‘I guess I can trust her to behave’: Meet the freshers and their parents

We got down with the kids on moving day, and asked some freshers and their families about their expectations for first year and FRESHAAAAAAAAAZ.

Their answers ranged from the cringe-inducing to the crazy.

Name: Frank
Parent’s name: Steven
Studies: Music Performance
Halls: East Slope
Hometown: Kent

Frank:  “I love playing piano, so I hope to improve at that. I wanna build knowledge on performance technique and things like that.

“Oh, and get really drunk. I expect to spend fresher’s week lying in the toilet puking. ”

Steven: “I don’t have any worries about my son, no. I went to uni, and from what I’ve seen, it’s no bloody different than when I went.

“I can’t trust him to behave.*”

Name: Brandium
Parents’ names: Withheld
Studies: English Literature
Halls: East Slope
Hometown: Nijmegen, Netherlands

Brandium: “My hopes for this term?  Um, I wanna experience the city and what it’s like to study in Brighton. I want to experience English culture.

“I’m a third year student at home, but we never had fresher’s, so I’m just going to see what it’ll be like and join in with some parties!”

Parents: “ I have no worries whatsoever about my son, and I will not really miss him any more than normally because he’s already moved out of our house at home.

“Did I go to uni? No. Ooooh. Yeah. I did.  Studying in the Netherlands is different to here, but I think that things basically don’t change over time. “

Name: Rory
Parent’s name: Sharon
Studies: Politics
Halls: East Slope
Hometown: London

Sharon: “My worries are just the usual concerns, like him not feeling homesick and will being comfortable here.

“I’ve got a daughter that’s already been through uni, so I’m used to it. I’m going to miss him like crazy, though.

“I expect his time as a fresher to consist of spending lots of money and not sleeping much. I went to uni in 1980 and I think the financial pressures on students now are awful.

“I don’t think uni should be about me trusting him, I think it’s about him becoming an independent adult and making his own mistakes along the way.”

Name: Ruby
Parent’s name: Janine
Studies: English Literature and Media
Halls: Park Village
Hometown: Chichester

Ruby: “ I wanna make loads of friends and have massive parties this year.

“I expect fresher’s week to consist of lots of hangovers! I guess I’ll miss my parents a little bit.”

Janine: “I have absolutely no worries about Ruby, but of course I’ll really miss her.

“I went to uni, and really, it hasn’t changed since I was a student. “

Name:  Rhiannon
Parents’ names: Mary and Richard
Studies: International Relations with French
Halls: Lewes Court
Hometown: Portsmouth

Rhiannon: “In first year, I just wanna have fun, really! That and to meet some new people.”

Mary: “We have lots of parental worries, mainly about alcohol consumption!

“I went to uni recently as a mature student, so I can’t compare my uni experience to Rhiannon’s, because it’s different when you have a family of your own.

“Being social helps with studies, I think you should work hard and play hard.”

Name:  Nichola
Parents’ name: Frank
Studies: English Literature and Film Studies
Halls: Northfield
Hometown: Brussels, Belgium

Nichola: “ I want to meet lots of people and learn lots of new things.

“I hope fresher’s week will be full of lots of interesting times, and that I’ll make memories that will stay with me the rest of my life.”

Frank: “ I’m not really worried about my daughter, no.

“I studied in Norway, and that was a completely different experience to what I’ve seen at Sussex. I guess I can trust her to behave.”

Name: Laura
Parent’s name: Janet
Studies: Psychology
Halls: Park Village
Hometown: Ashstead

Laura: “ All I want is to get a good group of friends together, hopefully enjoy my course, and make sure my fresher’s week is full of loads of crazy nights out. “

Janet: “Oh, I have quite a lot of parental worries, but I am sure I can live with them! I’ll miss her so much.

“The fresher’s week here seems so organised and more packed than when I went to university.

Name: James
Parent’s name: Sarah
Studies: Environmental Science
Halls: Stanmer Court
Hometown: Brighton

James: “ Hopefully, I’ll get a first this year…I want to make a lot of friends too.

“For fresher’s week, I’m just going to get absolutely wasted.”

Sarah:  “Is he allowed to say he’s going to get absolutely wasted?! I’m worried about that.

“I’m also worried about the amount of stairs here, is he going to fall down all these stairs or into one of these random little bits of water here and drown?!

“I’ll miss him more than he’ll miss me. My expectations of uni for James is that it’s going to be bloody expensive.”

Name: Natalie
Parent’s name:  Kent
Studies: History
Halls: Park Village
Hometown: Geneva

Natalie: “I just wanna learn a lot this year, that’s for sure, and make my place at the university and settle in.

“I think fresher’s week is going to be great, I’m going to explore the campus and have fun.”

Kent: “I’m not worried about Natalie, but I guess I’ll miss her a little bit.  I studied in California and the campus was pretty similar to this one here at Sussex.

“Can I trust her to behave? No? Hmm. I suppose I can. Maybe.”

Name: Sam
Parent’s name: Nick
Studies: History and Politics
Halls: Lancaster House
Hometown: Greenwich

Sam: “I hope to meet new people, learn new stuff and try new activities this year.

“I really don’t know what to expect from fresher’s week because I’ve heard all kinds of stories, good and bad, so I’m just going to go at it with an open mind.”

Nick: “This is going to sound sexist or not politically correct, but I’m not as worried about Sam coming to uni as I would have been if it were my daughter.

“He’s pretty sensible, so I trust him to behave. I think uni has changed a lot; compared to students now, I was given a very small grant, which was good, because I never had to worry bout repaying huge sums of money after I graduated.”

Name: Emma
Parent’s name: Howard
Studies: Psychology
Halls: Swanborough
Hometown: Essex

Emma: “I hope to settle in and make lots of new friends, drink a lot and meet loads of people. I won’t miss my dad.”

Howard: “Of course I’m going to miss Emma. I went to uni, and I can’t tell you if it’s changed because I can’t remember that far back.

“I can remember that I didn’t get to stay in halls of residence, though.”