When receiving the news on A-level results day that your place at the University of York has been confirmed, your mind automatically sings Hugh Jackman’s famous lines: “Ladies and gents this is the moment you’ve waited for”.
But when you actually arrive at uni and find that freshers’ wasn’t, in fact, the greatest week of your life, you feel more like how Zendaya looks when she rejects Zac Efron.
Let’s be honest, being made to live with complete strangers, having to socialise every day, and having to learn how to work a washing machine was never going to be easy.
Don’t get me wrong, freshers’ week definitely has its perks: the free hangover lunches in Alcuin College meant that I was at least getting one decent meal a day. But freshers’ week also has some major down moments. I’m here to tell you that these are completely normal to feel, and assure you that everyone probably feels the same.
Now, I’m not a massive drinker, and to be living in an environment where alcohol is frequently consumed terrified me! However, because university is commonly associated with the idea of partying, I pushed my fears to the back of my mind and forced myself to join in. This was a HUGE mistake.
If we fast-forward to the fourth club night, I had started to panic so much that I fainted on the dance-floor, meaning one of my STYCs had to take me home.
I urge EVERYONE, who is made to feel anxious or nervous by alcohol, to not be afraid to just participate in the sober activities. York provides hundreds of them! During the week of never-ending club nights, there are also alternative activities such as cinema nights, or the infamous Freshers’ Fair. These are even useful if you’re just too hungover to continue your drinking streak!
The freshers’ club nights are also really expensive. Moving away from home is stressful enough, but when you run into complications with your student loan and it doesn’t arrive on time, it can really send you on a downward spiral. So, if buying the freshers’ band would mean missing out on buying your weekly shop, then there are cheaper alternatives of what you could do.
Often, freshers don’t tend to leave the University campus during freshers’ week, but not only is a cute walk around York free, it also means that you’ll get to know the city you’re about to live in for the next three years.
And finally, making friends at uni is potentially the biggest stress of all. However, when you first move into halls, you’ll probably find that most of your housemates come across a little more confident than they really are. I mean, fake it till you make it right?
Although, after a week of partying and when the degree finally starts, that’s when you get to know your housemates’ true personalities. This is the period that, in the words of Fleabag’s sister Claire, you find the people that you would genuinely ‘’run through airports’’ for.