What I Wish I Had Known Before Freshers // Student Life

Photo by Gades Photography on Unsplash

Starting university stirs up a LOT of feelings. It's exciting, it's terrifying, it's stressful and it's fun! It can be so overwhelming but also incredibly freeing to experience all of these emotions at once! After all, it's a massive step in your life and your journey! There are a few things I wish I had been told about before stepping into freshers week and here is all the wisdom I can offer to you as someone going into their final year of university!

Freshers' flu is real

You may have heard the term being thrown about but this is serious business! You will spend a lot of freshers week surrounded by people you have never met before and meeting as many people as you possibly can (unless you're an absolute introvert like me). It's only logical that being surrounded by so many people is a test of the immune system! Even if you don't go out during freshers, people will be coughing and sneezing in the lecture theatres during the first few weeks and it is likely that you will get a bit ill. Personally, freshers' flu crept up on me just when I thought I had avoided it completely and it was the WORST! Be prepared and get your survival kit ready! Here's what got me through that tough week:

• A Netflix subscription
• Cold & Flu tablets
• Strawberry Strepsils
• Cold washcloths
• Lots of water and squash
• A cosy bed (seriously, get those throw blankets on and sleep it off)

Homesickness 

I was adamant that I would not get homesick. After all, my university isn't really too far from home and my parents were just a phone call away. I was wrong and I did get homesick! I am very close to my mum so the idea of not getting to chill with her in the evenings or generally have her there as she had always been SUCKED. It sucked bad. I didn't go out much in freshers and I was hesitant to go out and meet people. I feel that if I had been busier in freshers and really pushed myself out into my new environments I wouldn't have been as homesick. However, what I did was binge watch Gilmore Girls and teach myself how to cook, which worked out pretty nicely!

You're about to meet some amazing people

Going to university, I was so convinced that I would be lonely. I was so convinced that I would suck and making friends and meeting new people since I was an introverted and anxious bean. However, I met some of the most important people in my life right now! I met friends in my halls of residence, in tutorials, at welcome events and even through just wandering around campus looking lost.

Make your halls your home

Halls of residence can be dismal places. The plain walls, the signs of previous residents, the noise and the shared bathrooms. However, once I made an effort with my room and dressed it up a bit it became one of my favourite places on earth. I'll make a separate post on dressing up your uni room but or now, these are the things that made my room feel like home:

• Throw blankets
• Photos hanging on twine
• Nice bedding
• Fairy lights
• Posters and pictures on my pinboard
• Books filling my shelves
• Nicknacks on the desk
• P L A N T S

I made sure to keep the atmosphere of my room as calm as possible. I would practice self-care, listen to my records and decorate it for each season. It became a safe haven from the stress of uni life. I hope to keep my current room in the same way. I have a whole other post on surviving students halls HERE too if you want to know more about the experience!

Optional attendance? Still go!

It seems like common sense but if you don't HAVE to go to a lecture, still go! I was struggling a lot with my mental health in second year and my attendance dropped lots. I told myself that I could use the lecture slides and just catch up but my grades dropped considerably. I know a lot of people that don't attend non-compulsory lectures, but believe me when I say that they are worth attending! Even if you're only half paying attention, you will find revision so much easier when you are recapping rather than just learning for the first time.

What do you want to know about starting university? No question is too small! x

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