Aimee
Freshers is an exciting time for all university students whether you like partying or getting involved in the day time activities, there is something for everyone. Obviously the partying is a big part of Freshers week(s) but I won’t go into too much detail about that as that is pretty self-explanatory.
The weeks of Freshers is an amazing opportunity to meet new people, help your confidence grow and find out what the university has to offer. During these weeks there are often various bazaar’s ranging from a sports bazaar to a society bazaar to a RAG bazaar. Bazaars are a big must because they show you various clubs you have the opportunity to join from football, to choir, to the hot air balloon society. The variety of societies that are on offer at university is incredible. RAG is at a lot of universities and offer opportunities where you can do a residential to raise money for charity. I’m currently looking into a cycle ride from London to Paris which will be amazing! I have also signed up to the lacrosse and singing society.
Getting involved in the activities that Freshers has to offer has been crucial in me making the friends that I have. You are put into situations where you are with a big group of strangers and starting up a conversation with anyone is a great feeling.
A personal favourite part of my Freshers experience has definitely been the Sing Off! This involved each accommodation hall learning various chants about the other halls and then battling it out to find out who the union team chose as the favourite. My accommodation managed to get second place which I’m super happy with but next year we have to win! Activities like this allow you to meet a whole load of people from your accommodation and have a chat, a laugh and a joke around with them. We all had lightening bolts painted on our faces, we all lost our voices and we all had the best night!
Another favourite part for me has been dressing up! Very often Freshers nights out will have a dress code. This year mine ranged from Hawaiian to Monopoly (yeah I struggled with that one…) and I had so much fun doing them! My favourite night of dress up was jungle when I went all out on the face paint and drew leopard spots. The dressing up is a great thing to get involved in, especially if you pally up with your new uni mates and have a laugh dressing up together.
Most universities have a Freshers Ball as well. These are often full of people looking absolutely amazing; lots of free food and headline acts! This year we had fireworks, fun fair rides and Pixie Lott – someone I have been a huge fan of since a young age. This is a really nice event to get all dressed up with your flat mates, have lots of photos together and have an evening to remember.
Finally, during Freshers you have your introductory lectures. A lot of people will tell you to not bother going to these however I found these particularly useful for the main reason that I met a lot of people doing my course and was able to feel a lot more comfortable about starting my degree knowing I would recognise some faces.
A x