Meet the freshers (and their parents)

The first day of uni is an emotional time. Getting lost, unpacking, saying tearful farewells to Mum and Dad – it’s all very disorienting.  We wanted to make the new kids feel welcome, so we thrust a camera in their faces and grilled their parents about their hopes, doubts and darkest fears. This is what they said:

Jack, 18, Pharmacology, with dad Charlie, 50

Charlie: I’m not really worried about his first year at uni. Not at all. I think we’re really feeling quite relaxed about it. At I home, I expect it to be more peaceful, more quiet. And also to have more food in the cupboard. I hope he enjoys himself this year and that he will have a good fulfilling time and enjoy his course and all the other activities that are going on.

Jack: Try not to make this too cheesy, alright?

Charlie: Alright. But I guess I’m going to miss his grumpiness in the morning. The biggest miss. I trust him to behave this year, at least the way that I behaved. You’ve got to let them go. I think he’ll have fun during Freshers. My best time at uni was during RAG week, particularly this big monopoly treasure hunt and ended up coming back with all sorts of weird stuff. It was great fun. I hope he does some stuff like that this week.

Ali, 18, Politics, with mum Miri

Miri: I’m going to miss his conversation. We have good banter. I hope he’s happy, and he keeps a bit of commonsense. That’s hard sometimes. I trust him to behave during freshers. He’s sensible when he’s out. And freshers is just partying and getting to know people. I really worry he won’t get to know anyone. I mean not the whole year, just the first few nights.

Robyn, 18, Medicine, with dad Rolf, 47

Rolf: I hope she enjoys it and is successful. I’m not worried about anything at all. And no, I won’t miss her. I went to university, and I know what freshers week is like and what to expect. I trust her to behave.

Michael, 22, Investment Banking and Finance, with parents Kim and Dave, both 50

Kim: We’re so excited for him. It’s the opportunity of a lifetime, and we’re glad he made it happen. We think our son is going to do very well. He’s such a hard worker. He’ll succeed at whatever he wants to do. We’ll miss him very much.

Dave: Yeah.

Kim: We’re not too worried about him. He went to Edinburgh for a semester when he was doing his undergraduate degree, and I kind of got over the worrying then. We kind of learned to accept and let him go.

Dave: Uhuh.

Kim: He’s really proved to us that he’s trustworthy and doing great. We definitely trust him to behave well.

Dave: He’ll post it all on Facebook.

Kim: He’s good. He’ll make good decisions.

Dave: Uni is a lot different now. Everything is online, so many more group projects, it’s way more social than it was back then.

Tannishtha, 18, Chemistry, with parents Vinod and Soega

Vinod: We’re just so proud to be here. She’s on a government scholarship. She did so well on her A levels. As parents we’re just so proud to send her to.. umm…

Soega: Glasgow University.

Vinod: We know she is going to her best.

Soega: She is a good student. She works hard.

Vinod: I don’t know what freshers week is. Do you?

Tannishtha: I do!

Vinod: I studied through distance learning. I didn’t get an on campus experience like that, but I did feel how good it is to be among fellow students. It’s a good experience.

Vedara, 18, Physics and Astrophysics, with dad Paris

Paris: I feel great about her going to uni. Proud. It’s an excellent university. The studies are at such a high level. I went to university in France and studied law. University now is different, and the education in France and the UK are totally different. The Anglo Saxon system is different.

My daughter is a little shy but she likes it and I think she will adapt easily. People in Glasgow are generally very kind and warm, so I think she will have no problem to be ok here. We live in Brussels so we are very close. We wouldn’t have sent her to far. We won’t miss her too bad. I’m not worried about her at all. I’m so confident about my daughter. I don’t really remember what was good about uni. I’m too old.

Ian and Katherine (daughter Katie, 18, not shown, is studying chemistry)

Katherine: We’ll miss everything about her. We’ll really really miss her. It’s a funny thing for her to be going away. I hope she’ll settle in and be really happy. I hope she’ll meet lots of new people and is happy. I also hope she won’t enjoy herself too much. She needs to sit in and study sometimes. Get on with her course work.

Ian: And that we hope she’ll keep in touch with us now and again!

Katherine: She’s not far from us, we’re only down the road – an hour. She’ll come round from time to time. I don’t think she’ll need us too much. She’s sensible enough that she’ll behave herself.

Ian: And we don’t want her to behave too well. She needs to strike a good balance.

Parents Verner, Astrid and brother Phillip. Daughter Marie, 19, Neuroscience was feeling a little camera shy.

Astrid: I don’t really know what it is that she’s going to study, but I hope she’s going to find out before it’s over. Oh god, I’m going to miss…I  can’t even say. Just her being there. Having someone to give things to. Someone to provide for. Now she’s gone, and I can’t do that.

Verner: Yeah I will miss her.

Astrid: Oh and hugging! Hugging her.

Verner: I wish for her to be happy. That’s all  I wish.

Astrid: And that she quickly finds out if this is the right thing for her.

Verner: Freshers is for getting to know all the bars and places and meet people, stuff like that. She’ll do fine.

Astrid: I only trust her to not tell me when she’s misbehaving.