Freshers Week 2018: How to Survive It

Stokepedia

I am a survivor. I am strong. I kept my head held high during the hardest of times. Well, not when I was throwing up the countless £1 Jaeger Bombs. Anyway, you are reading this because you are about to sign off your liver and plan its own funeral. Or you’re curious as to how it is possible to wake up for your first 9am lecture (FYI – it is like climbing Mount Everest in flip-flops). Read on and learn how to survive Freshers Week and anything after.

The first night

Ah, you have said the emotional goodbyes to your hometown friends, families, dogs, cats, whatever. You are now in the unknown, surrounded by strangers who you may love, hate and kiss (oioi). The sun dissipates among the cloudy skies, which means it’s time to crack open the first beer and finally commence Freshers Week. But wait, the tension is awkward.  What can you do to ease it? Drinking games of course. It is the perfect opportunity to mingle with your roommates and discover their darkest secrets on the first night. Pre-drinks are reaching the end and it’s time to stumble out of the kitchen into the dazzling city lights. For me, this is where it gets blurry. What I can advise to stick with your flatmates and remember your way home. Two simple things. Enjoy your first night and remember to drink responsibly – no one wants to wake up already ashamed of their existence and covered in sick, trust me.

The morning after

Write off.

The morning after the first morning after

If you are like me, this will be the third time going out. You stumble to the fridge and find…nothing. Well, I hear frying vodka sprinkled with regret is not a great morning dish. So, of course, to survive the chronic alcohol abuse you need glorious nutrition and food. During the day is the opportunity to do an intensive detox workout. Green tea to push how all those naughty toxins, throw in some eggs, fruit and multivitamin tablets then bam you are back to your normal, slightly fragile self. In order to survive Freshers Week and anything that comes after, remember you also need to sleep as well. If you feel like this is a struggle then read this golden piece that exposes 7 sleep hacks to maintain a healthy sleeping pattern.

Remember to attend uni…

OK, so more than likely you will repeat the first 2 steps a catastrophic amount of times. However, it is the Monday and you venture out of the darkness that is your empty bottle-filled room and drag yourself into the daylight; your eyes burn, your skin sizzles like some weird hormonal vampire and your vocabulary is limited to the word “ugh”. Sexy.

You are probably thinking – to hell with that I’d rather stay in bed. But, be assured this will be worth it. It is the time you can meet you coursemates and mingle with people outside of your flat. Throughout the week you will probably attend (or not attend) introduction courses to your degree. Yes, yes, evidently it is not the best thing but it also a chance to grab some cool freebies at the uni too. I bagged a shit-ton of noodles, soups, and the best – free vouchers for Domino’s Pizza. Oh Lordy.

Societies and clubs

We are all human and us humans have something called emotions. It is natural and absolutely fine to deal with homesickness. We have all been there. To try and soothe those rollercoaster emotions, engage with societies and clubs. There are plenty of events throughout Freshers Week in which current members will welcome you with open arms. Quite literally there is a society for everything. You name it – Harry Potter Appreciation Society, Fencing, even a Hula-Hoop society (my dream).

How to make it rain dollar bills and not despair

There are two types of people in this world, those who are neck deep in their overdraft and those who are actually sensible enough to maintain a healthy cash flow. You can guess which one I was. Anyway, there are ways to make your journey financially better. Figure out roughly how much money you will have in total for the year, ensure you put aside rent costs, as that shit is important and can suffer some nasty consequences if you don’t pay. Budget accordingly for each month, and do not take your card out. I learned this the hard way. Oh and make the most of student discounts – NUS, 16-25 Railcard and UNiDAYS will be your lord and mighty saviour.

Or, you can bag a job. There are plenty of student job friendly vacancies out there in the world where the work is flexible and the pay is hella good. We have a bunch of jobs on our website which should hopefully interest you, check them out. Imagine all the Big Mac’s you can buy with a juicy wage. Oh, mamma.

Now that you’ve settled in, it’s time to make your semester more bearable. How about Oktoberfest by train? Hogmanay? Dirty ski weekenders in Andorra? Surfing in Morocco? Nothing makes a semester breeze by like a few booked trips to look forward to…