As Freshers’ Week approaches, here are five things NOT to do as a Leeds fresher

With September well and truly underway, for incoming freshers the idea of starting uni is no longer about buying decor from The Range and making dark academia Pinterest boards you’ll never look at again. Instead, it’s the slowly dawning realisation that you’re actually moving away to a new city in just a few weeks’ time.

Alongside the excitement, most of you will be starting to experience all of the normal worries that come with starting uni. How do you make friends? What do you do if you feel overwhelmed? Does anybody actually buy those £50 freshers’ wristbands that promise to give you the best night out of your life at clubs you’ve never heard of? 

Unfortunately for you, I’m not going to be answering (most) of those questions today. There’s plenty of guides on that already. Instead, I’m going to keep things brutally honest with a short guide on what not to do as a Leeds fresher if you want to set yourself up for the best possible first year. 

Keep your circle small

Leeds is a huge city, with an even bigger student population. It’s only normal to feel the urge to cling to the first people you meet in such an overwhelming environment. Why would you brave that scary sports social where you won’t know anybody when you have a perfectly good group of flatmates waiting at your accommodation?

However, it’s important to keep your circle as wide as possible to maximise the chances of meeting people you genuinely click with. Go to that social. Ask that girl in your new seminar group if she’d want to go for a cheeky Bakery 164 together. You never know where it might lead.

During my Freshers’ Week, I saw a message from a girl on a first year group chat asking if anybody wanted to meet up for a coffee, decided “why not?” and took myself along to Laidlaw Caffe Nero to hang out with a group of complete strangers. Fast forward two years and I now live with three of the girls I met that day (cute, am I right?). 

Take it too far

It’s no secret that Leeds is one of the most popular and affordable cities for partying in all of the UK. The allure of £6 Treb cans and £3.50 pints can be irresistible, especially if you’re from the south.

However, it’s also no secret that nobody wants to spend their Freshers’ Week taking care of their brand-new flatmate or friend while their head is in the toilet after one too many for the third night in a row. Keeping your drinking to responsible levels will save you lots of embarrassment and even some potential friendships.

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Buy a freshers’ wristband

If you’re an incoming Leeds fresher who has scrolled any form of social media, or joined a single uni group chat, you’ll likely have been bombarded by adverts for freshers’ wristbands. These package deals include entry to multiple Leeds club nights, promising that these are the places all Leeds freshers will be, and that if you don’t hurry to get yours now, you’ll be doomed to a week of sitting alone in your room watching everybody else go out and have the time of their lives.

These marketing tactics are designed to scare you, and they’re undeniably effective in convincing thousands of freshers every year to spend up to £50 on a wristband. However, they’re also almost never good value for money. Most of the time, you won’t end up attending a single event advertised on these deals, and if you do, you can almost always buy a ticket on the door if you don’t have a wristband anyway.

Compare yourself to other people

I’m going to let you in on a secret here: a lot of people don’t actually enjoy Freshers’ Week half as much as they like to make out on social media. Yes, clubbing in a new city and meeting hundreds of new potential friends is objectively fun, but it can easily become daunting, overwhelming and even lonely.

If your Freshers’ doesn’t include immediately meeting all of your friends for life, or going out every single night, you’re not alone. All of the posts from people from your sixth form might make it look like everybody else has got it sussed, but just remember that nobody is going to include the time they cried while trying to do Circuit laundry for the first time in their aesthetic Instagram photo dump.

Commit flatcest

This is the golden rule of uni and for good reason. Don’t do it. It WILL be awkward and you are NOT the exception.

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