A Guide to Freshers Week

A Guide to Freshers Week

A Guide to Freshers Week It sparks fear in some, excitement in others, whilst some really don’t know how to feel at all about it.

Freshers Week is the first and arguably biggest event on your first year university calendar, and there’s no doubt it has the potential to be one of the best weeks of your life.

These tips will help you to make the most of this exciting week and avoid the notorious ‘freshers flu’.

Go to Freshers Fair Attend the freshers fair and take anything you can get your hands on!

Literally anything.

You might find yourself being handed a cool poster, a silly t-shirt, a tin of beans, a packet of chewies, the possibilities are endless.

What’s important is that you accept all of them, as you never know when these seemingly random objects may come in handy over your time here.

Budget!

We all know it’s tremendously enticing to be rock and roll and blow your loan quicker than Usain Bolt can run 100M, but do you really want to be living on bread and butter for the next three months?

Your next instalment will seem more like 3 years away if you don’t have the money for the basics.

When it comes to money, freshers can be a dangerous time for the naïve and easily persuaded.

Make sure to draw up a freshers week budget that means you won’t be missing out on things in the long run.

Get the ‘boring stuff’ out of the way

Whilst this may not be the most glitzy nor exciting part of freshers, things like signing up to a doctor and dentist really are important for your health, especially if you have travelled from the other end of the country.

Even more so if you plan on testing your limits throughout the week. Leave this too late and you could be looking at the extremely unpleasing prospect of being ill or having toothache with nobody able to treat you.

You should also look to sort out your TV license as soon as possible too to avoid a hefty fine.

Sign up to Societies and Sports Clubs Joining a sports club is one of the easiest ways to get to know likeminded people with mutual interests, with an added bonus of keeping the excess pounds away.

The sports and societies fair is not one to be missed, with a plethora of opportunities for socialising and making new friends.

There’s literally a society for everything, and if there isn’t, you can even find a group of people and make one yourself. So if it’s been your life’s dream to start off the Roy Cropper Appreciation Society, now is your chance…

Don’t overdo it!

Remember guys, it’s a marathon not a sprint! It can’t be denied that a major part of freshers is about going out and partying, however you should pick the events you want to go to and stick to them.

There’s still a variety of activities to do over the week that don’t involve alcohol, including quiz nights, film nights, city tours and visits. You’ll actually be able to remember the people you met on these too.

Don’t be pressured by others into another heavy night out if you don’t want to.

Events Northumbria always turns out with an epic freshers line up; this year includes appearances from Shift K3y, Radio 1 DJ Scott Mills, indie rockers The Pigeon Detectives and The Hoosiers, as well as The Midnight Beast and many more.

Check back on the student union homepage for more details.

Above all, freshers week is something to be enjoyed and remembered as you start your new life at university. After this whirlwind week, you will go into university having recruited a host of new friends to make memories with for the rest of the year and beyond.