For students moving out of home for the first time, freshers week seems paradisiacal. Moving to a new city opens so many new doors, from being near shopping centres and cinemas to trying new bars and getting involved with societies.
Freshers is a never-ending cycle of opportunities: free food vouchers being handed out from every direction, Freshers Wristbands offering hundreds of new activities everyday and the Newcastle city centre being only a stone’s throw away from the accommodation.
It’s a great opportunity to get to know new people and the city, and the induction week allows for the students to get to grips with their course while still enjoying the freedom of no lectures.
But for students who don’t consume alcohol- whether for moral or religious reasons- the Freshers social scene is often considered quite an isolating experience. Most of Freshers week is centred heavily around a drinking culture that has become normalised in order to socialise with others, focusing mainly on clubbing.
This routine therefore also leaves out underage students and mature students with jobs or other pressing responsibilities. Many students might feel left out or unwanted, particularly in a week where everyone feels pressured to find their footing and make friends immediately. Failure to do that, when everyone else is partying, often leads to anxiety and added stress during a time where everything is new and uncertain.
So does freshers week live up to the hype? If you’re prepared to spend a lot of money on wristbands and Jäger bombs, yes. The week is designed to help students settle into their new life and get to know other people along the way- but it’s not the end of the world if it doesn’t work out that way.
As the weeks go on, students tend to get closer to people that they never would have met on a dancefloor; there’s a place for everyone at university, whether you like to party or not.
