Congratulations or commiserations, you're going to a University.
You are about to
enter a world of mature students, serious students, childish students, stoner
students, raver students, cliquey students, lazy students, eccentric students,
slutty students, students that are more alcohol than water and so much more
(most of those adjectives can also be extended to the academics you'll
encounter). I aim to give you a comprehensive guide of
everything you need to survive going to university (I write this on the day of
my la
I can only speak
for those who landed in their insurance university and not those who were fortunate enough to go to their first
choice. I must say, I was looking forward to going to uni but the fact I missed
out by one UMS mark and therefore grade was not filling me with confidence
about going somewhere I didn't originally want to go. Thankfully, I have
subsequently discovered the city I'm in is much more interesting, fun and
exciting than my first choice and it's all gone rather well (so keep the
faith). For both the lucky ones who did get into their first choice
uni and those who are there through circumstance I bet you can't
wait. The excitement begins even before you pack up all your earthly
possessions and move into your shoe box you'll now call 'home' (much to the
disgust of your parents). You can find all your new friends on Facebook who
you'll clash with when nobody wants to tidy up their dishes and assorted mess
from predrinks (this only gets worse during the year). You can therefore make
immediate, inevitable judgements about your flatmates based on that tiny
passport-sized Facebook profile picture they think sends a good image of
themselves out to the world. Now it's time to meet them...
OK so you've packed up your
entire life into your parent's car ready for them to take you to your new home
and leave you all alone. For me, it was only a 1 hour drive to my independence
and subsequent, total responsibility which meant I wasn't nervous for very
long. You then have to find a place near your halls in the pedestrianised-zone
for your parents' car. My Dad insisted on taking the only space available
blocking the entrance to the door to my block. Don't worry, it was actually
quite a good idea and not that embarrassing (people don't refer to me as the
girl who blocked the door on the first day - these people would have very good
memories and sad lives). My Dad is a very practical man and brought a
trolley-type-thing to transport my abundant amount of stuff I thought I needed.
Yes, say goodbye to this level of practicality, enthusiasm and ingenuity as
this will be long gone by the hazy first morning you wake up wearing nothing
but your shoes and last night's face and are too lazy to boil the kettle.
Picking up your room key, however, is the first obstacle. You will be in a
small reception room in a long queue, trying to work out the system faster than
your parents to prove your independence. Room key obtained, you are now sitting
in your new empty room with your parent(s) and your life in boxes. Part of you wants your parent(s) to leave so you can look like a
proper adult in front of your new friends and part of you wants them to stay
forever and look after you so you can be lazy. Unfortunately (or fortunately),
they do leave and there you are with your biggest challenge yet: decorating
your bedroom. Once all posters and pictures from what you regard as your
childhood but was, in fact, 2 months ago on a family holiday, are all up on the
wall, it's time to socialise. This may mean something different before you go
to uni but here, it means getting drunk (blotto, bladdered, gazeeboed for my
more vocabulary-laden readers).
If you're one of
those lucky buggers that took a Gap Yah, it's likely you've already done some
serious drinking (you will take drinking far more seriously than anything else
in first year by the way). This may mislead you to believe you can drink people
under the table and will undoubtedly result in not making out after predrinks
where you played Ring of Fire and downed several half-vodka half-lemonades to
the soundtrack of "Weeeeee like to drink with......". This is also a
dangerous probability for you little nippers coming straight from school having
only ever, at most, had half a bottle of wine to yourself at Christmas lunch
and now feel you must prove yourself. It's a right of passage and you won't
even miss out on that much on one night of Freshers (just make sure it isn't
the first night, eh?). Also, if you are so inclined, you can begin to fill up
your slot on the 'Chunder Chart' and gloat about it to all visitors to the flat
(except your parents who will never see said tally).
Read Part 2 of this guide, including Freshers’ Fair and the
inevitability of supermarket basics-level food
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