorry… I’m, uh, really, um, shy”, followed by a nervous laugh and a deep ‘get it together’ breath. But I soon realised almost everyone introduced themselves in the same way. Phew.
Ana, 20, is studying Linguistics at University of Sussex and is still
happily taking advantage of the Ben & Jerry’s in the freezer.
Last updated on: 20 October 2009