Beyond the excitement: A guide to curing the freshers’ blues

Freshers’ week takes on almost a mythical role in the collective consciousness of to-be freshers over the summer holidays. We’re fed stories of crazy flatmates, the infamous Warwick foam party, and meeting your BFF on the first day. Universities’ social media tends to paint the week as the “best week of your life.” But this is a myth.

Freshers’ week is best described as a social experiment

Running purely off adrenaline, you meet the strangers you will be living with for the next nine months: sharing a kitchen and possibly, a bathroom with. After meeting what seems like a hundred people you will inevitably immediately forget the name of, the incantation-like name-course combination will forever be etched onto your tongue. Once you get over these “Love Island” esque introductions, the awkwardness slips in. Sitting in a kitchen with a bunch of people you’ve never met before, on uncomfortable chairs trying to find common interests, is awkward at best, and silent at worst.

And then there are the afternoon hours before the exciting club nights and flat parties, where nobody warns you about the amount of time spent alone as people set up their rooms, sleep off their hangovers or facetime family and friends.

Everyone feels the pressure to fall in love with the strangers you’ve moved in with and your new life immediately. Despite this picture of innumerable awkward moments, I promise freshers blues are temporary, and with proactivity, you will fall into a comfortable routine.

A common expectation of freshers is that you will find your best friend immediately. Those I spoke to often during freshers were lovely, but I knew they wouldn’t be the forever friends the media perpetuated. I hardly spoke to my best friends in my flat during freshers, and it was during the spontaneous moments – eating dinner, having a late-night brew – that I really got to know them.

It is uncomfortable putting yourself out there, but it is SO worth it. If you meet someone nice at a course induction, or a taster session, ask to meet up! This might seem difficult, especially for someone shy, but anyone would be flattered to be asked to go for coffee, and everyone is just as desperate to make friends. They might not become your BFF, but having a friendly face in lectures helps in easing you into your new environment.

Missing your family and friends, and the comfort of normality is perfectly normal for freshers. Face timing them or keeping them updated with the most mundane tasks you complete makes the experience feel less like you’re doing everything alone. Talking to friends who also went to university was perhaps my best comfort, because they could relate to the experience.

Some time alone is actually a great opportunity to get yourself settled in. Walk through campus and find your lecture halls and seminar rooms so you don’t get yourself lost five minutes before they start (guilty). Get yourself a hot chocolate (it’s autumn, and freshers’, treat yourself) and find a study space. Learn how the various university websites work and dip into your never-ending list of readings.

Just getting started is good, don’t let it stress you out by letting it build up

This will help you to relax into the academic side of university and give you time to clear your mind from where you have been holed up all week.

Perhaps the best thing to do to combat freshers’ blues is joining a society. Go to as many tasters as you can. Course societies are great, even if you only go to some events. Meeting people from your course helps alleviate lecture nerves and provides a support system to discuss readings and essays. Second and third years will have some great tips, and are proof that everything will work out, even if freshers hasn’t gone the way you expected.

Outside of subject societies, doing a sport is the best thing you can do!

Knowing that you have a training session to focus your energies into every week is a welcome break from the friendship grafting and coursework

Not only will you meet like-minded people, but sports societies have huge exec teams who are a wonderful support system when settling into university.

Most importantly, remember everyone is in the same boat. They might seem entirely put together, but at some point, they too are going to crumble. Starting university is a big step, so try and remove the pressure of freshers’ and take each day as it comes.