Four things I learnt at Notts Freshers’ Fair

Freshers’ Fair 2022 was everything we could have hoped for: loud, busy, exciting and incredibly chaotic. Despite being in second year, my housemates and I made the trek from Lenton, not only for all the free stuff on offer, but just for the sheer experience itself.

Cramming all of those people into the David Ross Sports Centre’s sports hall is a recipe for a lot of noise and mayhem; something I found incredibly overwhelming as a first year in 2021, but going as a second year, this time I was able to take in the atmosphere. I have come to the conclusion that the UoN Freshers’ Fair has a lot to teach you – so here are four things I learnt at Freshers’ Fair 2022.

1. There is a society for everything at UoN!

Want to see dogs? DogSoc exists! Into cake? Cake Soc has you covered! Hide and Seek, Bellringing, Lego; even Taylor Swift has her own appreciation society. From the weird and the wonderful to the mundane and serious, with over 300 societies to choose from, no matter who you are there is definitely a place for you here at UoN, whether you’re looking to compete, learn something new or just have fun.

Not only are there plenty of societies to keep you busy, but there are also opportunities to further enrich your student experience. For example, there are volunteering opportunities – such as Sexpression, who give talks about sex and relationships in local schools. Networking opportunities, such as LGBT+, BME and Mature Student networks, which allow students to reach similar people within their community, and also, job opportunities such as becoming a student ambassador.

2. There are way more sports than I thought

The sports section is HUGE! Like seriously, how are there so many sports?

Not only this, but I had no idea there were so many sports that you could play on so many different levels; from the novice to the pro, there is definitely a sport for everyone to get involved in at UoN.

3. Don’t give every society your email address

Society emails are, on the most part, incredibly useful. They keep you up to date on exciting society news, upcoming events and general information – but if you aren’t an active member of the society, none of this is relevant to you, and is therefore just spam! Just because that lovely second year with the free pen asked for your email doesn’t mean you need to give it to them.

Staying organised and up to date at uni is a task in itself, without having to worry about hundreds of society newsletters and updates cramming up your inbox. Yes, you could unsubscribe but who has the time and energy for that? Don’t worry about being too polite, the society member on the stall will forgive you for saying “no”.

4. No matter how old you are, going to Freshers’ Fair makes you feel like a fresher

I don’t know what it is. Maybe it’s the Dominoes employees offering you a free slice of pizza, maybe it’s hearing everyone in the immediate vicinity coughing from freshers’ flu; but something about Freshers’ Fair makes you feel like a wide-eyed fresher seeing everything for the first time. Whatever it is, Freshers’ Fair is iconic, and I look forward to going back next September.

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