Calling All Freshers: This Is What They Don’t Tell You On Open Day!

1. You Will Hate Everything At Some Point

Your course, your flatmates, your university itself. Everything. But it’s okay. So much happens in such a short space of time that it takes a while for your mind to catch up. And as with all forms of change, normally, the default reaction is to hate it. But things will get better, you will settle in and you will discover that you made the right choice after all.

(If you are really struggling and are not enjoying your course at all you should speak to a tutor and they will advise you. It’s okay and surprisingly easy to change your mind. It’s your time and money after all.)

2. It’s Still Kind of Like School

With this I mean, in terms of friendship groups and cliques it can feel like you’re still at school. The divide is no longer as clean cut as it once was but it is still definitely there. This is an obvious thing, as we are attracted to people with similar interests, views and styles as ourselves but it is bit disappointing once you get there. Nonetheless, you will mix with so many different people and everyone is willing to talk and make friends that this shouldn’t affect you so much. But just know that little groups will develop and it does sometimes feel as though nothing has changed.

3. You Can’t Hide Anymore

This mainly refers to if you chose to live away from home and are spending all your time with a bunch of new people. Living in student accommodation or any form of shared accommodation can be amazing and so much fun as there is always someone around to talk to, go out with and just generally be around. This is a great opportunity to make some strong and genuine friendships, often pretty quickly! However, it does mean that when you’re having a bad day, the people you live with will notice. It’s hard to hide your feelings from the people who see and interact with you every day. If you’re like me and would rather hide the way you’re feeling, it can be hard when people suddenly notice and see you at your worst. But it’s okay. Your flatmates can be a great support system and being open about your feelings makes stronger and more reliable relationships.

4. It’s Literally All Down To You

Okay so maybe this one you would have heard before but it’s honestly so true that I thought it would be worth mentioning. Regardless of whether you choose to move away from home or not, you still have to do things completely on your own. Making friends, making decisions; everything is down to you. Although you might have a fantastic support system of friends or family everything you do effects your future, not theirs, so it’s all on you. And if you chose to live away from home, you will feel the toll of this even more. Cooking, cleaning, shopping and budgeting. Everything is your responsibly now. And although this is exciting and definitely an important time in your life, it can be a bit daunting and draining sometimes. You will eventually fall into a routine and discover the best way to do things for yourself, I promise. Working together with your flatmates on some of the everyday tasks can be really helpful and again encourages you to get more used to one another.

5. Things Are Going To Go Wrong

But that is how you will learn!

You might get completely lost on campus and cannot for the life of you find the class you need to be in, but once you find it you will never forget where it is again.

You might spend a ridiculous amount of money during Freshers’ Week (trust me, it’s so exciting seeing all that money in your bank) but this will teach you how to budget and manage the rest of your money amongst food, essentials and nights out.

You might dye all of your clothes pink the first time you do laundry, but this will teach you the importance of separating your clothes and the how to use the settings on the machines!

Whatever your situation is, you’re going to have to learn from it in order to stop it from happening again. And this is how you develop independence and just general life skills. Everything will work out in the end, I promise.

Good luck to any Freshers coming up to their first semester soon and congratulations on getting there! I hope you have a brilliant time and I am planning on making some more university posts so stick around for more advice and just general talks about my experiences so far.

Speak soon,

Rachael.