10 Things All First Year University Students Need To Go Through
So its that time of year, where you are literally weeks away from becoming a first year university student. Anxiety, excitement and curiosity are a mixture of feelings that flow through your thought process every time you contemplate the potential experiences that could happen. Still unsure what you should expect? Here are 10 experiences you are bound to go through being one of the many first year university students out there! If you have already been a first year university student, see how many of the 10 pointers you can relate with…..
1. Financial Responsibilities
So commuting as one of the many first-year university students is not an option many wish to take, therefore, most students live within student halls and accommodation, where everything from the campus to possible part time jobs are dotted about. This is the first time where all the responsibility of funding your apartment and living funds fall within your hands. Some find it very liberating, where others find it quite stressful to balance working life with studying. Organise your time well-make everything a schedule, so none of your living responsibilities get neglected!
2. Not so nice roommates
What comes in a package alongside having your own accommodation, is roommates. You are only a student, so you definitely cannot cash out for your own place. However, the people that live with you can make or break the ambience of your living experience. Some roommates will help with the cooking, cleaning yet-ITS RARE! Most people fend for themselves, meaning expect piles of dishes, dirty bathrooms and lets not even mention theft of your food *cries*.
3. Freshers week-A BLUR!
A week before rota classes, there is a consistent line up of events-particularly the night social life. This will be where the memories are made, as you are bound to socialise and meet your future best friends here- or forever hold your peace on the things you know about people, who you hardly speak to now, due to what you have witnessed! But be prepared for chaos and a complete blur of the whole night the next day…
4. No Curfews
Next, brings us to the topic of having complete freedom. What goes on around campus, stays around campus right? First-year university students will never have to worry about parents being up all night wondering where they disappeared to, nope! You can literally roll into bed from a wild night out, with the peace and silence of a… hangover! The only negative is that there is no mum when you need her the next day for that English breakfast fry up you will ever so crave.
5. Lost on campus
Finding your way around university is sometimes harder than the actual studying part. Within that first week envision yourself asking around a lot, for directions. It also does not help that your expected to make your way to the next campus with a 5-minute gap between lectures. A key initiative to ensure students get their daily recommended physical activity maybe?
6. Canteen anxiety
The first couple of weeks is about getting used to the campus and making friends that you can eventually actually arrange lunch with, meaning a lot of the time you will be making your way into the canteen, surrounded by social groups of people that seem to notice you because here you stand alone. It’s like the whole hall goes silent for a minute as you make your way through – yes really. That anxiety that you face every day will go away eventually once you have established your own clique and settled in. Words for the wise, smile for the next excluded person that walks in. You were once in a similar predicament too remember!
7. Last minute cramming
This next pointer isn’t exclusive just to first years, it is for everyone who has not learned from being unorganised the first time they complete their very rushed assignments. However what happens is, you are so knee depth into your free time, as the university dynamic is not like the prior schooling system. No one chases you up on your work until, uh-oh- the deadline. So, it never really hits you that you have work due in, until the night before….
8. 9am lectures
Your inconsistent sleeping patterns, from wild nights out to late night cramming, mean 9am lectures are an immense effort and hardly have you in attendance. So your knowledge is pretty much up to notch with all other modules except the one you keep missing! Guaranteed your lecturer will not actually know your name or recognise you, by the time you do turn up!
9. Forgetting names
So within the first few weeks, in the commencement of your classes, you meet a lot of people. There are different faces, friends of friends and your memory just can’t keep up with everyone you are being acquainted with. So you reach to a point where you may actually be hanging out with people, who’s names got lost in the wind’s breeze. The problem here is, it may have gone too far into the semester to ask, in fear of wounding the friendship that you have only just managed to salvage…
10. Get used to the library!
The library is usually open 24/7, meaning it will actually be your best friend. You can schedule your whole life within your day knowing that, its doors will literally always be open for you without fail. It often becomes a social meet up location, or a place where you always bump into people you know, so it has its social queue points. Just be wary that once you find your very own spot to study, don’t get too comfortable as it’s sure to get snapped up once exam seasons round the corner. Libraries become a chaotic mess nearing to the end of the semesters.
