10 Things You Absolutely Need To Do During Freshers’ Week

If you’re getting excited for your freshers’ week, here are the things you absolutely need to do during your first week of uni

1. Join a society

Your uni will have societies for every interest you could imagine, from music to sports to food to even Harry Potter. Whatever your interests are, joining a society is a great way to meet like-minded people with shared interests. While your flatmates will be assigned randomly, a society is a great way to meet people who have the same interests as you in case you’re struggling to connect with people.

2. Attend the freshers’ fair

The freshers’ fair will be your opportunity to get to see everything that uni life has to offer. Not only is it a chance to join up to societies, but it’s also an awesome opportunity to score some freebies. Anything you can get for free at uni is an opportunity you’ll want to take advantage of, from pens and notepads to t-shirts or even free snacks.

3. Sign up to your local GP

Ok, this might sound like a boring one but it’s super important. When you move to a new town or city you’ll need to register with the GP services there, so you can access them if you need. Freshers’ flu is real and something you may come down with, and if you want to access the mental health services they may be a waiting list, so sign up as soon as you can so you can access the services when you need them.

4. Explore your new town or city

Moving to a new place is exciting! Your uni will be your home for the next 3 or 4 years, so take some time during freshers’ week to get to know your new town and city and everything it has to offer. From finding your new fave place to grab a coffee before lectures to exploring the history of the area, there will be plenty of places to explore.

5. Enjoy the nightlife

We’ve just lived through a pandemic, so you definitely have an excuse to party this freshers’. Freshers’ week is a week-long party if you’re into drinking and the time where you can enjoy your freedom away from your parents before the responsibility of uni kicks in, so make the most of it while you can.

6. Take a walk around campus

You don’t want to be that person that’s late for your first lecture. Get to know your surroundings by exploring your campus or uni buildings, find out where the library is, where you’ll be going for your first lectures so you’re prepared for your first proper day, where the laundry room is, where the gym is and any other important buildings you’ll need to use.

7. Find your support system

Uni can be a bit overwhelming but thankfully, your uni will have teams in place to help you out. From counselling services to program reps that can help you with any questions you have about your course, there will be people who will be able to offer you guidance and support.

8. Try something new

Freshers’ week is your chance to try something new at the start of a new chapter of your life, whether this is as simple as getting a haircut or trying a new sport, being in a new place for the first time around people you don’t know is the perfect opportunity to reinvent yourself and push yourself to try something out of your comfort zone.

9. Talk to as many people as you can

Everyone will be wanting to make friends and meet new people and you’ll meet loads of new people during freshers’ outside of the people in your flat so get chatting to people and see if you can find people you could see yourself being friends with. Freshers’ is kind of like a networking period, introducing yourself to people and making connections, and there’s a chance the people you meet in freshers’ could even end up being lifelong friends.

10. Enjoy yourself

Freshers’ is a once in a lifetime experience that you’ll only get to experience once. If you ask anyone who’s coming to the end of their time in uni, they’ll probably say they’d do anything to be a fresher again. Your uni experience will probably go past pretty quickly when you’re distracted with all of the fun uni life has to offer, so make the most of the freshers’ experience; you’ll probably wish you could go back and do it again once it’s over.