Nerice, Dom and I.
It's that time of year where the stomach starts to churn and the nerves set in. Your moving away to Uni and you have no idea what to expect. You obsess over freshers week and the unavoidable freshers flu, you buy things for your new room and prepare yourself to move away from family and friends. I know as that was me last year. Freshers is scary.
When I was preparing to go to Uni in Canterbury, I was terrified! There is no embellishments here, I was so scared of leaving my parents (and my cats!) and the safety and comfort of the small sleepy town that I've lived in pretty much all my life. I was a crying wreck for about a solid month. As someone that doesn't drink (much) and at the age of 19 had never been on a night out; simply because watching movies in bed sounded better to me, the thought of the week long partying of freshers scared the s**t outta me. Not only that but I was moving into halls that were situated right above the student union bar and I worried that I would quickly ostracise myself from the rest of my flatmates being the awkward one that wouldn't go out. But it didn't turn out like that. I made some amazing friends and my Flatmates were brilliant, so here are some tips on how to survive your first year at Uni.
1. You will cry. It is inevitable, don't fight it. Just accept the tears and move on, Uni is scary. It's okay to be upset.
2. No matter how hard you plan your first day at Uni, it will be nothing like you expect. I ended up going on a walk around Canterbury with my new flat mates getting to know each other before going back to the flat to witness some drinking games and then watch some rubbish Tele before getting an early night.
3. The best nights are the nights spent in with your flat mates. I have had SO many laughs with my flatmates Nerice and Dom, they are memories I will cherish forever and they didn't involve getting drunk (so I remember them perfectly clear!)
4. If you don't feel comfortable doing something, don't do it. I didn't feel comfortable going on a night out clubbing so I didn't, I don't regret that decision one bit. Instead of going out, I had laughs with my flatmates and my chummy across the hall Roisin. I certainly don't feel like I've missed out on the 'uni experience'.
5. Your kitchen will never be clean. Don't even try. I brought 90% of the cleaning products and did the majority of the cleaning in the kitchen. But living with 5 other people means there is alot of mess if they don't clean up after themselves. Our kitchen was rarely ever clean and it drove me mad!
6. Fire alarms are your worst enemy.
7. It's acceptable to leave your flat at 3 in the morning in some pj shorts, a vest, a coat and some boots if the fire alarm has gone off. It doesn't matter that you need to wait outside the front of halls that is on a main road. You have no shame at that time in the morning.
8. It is not acceptable to leave your flat at 3 in the morning in the above outfit if the fire alarm hasn't gone off... girls wear some clothes, no one wants to see what you had for dinner.
9. Besides from Fire alarms, Bins are your worst enemy, sooner or later you neglect them and start piling rubbish in piles next to them. It will smell. You will get pissed off. You won't do anything about it though as its not your turn to take the bins down on the rota and really "aint nobody got time for that".
10. Pasta is your friend. But Mcdonald's is your best friend.
11. In exam times Starbucks is your life source.
12. You can walk to the shops in your PJ's/ Onesie... just be prepared to get odd looks.
13. You will spend all of your bursary on rubbish in your first term and realise you need to budget by your third term. (Don't ask about second term, money is a foreign concept then)
14. No matter how bad things get, watching your dominoes order online from prep to delivery makes everything better. (Seriously, it does.)
15. You will make some amazing friends and amazing memories no matter what you do in your spare time. Just enjoy it whilst you have it as it goes fast!
Here are some pics from my first year at Uni!
I hope this was helpful to all those off to Uni later this month! Have an amazing time and just enjoy yourself as moving out of halls is the saddest thing ever!
1. You will cry. It is inevitable, don't fight it. Just accept the tears and move on, Uni is scary. It's okay to be upset.
2. No matter how hard you plan your first day at Uni, it will be nothing like you expect. I ended up going on a walk around Canterbury with my new flat mates getting to know each other before going back to the flat to witness some drinking games and then watch some rubbish Tele before getting an early night.
3. The best nights are the nights spent in with your flat mates. I have had SO many laughs with my flatmates Nerice and Dom, they are memories I will cherish forever and they didn't involve getting drunk (so I remember them perfectly clear!)
4. If you don't feel comfortable doing something, don't do it. I didn't feel comfortable going on a night out clubbing so I didn't, I don't regret that decision one bit. Instead of going out, I had laughs with my flatmates and my chummy across the hall Roisin. I certainly don't feel like I've missed out on the 'uni experience'.
5. Your kitchen will never be clean. Don't even try. I brought 90% of the cleaning products and did the majority of the cleaning in the kitchen. But living with 5 other people means there is alot of mess if they don't clean up after themselves. Our kitchen was rarely ever clean and it drove me mad!
6. Fire alarms are your worst enemy.
7. It's acceptable to leave your flat at 3 in the morning in some pj shorts, a vest, a coat and some boots if the fire alarm has gone off. It doesn't matter that you need to wait outside the front of halls that is on a main road. You have no shame at that time in the morning.
8. It is not acceptable to leave your flat at 3 in the morning in the above outfit if the fire alarm hasn't gone off... girls wear some clothes, no one wants to see what you had for dinner.
9. Besides from Fire alarms, Bins are your worst enemy, sooner or later you neglect them and start piling rubbish in piles next to them. It will smell. You will get pissed off. You won't do anything about it though as its not your turn to take the bins down on the rota and really "aint nobody got time for that".
10. Pasta is your friend. But Mcdonald's is your best friend.
11. In exam times Starbucks is your life source.
12. You can walk to the shops in your PJ's/ Onesie... just be prepared to get odd looks.
13. You will spend all of your bursary on rubbish in your first term and realise you need to budget by your third term. (Don't ask about second term, money is a foreign concept then)
14. No matter how bad things get, watching your dominoes order online from prep to delivery makes everything better. (Seriously, it does.)
15. You will make some amazing friends and amazing memories no matter what you do in your spare time. Just enjoy it whilst you have it as it goes fast!
Here are some pics from my first year at Uni!
Giggles in a Psychology Seminar
A visit from my best friend before Christmas!
My pin board, filled with pictures to remind me of home.
A pre-exam Starbucks!
I hope this was helpful to all those off to Uni later this month! Have an amazing time and just enjoy yourself as moving out of halls is the saddest thing ever!
Such a great post with some great advice! I agree with all of this!
ReplyDeleteSalt and Chic // UK Fashion Blog
Thanks so much! :D I'm really glad you enjoyed it! :D xx
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