I'm officially packing my bags - last minute as usual - to return to uni for my second semester of my first year. Having been at home for a whopping six weeks, I'm kind of apprehensive about going back. Settling back into halls again, going to lectures, completing essays and of course, the odd night out (I am a fresher of course!) However I'm sure within a couple of days I will have gotten back into the swing of things and it will have felt like I'd never been away. I thought I would share some tips about starting at university, some of them may seem pretty obvious but none the less all worth a go!
1. BE BRAVE
As I'm not the most confident or chatty person when you first meet me, uni was going to be tough to begin with. At uni you are immediately faced with a situation where you are put together with a bunch of people you don't know to live with for the year. ( In my case, 42 people on my floor! - yes very overwhelming). I'll admit it did take me a few weeks to find my feet, and find people who had similar interests to me but when I did I started to feel a lot happier about uni life. Trust me when I say the only way you will meet these people is to be brave. Yes, freshers week can be pretty daunting and throughout it you will go out with people you may never speak to much again but it is the time and place to meet a lot of really interesting people, and hopefully people you want to spend time with!
2. JOIN A SOCIETY
Yes this seems pretty standard but honestly it is a great way to meet people outside your halls. People at these societies obviously have the same interests as you as you all came to this society so that's something to start chatting about, break the ice! Whether sport, volunteering or academic, societies can often be a great distraction from the stress of moving away from home or beginning a new course - they also often host great socials, again a prime spot for meeting new people.
3. FRESHERS WEEK
Often hyped up a lot more than it should be. To be honest it was all a bit a of blur to me. Your emotions are so heightened as you are thrown into the new environment that this first week can be a bit of a roller coaster. During the day there are often introductory lectures to your course and the infamous freshers fairs, where I promise you, you will be handed countless fliers you will probably never read, and sign up to societies you'd never dream of joining. I honestly probably signed up to twenty societies, which bombarded my email inbox for the first few weeks of the semester, great! Also you will get endless amount of freebies - wristbands, sweets, pens (yes all great neccesities). And obviously freshers week is known to be a constant party, with nights out all week. My first night at uni was spent at my student union club with every fresher at my university all there, it was crazily overwhelming, and to be honest I didn't really enjoy it as I felt I couldn't relax as I didn't really know anyone but I'm sure many others felt exactly the same. I felt a lot happier when the week was over as there wasn't the pressure of feeling like I should be going out and socialising every night but I did have some fun nights out and made some lovely friends to start the year off.
4. HAVE FUN
As it pretty standard amongst most UK university's (Don't quote me on this!) first year does not count towards your final degree grade so do not stress to much over perfecting that first essay, or reading that journal back to front five times before your seminar. You are a first year (I'm only half war through) so have fun. Your flat are going out on Monday night - do it! Want a lazy weekend - put on that all day harry potter movie marathon! I was very stressed in my first semester over the smallest things and in hindsight I really needn't have been. If I could go back I definitely would have been more chilled. I'm not saying don't hand in any work at all, that is obligatory but just let the anxiety go and enjoy your student years. I can't believe I've already completed my first semester, it seems like yesterday I was sending off my UCAS application! Oh I feel old!
Emma xo
