How To Survive Freshers’ Week

August 17, 2012
By: Jo Middleton

If you’re reading this then hopefully you’ve been accepted to study at UEA, so congratulations! With UEA now in the top 10 for every WhatUni Student Choice Award, and number 1 for overall rating… well, you done good!

So… Freshers’ Week. In this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death, taxes and the fact that freshers’ week will be the most fun and most expensive of your life. Getting through it is easier said than done so here are 5 tips and tricks so you come out the other side in one piece, and hopefully with your dignity still moderately in tact.

 

1. Friends

Firstly, you will meet an unimaginable number of new people, the majority of which you will never see again after freshers’ and if you do the memory of them will be a drunken hazy blur. So don’t worry if you don’t remember the name of that-guy-living-in-Norfolk-Terrace-that-you-met-that-one-time-at-the-LCR, he probably doesn’t remember yours either. To overcome any awkwardness if you do meet again, try greeting him with a huge smile and “Oh hey you!”, “Thanks love” and any other nickname that you deem appropriate. Failing this just refer to the person as Nigel. Statistically, if you keep doing this it’s bound to be right eventually.

1. 2. Hangovers 
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   Obviously the whole point of freshers week is to get everyone nice and settled in their accommodation, all of you registered on the right courses and to listen to those all-important (and extremely interesting) introductory lectures. And of course going out and achieving a tequila-induced state of semi-consciousness so that you and your new found friends can bond firmly over your equally horrendous hangovers the next day. Freshers’ week pretty much has something going on every night. Whether its fancy-dress at the LCR (be prepared for a lot of these in your first year!) or a huge flat party (attempting, rather meekly, to get to know everyone in your building), you are inevitably going to wake up one morning feeling like you’re in a special dimension of hell reserved only for you and your fellow first years who insatiably lapped up countless jaeger-bombs the night before. You have a second heartbeat in your head and a third in your liver and it’s all you can do to stumble down to the kitchen to get a glass of water. As easy as it is to become a hermit for the next 48 hours and lock yourself in your room with vodka seeping out of your skin, don’t. Prop your door open, chuck on an easy going movie and share your mutual torment with your flatmates. This is where the real bonding starts.
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5. 3. Supplies
6. 
   So you’re hangover is finally gone and you’ve decided to venture in the town to stock up on supplies, despite the fact you cleared out the Ikea kitchen section before you came to uni. Along with your chopping boards, cheese graters, pot and pans, one thing I cannot stress enough is how quickly you will run out of washing up liquid. So go get yourself to Wilkinson’s and stock up before you end up washing your crockery with Radox shower gel. Another thing I underestimated is how many tea towels are necessary in a shared kitchen. With them being used 10+ times a day, continually by a bunch of students, by week 3 they will probably resemble the pillow case Dobby wears. If you want to avoid drying your mugs with this, either make sure they are regularly visiting the laundrette or buy an absolute but-load.
9. 
   
10. 4. Do not, in any circumstances, sleep with another member of your flat.
11. 
    Just don’t. However alluring the person you share a wall with seems after half a bottle of Apple Sourz, remember that in the morning the walk of shame isn’t that long and I’m going to go out on a limb here and say it is nigh on impossible to completely avoid them for them the rest of the year. 

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   5. Finally, don’t over do it.
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3. And this one goes for every aspect of your freshers experience. Firstly, don’t overload yourself with free rubbish from the freshers’ fair. Realistically, how many cotton balls with googly eyes does one person need? But make sure you do get some Domino’s coupons as they will come in very handy throughout the year. Secondly, on a night out in Norwich, don’t assume you can drink your weight in shots and still know your way back to campus on your own. You will probably end up on the wrong bus or (hilariously) in the wrong flat. Believe me, it has happened before. Unless you’re sure where on earth it is you’re going, you should probably take someone with you, preferably someone less inebriated. And finally, give yourself a break. Although it’s important to socialise this week don’t think you have to go out every night. It will only make you tired and cranky and nobody likes that. I suggest on the Sunday, you crawl into some comfy clothes, get your favourite food and whack on some Downton Abbey (or your own guilty pleasure) to recuperate from what will have been a pretty intense week. 
5. So all that’s left to say is enjoy yourself while you can before you actually have to start dragging yourself out of bed to go to lectures. Also, and possibly most importantly, learn the rules to Ring Of Fire. You have no idea how many times you will play this game in your first year.