Tips and tricks for surviving freshers week

Freshers week, the week where the whole of first year hit the town for 7 consecutive nights, gaining alcohol poisoning and freshers flu on the way. 

To be fair, I haven't hit freshers as hard as others; I only went out 4 nights of 7, and I managed to get away without freshers flu! Nevertheless, I have absolutely loved the week and I am shattered, so much so I've had to drink coffee before my lectures in the mornings...and I HATE coffee!

For myself to remember next year, and for other first year students of the future, I thought I would share my tips and tricks of how to have the best freshers week at Uni:

Number One - Get drunk at prinks

There's only one word. Lambrini. Not only is this the cheapest alcohol you can find per bottle, it gets you drunk...quick! It's definitely better to drink lots before you go to your freshers event and it's a way to be sociable with your new flat mates. Popping a cork and cracking the bottles open to play drinking games is the best part of prinks; ring of fire being a personal fave. Another reason being it's so much cheaper than buying drinks when you're out so you save money for another night out!

Number Two - Pre book events

I only would say to do this if you know who your flat mates are before you move in. You don't want to book events on your own incase your new flatmates haven't booked the same ones as you; you may not get to be as social with them as you would like. I knew my flat mates through Facebook messenger before we moved to uni, so we were able to prebook our freshers wristband and go to the same freshers events. This helps you plan your week a bit in advance in terms of food, and more importantly, money. This week will definitely be one of, if not the most expensive week of your uni year, so pre-booking events will save you money in the long term rather than paying on the door which is a lot more expensive.

Number Three - Go to the freshers fair

This is my biggest tip! The amount of freebies you get at a freshers fair is enough to last a lifetime... or at least a couple of months for a student! A personal favourite was the booklets of vouchers we got for Wetherspoons which last until the end of October - that's the first place on a night out sorted! You also get freebies as you're actually walking around the fair, like food from dominoes or alcoholic drinks, so if you've run out of food and drink back at the flat, this is the perfect place to go to fill yourself up for at least another day.

Number Four - Plan your outfits

The best news I can give you, especially for girls, is that you can re-wear your outfits from home at freshers! Remember, none of your new friends at Uni have ever seen your clothes, so this saves money that would be spent on your new outfits as well as the stress of not knowing what to wear. If you know your events, this also makes it easier. Usually there's at least one fancy dress event; mine was a beach party theme but I hadn't planned or bought an outfit before I moved which meant that I had to spend some money on an outfit...not what you want to spend your first week's money on...that money could have been spent on another bottle of Lambrini!

Number Five - Make a playlist

Before a night-out when you're having prinks, you're going to be socialising with your new flatmates who are from all different places across the country, maybe even across the world! This means that everyone is going to have so many different interests, and different music tastes. The best thing to do would be to all create a playlist on a website like Spotify and all add 10 of your favourite songs into it, meaning there's a mix for all of you to listen to. Not only does it mean you are listening to at least a few of the songs you like, it means you get to know each other more and maybe even get into a different genre of music you've never listened to before!

These things are what I've found as a first year fresher, some I did and some I will definitely do next year, and hopefully advise first years for next year too. I have loved my week and really bonded with my flat mates already and we have had the best nights out together.

Thanks for reading! Keep smiling and have a great day! Liv xxx