Freshers week is a one (or two) week period where all first year (and pretty much all other years) go out every night to a club/bar/pub, get really drunk and then attend a 9am lecture the next morning. It is a chance for you to meet new people and make friends for life. Some may even go as far as saying that it is the best week of the university calendar. Today I am going to give you my guide to surviving freshers, staying safe, and how to enjoy it your way.
One of the main parts of freshers is alcohol. Obviously, everyone has their limits. Some people can get drunk off of just one drink. For others, it can take quite a few drinks for them to get even the tiniest bit tipsy. What's important is you make sure you stick to your own limits and don't over-do it because if you do then the only person who's going to suffer is you. You should never let peer pressure make you feel like you have to carry on drinking when you know you're over your limit. I mean let's face it, would you rather stay within your limit and be able to have fun and remember your night, or over-do it and wake up the next day in a pool of your own sick and not able to remember a single thing that happened.
This links to you being surrounded by a group of people that you are only just meeting for the first time. Even though you can now get uni group chats to help you make friends with people before you start university, this doesn't mean that the first time you meet them they're not strangers, because they are. This means that before going out you will probably be having pres with them, which should definitely involve drinking games. In some cases, you may be able to get away with not going over your limit, however in others, particularly those cases where shots are involved, you may find yourself going over your limit just because you don't want to make others think you can't handle your drink. Throwing up after drinking a lot is nothing to be ashamed of because we've all been there at one point or another, however if you're getting yourself in this state just to impress a few people then you should stop and think about what you're doing. Freshers is all about having fun, however, drinking too much just to impress a few people is the wrong way of doing it.
This leads me on to my next point: staying safe. With drinking a lot of alcohol comes the risk of being vulnerable. So during freshers week, along with any night out that you ever go on, make sure that you stay with a group, or at the very least one person, as there is always safety in numbers. Try and agree with at least one person in the group that you are going to stick with each other throughout the entire night as, from past experience, it is more than likely that the group you are with will somehow get split up and some point. Make sure you get a few people's numbers as well so if you do get split up you can call each other to find out where you all are. I will also suggest agreeing on a place to meet each other if this does happen so that no one gets left by themselves.
No matter how many people you are with, DO NOT WALK HOME!!! I know I said there is safety in numbers and I know that as students you don't have that much money, however walking home, even in a group, always carries some risks. Especially if you do get separated from everyone and end up having to head home by yourself, make sure you get a taxi. I know you hear stories of people who have got a taxi home from a night out and the driver has been creepy for one reason or another, however getting a taxi is much safer than walking by yourself (or in a group) at night.
This final part is for those of you who don't necessarily enjoy going on nights out, as there are quite a few people who go to university who feel this way, including myself from time-to-time. If you don't feel like going out then don't let other people try and force you into it. There are plenty of things you can do instead. At my university, there is a society for people who don't enjoy going clubbing and they organise events, such as going bowling, having a pizza night or going to the cinema. You could try and find people before you head to university who would be more interested in having a night-in instead and could organise a movie night for yourselves. All I'm saying is there are more ways to enjoy freshers week (and your entire time at university) than going out most nights and drinking. Just make sure you do it your own way and not to meet a stereotype or to try and impress people.
So remember: don't go over your limit, there is safety in numbers, and do things your own way.
Love Beth xx
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