These are the nine obvious things you’ve probably done as a silly fresher in Liverpool

The first year silly fresher era is a combination of the best and worst times of any university student’s life so far.

Looking back at all the lecture no-shows, tumbles down the BaaBar stairs, and videos of you embarrassing yourself everywhere you went can bring back some horrendous hangxiety memories as a second or third year.

Or if you were a little fresher more on the responsible side of the student lifestyle, you’ll probably appreciate reminiscing upon meeting your flatmates for the first time (despite the awkward move-in day kitchen interactions) and going feral at the sight of the freebies at the Freshers’ Fairs.

Earning your badge as a silly fresh as a Liverpool student is no mean feat. We’ve have all been there, with the bruises to prove it, and these essential rites of passage will ensure that you’re ticking the boxes on the infamous silly fresher bucket list.

If you’re a January fresher attempting to prepare yourself for what’s about to come, then take this as a friendly reminder of everything you definitely should do to really complete that first year experience.

Trust me, it’s not the same without some horrifying memories to look back on when you’re in your grandma era of your final year.

Packing every single item out of your childhood bedroom

Step one of the silliness began before you even arrived in Liverpool.

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TikTok gave you advice on what to and what not to pack, but let’s be honest – those tips went out the window when you first started cramming your belongings into a suitcase. You packed a Kardashian-esque wardrobe for every occasion, including your swimsuits for some reason. Clearly Liverpool is well known for being a the all-inclusive, sunny beach resort of the North West.

Also, don’t even mention the guitar or other obscure object that’s been gathering dust in the corner of your uni room since the beginning of September. You probably forgot to pack half of the essentials you actually needed, and spent all of your summer savings in B&M buying decorations and bedding rather than anything practical. It’s part and parcel of student life.

Wearing your lanyard everywhere

Nothing screams fresher more than actually wearing your uni lanyard around your neck when you’re strolling around campus. Everyone knows that you’re a student, you don’t need to prove it.

As satisfying as it is to hear your ID and room key go click clack against your belt or jewellery, it’s just not the move to make when you rock up to your first ever induction lecture.

Splashing half your student loan in the first week

The excitement of your first ever student loan payment lasts for a fleeting minute, and before you know it you’ve over-splurged on £2.50 doubles in The Scholar and been on a major shopping spree in Liverpool ONE.

The thrill fades as soon as you realise that you sadly can’t sustain a week of takeaways on a student budget, despite convincing yourself that saving two slices of pizza for the morning after makes it cost-effective. Not being bound to your mum’s slow cooker dinner when all you fancy are chicken nuggets and potato smileys is the first step to adulthood.

In your first week, you’re acting like Jamie Oliver, buying expensive gourmet ingredients and popping into M&S on a Sunday afternoon for a treat, but give it a few weeks and a Pot Noodle becomes the ideal “home-cooked” meal.

Buying a Freshers’ wristband

Liverpool is well known for its wild nightlife and our beloved Concert Square, the place where a night out begins and also goes to die. You’ll be bombarded by group chat messages offering you exclusive access into the best clubs in town if you simply sacrifice your weekly budget to buy a Freshers’ wristband.

In hindsight you realise it’s simply a waste of your student loan, but it’s also such a quintessential part of being a first year that you just can’t resist sometimes. For some people it could be considered an investment, only if you attend every event included – if you can manage it, I take my hat off to you.

As a Liverpool fresher, the best way to spend your nights are at the holy trinity of clubs: Level, Electrik and BaaBar. With a mandatory pit stop at Disco Spoons beforehand, you’re guaranteed to have a night of repeating yourself every time you meet someone new, and getting blackout drunk on quadvods in Hatch.

Joining way too many clubs and societies

Joining a society or sport is a great way to socialise and live the university life to the fullest as a fresher. The selection of activities is overwhelming, ranging from a Horrible Histories society to an ultimate frisbee team, and with all this new free time, everything seems possible.

The pivotal freshers experience is to sign up to at least five societies at minimum otherwise you’ve wasted your time going. You’ll chat to every friendly looking captain at the Freshers’ Fair and pop your name down on every form they give you, just to make a good first impression.

It’s good to trial all these new things but after the first few weeks, you soon realise you’ve only got so many spare hours in a day – and even fewer when your hungover. Soon you will learn your relaxing time at home is more valued than hustling back and forth from the endless events you’ve keenly signed yourself up for.

Getting locked out of your accommodation

There’s definitely worse things you can fall victim to as a fresher, but forgetting your keycard in your room when you’ve popped to the kitchen for a late-night snack just feels like rock bottom sometimes. It’s always the days you’re not wearing sliders, or you’ve just gotten out of the shower and you’re only wearing your ugly pyjamas.

There’s no shame in getting locked out as it’s a universal experience, but you’ll quickly learn as a silly fresh that keeping your room key on you at all times isn’t as hard as you think. Bonus points if you leave it in a kebab shop on your way home from a night out.

Falling victim to Freshers’ Flu

Self-explanatory. It’s inescapable, but you’ll feel rough as toast if it went out on a Wednesday AU night.

No-showing to every lecture after the first week

No matter how much of an academic weapon you convince yourself you are, skipping a lecture is part of the student handbook. The first time you snooze your alarm, you start to panic that you’re going to miss crucial first year information. Once you’ve skipped one, then you skip another, then it becomes a dangerously bad cycle.

I wouldn’t be surprised if Thursday 9ams have a universal drop in attendance than any day of the week, as it becomes the ultimate test of persistence to see if you can make it to your lecture after a sports night. It’s not for the faint hearted.

If you’ve stuck with your commitment to studies despite any hangover interruptions, then you deserve an award.

Using the ‘first year doesn’t count’ excuse when you can’t be bothered

Once a silly fresh learns that all of their hard work in semester one doesn’t actually count towards their final year grade, then all motivation seems to go out the window. The Wednesday nights get wilder, the assignments get worse, and the general routine you adopted after Freshers’ Week is no more. You’ll learn to live your uni life to the fullest, but when you hit second year, trust me – that jump hits you harder than you could ever imagine.

No matter how silly you’ve felt as a September or January fresher, just remember that we were all in your position once. Own the embarrassment it’s like a badge of first year honour.