The Freshers A to Z Directory

**A** is for Arts Centre. The biggest arts centre in the Midlands has it all under one roof; a cinema, a theatre and visiting acts including comedians Bill Bailey and Reginald D. Hunter, Alison Moyer and the New York Metropolitan opera. The arts centre often puts on free lunch time concerts and you’ll be able to see your peers strut their stuff on stage in the Butterworth Hall with a capacity of over 2000, and the more intimate theatre and studio. The arts centre is always buzzing with life; the Mead Gallery exhibits six times a week, whilst the theatre students hang around the arts centre sofas in the upstairs gallery.

**B** is for BFF: best friends forever! Or not. So you’ve been here for one whole week and already attempted to make friends with everyone. But now it’s backfired; you’ve discovered that your best friend on day one is now a raging stalker and you just can’t shake them off. You have two options: put up with it or get rid by any means possible.

**C** is for Carnage. The country’s biggest and best student bar crawl touches down in Coventry twice a year and this is something everyone should experience at least once in their Warwick lives. Carnage will be rolling into town on 2nd November with a doctors and nurses dress up theme (oh the possibilities!) so get your livers at the ready!

**D** is for denial. The best cure for everything Freshers related. No I did not end up (delete as appropriate) with my dignity in pieces/my head in a toilet/in bed with my neighbour/ falling asleep in a laundry basket.

**E** is for Evolve. This is your one stop Thursday night hot spot. Here you can enjoy a nice mix of chart, indie and even a spot of R’n’B within the delights of Leamington Spa’s biggest club. However prepare to sweat, and also to queue for an absolute age to get in. Get there early folks!

**F** is for Fry-Ups. Your new best friend.

**G** is for Gatecrasher. The popular Birmingham club plays a heady mixture of classics, house, indie and RnB. It’s a bit of a trek but Uniexpress runs a coach there and back on Mondays.

**H** is for hangovers. Even though drinking isn’t for everyone and we obviously only advocate drinking your recommended daily allowance; it’s fair to say that the odd fresher (and even, god forbid – returner) will end up going a bit overboard. It’s ok. Just get yourself together with plenty of water, vitamin C and one greasy fry up.

**I** is for ‘I have never’! Quite simply the BEST way to get to know your flatmates; it is almost impossible to leave any skeletons in your closet after playing this game so tread very carefully.

**J** is for Jobs. You might already be panicking about the cost of your recent frolics. Unitemps is a recruitment service that was set up at Warwick in 1997 which can help you to find work on and off campus.

**K** is for Kasbah. The Coventry club does great club nights and live music. It’s cheap, cheerful and has the Aladdin’s Cave décor to match! Friday nights are half price shots and you can rave it up on the dance floor until the early hours.

**L** is for Lava Ignite. Wednesday is student night and the queues get pretty long so get there early. Lava Ignite is made up of two rooms, upstairs and downstairs, which admittedly play exactly the same tracks; but the good news is that you’ll be able to hide from your over-eager first night pull.

**M** is for monitoring points. In our day you were able to get away with turning up to the first and last seminars of term and stammering out something about glandular fever. Sadly this is no longer the case and students will receive a monitoring point for every seminar or class they miss. Three monitoring points mean a meeting with your tutor, whilst eight mean trouble. Play it carefully.

**N** is for Nightline. On a more serious note, we know that Freshers’ week isn’t all fun and games for everyone. If you’re having a tough time settling in, Nightline is a confidential listening service that runs from 9pm to 9am every night of term. They also give out free condoms.

**O** is for Overheard at Warwick. The Facebook group was set up last year by a group of enterprising/bored students and has gained a following of almost 3000 members. Members post up the funniest, most embarrassing and plain ridiculous quotes from their day. Beware.

**P** is for purple. A mix of blackcurrant cordial, strong-bow and lager doesn’t exactly sound the most thirst-quenching drink going but prepare to embrace the student favourite.

**Q** is for queuing! Something you will have to get used to during your time at Warwick. Whilst we are proud to boast of a union that looks like a car park and an incredible TWO clubs in Leamington, you will find yourself huddling in the arms of your newly found love as you shiver and grumble in the queues for Smack, Top Banana and Evolve. The problem is easily solved with a bit of forward thinking; get your queue jumps for Smack on Tuesday at Moo Bar and at Kelseys or Saint Bar for Evolve Thursdays. The good news is that you will get in. The bad news is that you’ll still have to queue. Get used to it.

**R** is for Romance. Who knows if your freshers fling will be all it seemed the night before when the purple was free flowing, the only advice we can give you is play safe people!

**S** is for a Smacking good time! This is the only place to be on Tuesday night. But with all the ‘happening’ nights in Leamington queuing is the only thing which stands between you and a good old boogie! However this intimate club is so worth the wait.

**T** is for Top Banana. Oh what’s there not to love about the highlight of the SU week; it has inflatable bananas and even a resident cheeky chimp. Chuck that in with a bunch of frisky freshers and rampant returners and you have a night to remember every week of the academic year!

**U** is for Uni Express. Warwick’s resident party bus is your vehicle of choice for Coventry, Leamington and Birmingham. Get hold of your tickets early to avoid disappointment and get ready to enjoy some bargain deals which not only include your travel but entry and queue jump to all the Warwickshire hotspots.

**V** is for Viallis! The ‘award winning’ take-away and late night stop conveniently situated on the Parade near Robbins Well and Evolve. We love it really. Just don’t go there for a first date.

**W** is for work. What work?

**X** is for X-cess. Freshers’ week is all about excess; drinking, partying, pulling and getting involved in absolutely everything. Contrary to what many second and third years seem to believe, it only happens once, so make the most of it!

**Y** is for Youtube. Your new procrastination tool. Getting ahead on your reading or watching a baby panda sneeze? The choice is obvious.

**Z** is for Zzz. So sleep hasn’t exactly been your top priority of late, and why should it be when you have a world of social opportunity at your doorstep? Get used to being sleep deprived over the coming weeks or alternatively use your lecture time wisely by sitting back, relaxing and having a cheeky nap.

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