Your Ultimate Guide To Freshers Week

Freshers Week is the week for you to meet your new classmates, settle into your accommodation, and drink as much as you possibly can; here's what to expect.

Freshers Week is an interesting time for university student, especially if it’s your first time experiencing it. Freshers Week is the week for you to meet your new classmates, settle into your accommodation, and basically drink as much as you possibly can. Below you’ll find a few pointers on what Freshers Week usually contains.

1. Noise. There is no escaping it.

No matter what accommodation you’re in, whether it’s the quietest of places, such as David Moxon Annexe, or the loudest, commonly known as ‘the party block’ of Lucia Foster for Solent students; there will be no escaping the two weeks of Freshers noises you will hear. Ranging from pre-drinks occurring in the kitchen right next to your room all through the night, to hearing the lovely sounds of someone hurling their previous nights experiences into the toilet down the hall.

2. First encounters.

Your first two weeks at uni are going to be full of first encounters with people you’ve never met or heard of, and then suddenly you’re expected to live or work closely with them for the next year or three. Not to worry! Freshers Week is the best time to build up those eve-lasting friendships as you’ll technically get to meet people twice… The sober encounter and then the drunk encounter. The sober one you’ll endure on the move-in day in your halls and during your courses first induction day, where you’ll pretend as if you don’t act like a complete drunken mess on nights out. But then you’ll actually go on the night out and turn into that completely different person you were trying so hard not to be on your first meet with your future BFFs.

I always find that meeting people, first as sober and then drunk is a great barrier break down, as you lose all filters and just say whatever it is you couldn’t quite get out your head the first time. This way you’ll be able to work out the people you’re likely to bond with the most and those who you should steer well clear of. If you can remember the morning after that is.

3. The 5 tricks of the trade.

In order to make it through your first two weeks at university I would say you either need or need to know about the importance of the following: headphones, limits, toast, naps, and advance. Knowing about these 5 things during Freshers Week will save you.

1. Headphones

The headphones can be used for when you have a 9am class but your flatmates decide to spend that night before throwing a huge moving in party (5 days late). Seriously, going to sleep with a pair of headphones saved my life and allow me to be able to wake up in time for my 9ams.

2. Limits

Secondly, really knowing your alcohol limits will save you a load of money and ensure you remember everything and don’t wake up the next morning with your head in the toilet.

3. Toast

Next is toast. Always keep a couple of slices of bread in the freezer and bit of butter in the fridge because you never know when you’re going to need them. For me, it was always after a night out. Something about having buttered toast the morning after a big night always made me feel slightly more human again.

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4. Naps

Then there is the trick of the strategy nap. Since Freshers Week is the time to test how little sleep your body needs to function, having a nap just after lectures will give you enough fuel for your next big night out.

5. Advance

Lastly, just buy your tickets in advance. If you’ve seen the schedule of events due to take place during Freshers Week, just buy the tickets before arriving at the event. And just because the university advertised a Triple A Pass for £70 to get you into loads of events “for free” doesn’t mean you have to fall for it and buy one. Trust me, it will be a lot easier for you, and the people in the ticket booth will love you for it, if you have a single, advance ticket for the events you actually want to go to. Plus, it might even save you a little bit of cash.

4. Thoughts towards the future after Freshers Week.

So you’ve been going out every night since you moved in all those days ago, whilst trying to maintain a good first impression with your course leaders. But don’t fear, Freshers is coming to a close and soon you will be able to sleep for more than 2 hours a night; and maybe become slightly (only slightly) less dependent on the large cups of coffee from Costa in your uni cafe. Now the thrills of all night drinking sessions become fantasies of all night library sessions.

5. Survival!

Well done. You’ve made it to the end of Freshers Week without crashing and burning out of university. Or maybe you were sensible enough not to go to every single event, every night of the week, because of your 9am lectures. Either way, there is always Re-Freshers in January….Or Freshers Week in your next year to test your limits once again!