Freshers: Why we’re all glad it’s over

Freshers. Ah. The memories. The drinking. The getting to know people. The drinking. The awkwardness. That time when I once sat at a table in the main union bar for around 20 minutes with a girl I met on the first day in silence because we had absolutely NOTHING to say to each other. I’m so glad I’m not a first year again.

Don’t get me wrong, freshers week is fun. Everything’s new and exciting and you have the potential to completely reinvent yourself and get rid of your secondary school nickname and reputation. You can become as indie/badass/tame as you prefer, the beauty of it is no-one knows what you’re really like and the world of personalities is almost your oyster. There’s loads going on that you can do and try out, like aikido, acapella and messibombs. The freshers week line up looks like so much fun, except you’ve forgotten a vital part in having that fun.

Friends.

Sure, I probably wouldn’t have minded going to jedward with my school friends who I’ve known for years, but it all of a sudden becomes less fun when you go with people you’ve known for five minutes. I think the only reason why people are so keen to get smashed during freshers is to make it less awks. But after the drink wears off a bit you realise the only thing you actually have in common with people is your cray cray antics from the night before.

Even as a second year, freshers is still a little bit annoying. Sure you can attend events, and making friends isn’t a life or death situation. You can go back to an actual home that’s not halls and be certain that your chums are waiting there for you with a cup of tea and a biscuit BUT it doesn’t make it all A okay. I’d just love to be able to walk down market street and not be harassed by every establishment in St Andrews trying to sell me something. Last year, The Other Guys got through a ten minute sales pitch and sung me a song before I was able to get a word in edgeways that I couldn’t attend their album launch because I was working. And hey, I loved the singing, don’t get me wrong, but I would prefer not to feel really awful after all the selling effort goes on and I have to say no.

Realistically, freshers week is about how many free things can I scrounge from various society events, but sometimes I’ve got to say I’ve been disappointed. I’ve been promised free lunches from several places but when I’ve got there all they can salvage to give me is a few crisps and a grape. What’s the point.

Anyway, freshers is definitely a great way to meet a lot of new people and try to get a little bit more settled into uni life, but it’s definitely not the be all and end all of St Andrews. Everyone is looking forward to not mentioning those painful ‘what’s your name/what’s your halls/where you from/what are you studying’ questions again. Getting a little more structure and routine into your life is great, and what’s even better is the English Student Loan Company payout in two days time. The only reason why I’m not glad it’s over is the onset of freshers flu and the millions of people coughing in lectures. I’d visit boots now if I were you.