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So, it’s that special time of year again when some of you are about to embark on – to apply an overused cliché – the best years of your life.

In a centuries-old tradition, you will be expected to do little more than drink and be merry. Some of you will be so caught up in your new hedonistic lifestyle that you may forget what you’re even supposed to be studying.

Freshers’ Week is an exciting time with endless opportunities to meet new people and try new things. But for some it will be daunting – the thought of being homesick and pants-messing nerves will outweigh the prospect of having fun.

As someone who’s survived the experience, take the following nuggets of knowledge along with you:

BREAK THE ICE

After a teary farewell with mummy and daddy you find yourself alone in your tiny new room with cardboard boxes stacked up to the very low ceiling – what now? Time to meet your new best friends. Keep your door open and put on some inviting music as you unpack. As people walk past, make sure you are friendly.  Break the ice with a cup of tea or a cigarette.

Be inquisitive when talking to your new mates: where are you from; what are you studying; what did you get in your A levels?… blah, blah, blah. Be warned, these questions and answers will be so commonplace after a few days you will feel like a machine.

Always try and have something interesting up your sleeve about yourself – a funny anecdote from your year out, weird jobs or that you hold the world record for the longest ever robot dance.

BE YOURSELF…OR NOT

With the countless number of conversations you will have it is important to be comfortable with yourself. Studies show opinions are formed on whether you are liked or not within 30 seconds of meeting someone, and a large part of that is down to how you look and your body language. Be open and avoid looking down at the floor.

Ideally, you should just be yourself. However, if you’re not happy with whom you are, university is a great chance to reinvent yourself. If you were once the socially awkward geek, become the socially raucous jock.

But don’t take it too far; it didn’t take long for my friend ‘The Phoenix’ to be rumbled by his hometown mates.

AVOID EXCESS BAGGAGE

I’m not talking about your plethora of Brian Eno LPs or your vast collection of shoes. To make the most out of Freshers’ Week you need independence – that means not having your girlfriend or boyfriend around. Their presence will stop you meeting new people and there’s a risk the two of you will hide out in your room.

You should also give serious consideration to ending it before you get to uni. Visiting each other every weekend will seriously affect your social life. And when the inevitable does happen, you may find you don’t have a shoulder to cry on.  Most people I know bitterly regret starting university with this excess baggage.

REMEMBER YOU’RE THERE TO LEARN

Nobody will expect you to pound the studying in your first couple of weeks. But taking an interest in your course early on is a good idea. You may find that you have chosen the wrong course, and the longer you leave it the more difficult it will be to change.

Have a look at the reading list, but remember you don’t need to buy all of the books; libraries do exist for a reason.

GO TO THE FRESHERS’ FAIR

With a blinding hangover this may seem like the last thing you want to do. But persevere. Here you’ll get a taste of all the events and societies your uni has to offer, from the standard sport societies to the more leftfield. It’s also a great way of meeting like-minded people and taking advantage of a lot of useful freebies.

FEELING HOMESICK?

It’s likely that between drinking, vomiting and sleeping you may feel a wee bit homesick. A quick phone call home will usually do the trick. But if you’re going to cry, do it in private – nobody will want to be known for the next three years as ‘the crier’.

Personalising your room is essential for making you feel more at home. Put up your favourite posters and add a plant or two.

MONEY MATTERS

Students starting university this year will be the most debt-ridden in history. To make the most of your limited funds, it is a good idea to draw up a weekly budget before you arrive. Freshers’ Week will undoubtedly be the most expensive week regardless of student deals on drinks, so you should factor in more money. But after that, you should tighten the belt somewhat and not overdo it. Trust me; you do not want to be in a situation at the end of term when you are surviving off bread and cans of tuna, and are too skint to go out.

Have you experienced Freshers’ Week before? Do you have any further advice for newbies? If so, then, please feel free to leave a comment below. We’d love to hear your stories!

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This entry was posted on Monday, September 7th, 2009 at 6:29 pm and is filed under General. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.