Fresher’s Transformations

First Year; a time of minimal responsibility and self-discovery.

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So Reading Week is already upon us. When did that happen eh? Over the past few weeks, most Freshers would have undergone some sort of personal flux. New experiences have been experienced, relationships have come and gone, and slowly a personality has shifted from ‘teenager’ to ‘nearly an adult but still a long way to go’. So what are the transformations most likely to occur during people’s initial year in higher education?

The Suddenly Cool Kid

Perhaps not on everyone’s radar pre-uni, this person realised that they now had a chance to completely re-invent themselves. Making sure to get in with the right crowd, they ploughed their student loan into hi-tops and vintage sweaters and spend half their nights up trawling the internet for exclusive dubstep remixes of forgotten 80s German pop bands to play at their next DJ set. Ignoring calls from their old schoolmates who are shocked to see their makeover on Facebook, they’re now the talk of any reunion.

Most likely to be heard saying: ‘Life begins at Uni.’

Least likely to be heard saying: ‘I peaked at school.’

 

The BNOC

Having been a bit of an all-rounder at school, this guy joined every single club, even the ones no-one has ever heard of, then started a few of his own because he had a little extra free time. He’s going on every trip and appears at every social. People start to wonder if he’s actually been cloned since he seems to be everywhere, all the time. Everyone’s seen him on campus, since he never actually goes home, and never sleeps. Known to most people by sight more than name, which is usually just ‘Oh, that guy. Yeah.’

Most likely to be heard saying: ‘I’ll try and pencil you in.’

Least likely to be heard saying: ‘Nah, I’ll probably just have a nap.’

King/Queen of the Geeks

Always a committed work-ophile, this individual takes their first year as an opportunity to ascend to the top of the hard-core academics. Never too far from the library or an online work forum, they can usually be seen chuckling away at an obscure, maths-based joke or badgering a professor post-lecture. Other students flock to them in times of scholastic need, their test scores being legendary. After years of being ridiculed, they’ve finally found a place to geek-out without inhibition.

Most likely to be heard saying: ‘I actually finished that textbook, and found it a bit superficial’

Least likely to be heard saying: ‘Oh we had a lecture?’

Arty Girl

Arty girl was most likely pretty normal at school, maybe just not a major part of the mainstream. Within weeks of starting university however, she got a bunch of new tattoos and piercings and has just finished shaving the back of her dip-dyed hair. She listens to bands that haven’t even been invented yet and smokes bizarrely flavoured roll-ups. Rarely actually seen in Uni, she’s doing a course people weren’t sure existed, which gives her more time to focus on creative projects, most of which are just posting ‘profound’ things on Tumblr.

Most likely to be heard saying: ‘Oh, you like Rihanna? Greeaaaat.’

Least likely to be heard saying: ‘I love Rihanna.’

Party Kid

Party kid loves one thing: partying. They pretty quickly understood that they’d just been given a year with free money and no real responsibility with which to make as many regret-free mistakes as possible, and they’re going to go for it. Fresher’s Week will forever be known, with no hint of embarrassment, as ‘the best week of my life’. It’s easy to find party kid as they’ll be at whatever club night most people are going to that evening, but they’ll never end up in the same bed. Their chances of actually graduating might be getting slim, but at least they’re never going to think ‘why didn’t I take advantage of my youth more?’.

Most likely to be heard saying: ‘What’s before Part-B?’

Least likely to be heard saying: ‘Just a quiet one tonight, I’ve got loads of work to catch up on.’