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All the Freshers traditions you’ll have experienced this term

We’ve all been there x


Coming to uni is a culture shock, it doesn't matter how supposedly self-sufficient you were before coming here, living completely on your own for the first time can be a terrifying ordeal. Luckily for you however, you won't technically be alone as you're put into a house or flat full of freshers just like you. Woohoo!

This culmination of fresh meat – all equally as clueless – makes it hard to believe your accommodation didn't burn down in the first week. These are the traditions that every fresher house goes through during their time at uni.

Alcohol poisoning

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​Okay well maybe you didn't get actual alcohol poisoning, but it was probably quite close. The main tradition that every fresher house experiences is alcohol consumption. And lots of it. Waking up without wanting to spill your guts is admirable during freshers week – combine this with the fact that your entire house is probably going through the same and your freshers house becomes a scene from a hospital.

Beyond freshers week the drinking goes down a little bit, but not by much. Visit a freshers house practically any day of the year and you're guaranteed to find someone drowning their sorrows.

Awkward introductions

Once all your stuff has been neatly arranged in your room, you think you should probably try and meet the people you'll be spending your year with (secretly hoping you haven't been placed with some weird specimens).

Ice-breakers involve proclaiming where you've come from, and then trying to find whoever's closest to your home-town so you can bond on that one similarity. Obviously.

Some ice takes longer to break though, and the awkwardness can take a day to go or for some unlucky few there is that little bit of awkwardness just permanently there – there are only so many times you can make small-talk.

Realising you have to cook for yourselves

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Oh dear, oh dear

It becomes apparent quite quickly that food is an issue that you need to overcome. Some arrive with the skills of Gordon Ramsay and can make a gourmet meal on a nightly basis – others are still struggle with toast.

This diversity in a freshers kitchen makes for a less-than-ideal cooking environment. The knowledgeable ones become mentors to the less-skilled, and the kitchen resembles an episode of Masterchef. Pesto pasta becomes a house tradition – at least one person has it on any given day.

The messy ones reveal themselves

By the end of Freshers week it becomes clear who in the house is going to be the one that pesters everyone to clear the plates and who is going to be the one that leaves their dirty dishes out until they collect mould.

You try and establish some ground rules for things like taking out the bins and mopping the floors, knowing full well that the system will be abandoned after the second week. Anarchy.

You have a Christmas meal together

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Ho ho ho

As term draws to a close, you're all well acquainted with each other, so you think it's a good idea to celebrate Christmas together with a meal. The ones who are good at cooking are the ones that prepare this banquet; everyone else just sits and looks busy whilst they get a free meal out of it.

Every Freshers house is different and each has its own chemistry. But there are undeniable universals between them all – the tasks faced by Freshers when they come to uni are a learning curve; thankfully you have your house with you on the journey.