As I left home on Saturday I was so excited but the closer we got to uni, the more nervous I got. However, these nerves soon dissipated when I picked up my key and made my way to my new home. The Fresher's Angels were lovely and helped me move everything into my room. With bags and boxes everywhere I wondered how I would fit everything in. Somehow I managed it and began to arrange everything nicely while my parents did a food shop for me.
Thankfully I'd already found a few people in my building on facebook and we had a group chat so we arranged to go for a walk to main campus to get our freshers' wristbands for the Student Union nights. It was good to put names to faces and I actually found it was so easy to get on with everyone. By day 3 it felt like we had known each other for so long, having a bit to drink and going out definitely helps break the ice. If all else fails, you can never go wrong with a good drinking game!
I went out, either to the Student's Union or into town, 7 nights out of 8 which is a record for me in a week for sure but I loved every night. My favourite nights were the Paint vs Foam night at the SU, a night at Bar Thirteen which played proper pop and R&B music (so up my street) and the night that Jonas Blue came to play on the final Saturday night. Each night I made new memories with this new group of people I'm now able to call my friends.
During the first week I had some introductory lectures which i went to the majority of and some were fairly informative so I'm glad I did attend. They also helped me gain a bit of perspective of the campus and where everything is however I still enter campus and wonder where the hell i'm going! I'm sure I'll be fine in a few weeks. All the lecturers I've met so far have seemed really nice, my personal tutor is lovely and my academic tutor seems quite funny. With each lecture I go to I'm meeting more coursemates but there are around 180 people on my course so I really don't think I'll meet them all this semester even! I feel bad but I've met so many people whose names I've already forgotten but it's so difficult when you're meeting new people allllll the time! If there's not a really super distinctive feature about them (no offence) it is harder to remember them. For example I remember the name of one girl who has a really quirky personality but I can't remember the girl who was sat across from me at the welcome tea but didn't really talk!
With Freshers' Week is over I was well and truly hit by Fresher's Flu and it seemed like the majority of people I know have too. The amount of people who were coughing in lectures was almost funny. Being ill and away from home was soooo tough though because there was nothing I wanted more than my mum to bring me a massive cup of tea, some toast and a tonne of chocolate! It's all part of growing up and I know I'm not alone here but it is easy to feel alone when you don't have the energy to move from bed to socialise with people (and you have a very quiet slightly unsociable flat anyway *sigh*).
Properly starting lectures was daunting but also exciting. I had my first lecture on biological basis of psychology and this really excited me for the rest of term. I thought bio basis would be the worst of my lectures but it actually sounds like it could be one of my favourite! One huge downside which I forgot about is the cost of books. OH MY GOD. I spent £45 on one statistics book. I've looked in the library for the rest of my books but there are generally about 20 copies of each book, only 150 short of the number of people on my course. The likelihood is I will need to buy majority of the essential reading books but at between £30-40 each this is not going to be cheap and I'm really concerned about how I'm meant to pay for all of these without a job and with a student loan which doesn't even cover my accommodation.
For the rest of the week I had more lectures, workshops and tutorials with the main focus being an introduction to the module and what to expect. I have some really nice lecturers and learning a bit about each module so far is really exciting me. I didn't expect to enjoy all the modules but I hope I continue to enjoy them.
I've already been given my first essay which is due for three weeks! My plan is to go at it just like an A-level essay but with a tonne more detail basically. I'm not expecting to get 90% already but I'm really hoping I do okay. I like personality, which is the topic it is on, and I think I understand it pretty well so fingers crossed for me!
Something I've really struggled with though is tiredness. In all three of my first lectures I very nearly (but not quite) fell asleep multiple times. Lots of late nights with not a lot of sleep, lots of alcohol and poor eating will do bad things to your body and biological clock.
I've managed to explore the town near uni as well and I've fallen so deeply in love with it. Every shop I want they have. Everything I never knew I needed but definitely do, they have too! There are cute little pubs, fancy shops and the classic high street shops and standard restaurants. What more could I need (well actually a better primark please).
So far I'm enjoying university and it's definitely different to what I expected but I'm enjoying it. All that's left to do is get healthy and settle into a routine! Wish me luck!
Thanks for reading
Charlotte
XO
