Freshers’ Week

If there’s one thing that you need to know about Freshers’ Week at Oxford, it’s that it is usually organised by your college freshers reps. If you have joined a Whatsapp freshers’ group and suddenly fallen victim to random spam texts promising you:

‘THE BEST NIGHT OF YOUR LIFE!!! TICKETS ONLY £15!!! EVERYONE WILL BE THERE!!! DON’T MISS OUT!!!’

Please ignore them. Your college will most likely have events planned for you already, and will send you an itinerary in good time. Daytime activities include workshops covering important topics such as consent and race, picnics, and opportunities to get to know each other. You will also have inductions at your college library, and possibly your faculty. In the evenings, most colleges will organise some club trips, as well as non-drinking events such as crazy golf and film nights!

Especially for international students, it can sometimes seem like all of British culture revolves around drinking-bar crawls, clubbing, drinking games, pub quizzes...Please remember that you don’t have to drink. At most ‘drinking’ events, including bops and society drinks, there are non-alcoholic options, such as soft drinks and mocktails. If drinking isn’t your thing, you don’t have to skip out on these events!

As previously mentioned, in Freshers’ Week, your freshers’ reps will also arrange alternative evening activities for those who don’t want to go out: movie screenings in the JCR, crafts workshops, and board game nights. In a culture where it seems that everyone drinks alcohol, you might feel as though you’re the odd one out. But believe me, you’re not! You can have just as much fun as everyone else, and should never feel pressured to drink to fit in. It will certainly save you from a hangover...

Whatever you do, stay safe. It’s always best to stick with a group, and freshers’ reps will usually organise people to walk to and from these events with. If you drink, try not to overdo it too muchyou don’t want to attend your tutorials with freshers flu, trust me...