Hey freshers. There must be a lot on your mind lately. What will happen at Uni? Who will I meet? HOW WILL I SURVIVE WITHOUT MY MUM!?!

Well here are a few tips to help you along the way in your first semester…

Make friends

Most people find it hard to leave their home, go to a new place, and make some good friends, but it’s something all Uni students have to go through.

The secret behind making new friends is…MEETING NEW PEOPLE. I know that might have come as a surprise to some people but it’s true.You won’t make friends by sitting on your bum, alone in your room.

If you live in halls leave your door open (not when you’re not in though) and talk to as many people as possible.

Go to parties, freshers’ fairs and events. The more social you are, the more people will want to be around you.

Freebies

You’ll realise during your first semester that being a fresher is just like being a celebrity. Big brands and companies want you to use their products and therefore will hang around Uni all year round trying to persuade you to use them.

For a lot of these companies the most successful way of doing this is by handing out lots and lots of free stuff. And by free stuff I don’t mean one or two toothbrushes, I mean bags and bags of cool stuff that is destined to sit on your bedside table all year until you are desperate enough to use it.

Attendance

Yes, I know… ‘boring’, right? But the sad truth is,  no matter how much fun it can be, university is a place for studying.

For many courses attendance is obligatory and after a certain amount of absence you will be capped at a certain grade, or worse still, kicked off the course and out of Uni.

And how are you meant to keep having fun at university if you’ve been kicked out of it?

However, all jokes apart, courses can be fun if you want them to be. Make sure you choose subjects that YOU are interested in and by keeping a positive attitude I’m sure you’ll ace.

Plan ahead

It’s common practice among students to spend money on the day you receive it but nobody likes to be skint for 3 weeks out of 4 because of too much partying. If you receive a grant, salary, or other financial aid then make a plan with it.

Calculate, after paying for necessary things like bills and books, how much money you have and divide it by 4. There you have your weekly budget for food, drink and FUN.

Tip: you might want to put more aside for weekends etc. They can get expensive.

Food and drink

These two things are at the top of my list for one main reason- without them you’ll die. But just because you’re a first year student and your funds may be limited it does not mean you have to eat and drink badly.

There are plenty of ways to save money on food and drink. Familiarise yourself with  shops’ own products and tinned food. Tinned food lasts forever (not literally but close) and shops’ own products are just as good as big brand food but without the hefty price.

The same applies for drinking. Find the cheapest pubs/clubs in your area rather than spending half your night’s money on a drink that you can’t even pronounce in a fancy bar.

With these tips you should have no trouble succeeding in your first year at uni. And in the words of Tupac Shakur: ‘You gotta have as much fun and go around the board as many times as you can before it’s your turn to leave!’