Editors’ Letters: “Oh to be a fresher again!”

I’m sure that the tuition fee increase is still a very fresh wound, and as a result you’re bound to be experiencing a lot of mixed feelings, and finding yourself subject to a lot of conflicting advice.

The main advice I would give to all of you is that your happiness is your top priority. First year is the best time for you to try anything and everything – whether that means joining a bunch of societies or a pub crawl, it really is up to you!

Regardless of how much this year will count towards your degree (if at all), you have a few more years to work towards that benchmark. I would advise you to use this year to stick your fingers in to as many pies as possible.
Take on far more than you’ll follow through with. Try things you might never have considered interesting or hygienic. Have fun! Warwick has hundreds of sports and societies for you to try (including this rather charming, award-winning newspaper) and your first year is the time in which you’ll be afforded the most freedom to give them a shot.

[Warwick] is also one of the only places on earth that you will find employers coming right to where you live.

This is also a fantastic time to try to start “finding yourself”. It seems to be a common affliction among our generation that people will meander through their twenties with no idea about what interests them, or what they would like to do. Now is the time to try and figure that out – and whether or not you actually find the answer is ultimately irrelevant.

This is the only time that you will find several hundred different societies of people, doing a myriad of cool stuff, for a minimal fee, within walking distance of each other. This is also one of the only places on earth that you will find employers coming right to where you live.

When I think back to my first year, I have some great memories, but I also realise that I didn’t really take any steps forward in my life. Make sure you sleep as little as possible; you can sleep at home (but do make sure that you keep healthy).

Make sure you make friends outside of halls and try to have a few groups of friends to go between (I’m looking at you in particular, Westwood). Make sure that for every line you add to your CV, you have ten stories to add when you’re holding court in the pub.

And most importantly, make sure that more than half of what you do is something that you enjoy. You’re about to start one of the best years of your life, so make sure you squeeze all that you can out of it!

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Header image courtesy of Warwick SU