Socials are one of the best ways to meet new people at university and have a fun time drinking, being silly, and doing a boat race with your friends. These are my favourite socials of 2026!
To begin with, my military social was such a fun one. We all dressed up as soldiers, but upon arrival we were asked to get into groups of four and the youngest fresher had to be wrapped in a bin liner. The oldest second year was given the title of military commander and in charge of the group. We were then sent off on missions across Jesmond, like boat races, shot gunning, swapping clothes with someone on another social and the list goes on. My favourite part was that the freshers had to avoid being egged (hence the bin-liner) in the process, and I am very proud to say, my team managed to egg two other freshers and complete the challenges first. My personal favourite moment from the social was when I had to army crawl along the pavement of Osborne Road, that one was quite popular with watching rugby lads.
Another favourite was our pj social, that one was super comfy, and we did a quiz, which had three prizes of: WKD bottle, box of wine and Vodka and lemonade. The quiz had 10 rounds, from geography (I am part of Geography netball) which I failed miserably at, and music, general knowledge and many more. This was hilarious with a bunch of drunk students that kept sneaking onto google for the answers. We ended up winning the box wine!
Finally, Sailors and Seamen (aka semen), swimming caps were mandatory for the freshers and they did not disappoint! Their outfits were hilarious, all in white with swimming caps and drawings of sperm all over their faces. This one was a joint social, so the rugby league boys were also in attendance, and some of them disappointed slightly, not wearing swimming caps, but they had just lost so we’ll let them off! Our instructions were to bring as milk bottle full of an alcoholic drink, and drink it throughout the pres, which let’s just say resulted in a group of very drunk people. The freshers did wheel-barrow races in the garden, which was so funny to watch, but I don’t think the social-sec thought it through because her hallway floor was brown by the end of the night.
It’s safe to say 2026 has brought some great socials so let’s hope for some more! There are only a few left until summer but I am excited to see what challenges I’ll be doing next.