Your Guide To University: 11 Things A Fresher Needs To Know
With Uni’s freshers’ week just around the corner, a new cohort of eager 18-year-olds will be walking onto a hectic campus next Monday, and I’ll be right there with you for my third year being a fresher in a row, (I am very indecisive, is this a record?)
I’m sure you are all excited, maybe a bit nervous and that’s okay! It comes and goes and you will feel like you belong in no time, trust me.
Here are 11 things I believe everyone going into University for the first time needs to know, and you should trust me, I’m a veteran at this point.
1. Freshers’ Week
Campus will be super crowded for the first three days but don’t panic! Quad becomes a ghost town compared to how crowded it is during freshers’. If you are feeling overstimulated, find a bench around ring road or in a green area to relax.
2. Familiarise yourself with the campus
After you chased down all the freebies, take the extra free time during Freshers’ to walk around campus, look for your lecture venues, faculty building, library, food spots and scout the best spot to chill at and wind down during frees.
3. Look for your course’s student organisation
Navigating your course alone can be difficult, that’s why most courses have a student organisation who’s job is to help new students find their bearings, provide some notes and past papers, and even host events throughout the year!
4. Register for your parking permit
If you plan on driving to Uni this year, carpooling or not, make sure you apply for and collect your parking permit from the KSU stage on quad so you’ll be able to park on campus bla hassle ta xejn! 2nd and 3rd year students don’t forget to do this too!
5. Anything you need can be found on or near campus
Whether it’s a coffee from Coffee Circus after four hours straight of lectures, a snack from the canteen, a meal from a restaurant at Campus Hub, stationary or something printed from Papier, a haircut, your nails done, a charger from Intercomp and even some new clothes after the annual water fight, you will find it on campus.
Now for the serious stuff…
6. Make sure you have access to VLE
If you went to JC, you are familiar with the VLE, for those who didn’t, The VLE is super important for notifications about lectures, lecture material, assignment information and submission portals. If you don’t have access to VLE, speak to someone immediately as you probably won’t even be on attendance lists.
7. Don’t be late!
When lectures eventually do start, make sure you are on time for your lectures. There have definitely been cases of students not being let into lectures if they arrive late (once even with security involved), with the reason that it is disrespectful to the lecturers, so for your benefit, make sure you are on campus at least 15 minutes before your lecture starts.
8. Stay on top of your studies
Workloads can become hard to deal with if everything is left to the last minute, so think smart and work throughout the year. Lecturers won’t chase you, so if that’s what you’re used to, think again. You are responsible for your own journey at uni, so if you don’t help yourself no one will.
9. Ask for help if you’re not coping!
If you’re feeling lost in a lecture, or are having any problems with your course, Speak to your year representative in your course’s student org to see if they can help. If you miss something during a lecture, ask the lecturer to clarify or repeat at the end of the lecture, so you make sure you understand. If you need to speak to someone regarding mental health, Uni also offers counselling services for free!
10. Study with friends from your course
Take advantage of free time at uni and lighten the burden of the amount of material to study by making it a group effort, ask each-other questions, re-explain, make up ways to remember things that are easy to forget. Studies show that studying with friends reduces stress and provides emotional support!
11. Make use of HYDI
The University library is full of books you can rent for short periods of time, but if you need a digital copy, or access to articles, digital media and more to be able to write your essays, make use of the library’s online one-stop search engine for all your extra reading or referencing needs with books and articles some of which can only be found online as the library might not own a hard copy.
And with all that said, I wish all of you freshers a good start to your Uni adventures, make the most of it, don’t forget you’re getting paid to be there and good luck!
Are you excited to be starting University?