15 Things Every First Year Has Experienced

Kayla Jenkinson 14 June 2018
15 Things Every First Year Has Experienced

Let’s face it: for better or for worse, there are some things you only experience in your first year of University.

1. The homesickness

Whether it’s your dog, your games console or your mum’s cooking, you’ll have missed it at some point or another.

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2. Painful first meetings

The awkward poking of heads around open door-ways or bumping into people in the kitchen as you silently assert your dominance by claiming the biggest cupboard. Yeah. Those meetings. *cringing*

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3. Budgeting

You thought it was going okay, and then BAM. You’re wading your ankles in the light shallow waters of your overdraft. Luckily it’s something you get the hang of in second-year because the financial hardships of first-year are not fun.

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4. The new independence

This had both its pros and cons. Pro: You’re no longer judged for stumbling home smashed out of your face at 4am. Con: There’s nobody else to clean up your vom the next morning.

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5. Your first proper hangover

You thought you’d experienced hangovers before, but nothing like this. Two days later and you’ll still be wincing at the smell of vodka or the eighth shot of Sourz.

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6. The death of your sleeping pattern

You had some good memories, but that’s over now. Say hello to staying up until the early hours of the morning, because it’s a schedule that’s here to stay.

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7. No TV ads

If you’re not lucky enough to afford a TV license in your flat, you’ll have to resort to on-demand sites like All 4, ITV player (as long as they aren't live) or Netflix. One major perk of this (for the most part) is you don’t have to endure those boooring TV ads.

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8. The Library

Sure, you might have used the library a little bit in college or high school, but wandering into first-year, you had NO idea how much you’d be relying on the library for essays and exams. It’s basically a third leg you can’t walk without.

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9. Freshers Fair

The beautiful, crazy, scary world of societies. You’re walking through Freshers Fair feeling like Aladdin on his magic carpet, because oh boy, there’s a whole new world of sports, interests and frankly disturbing stuff out there.

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10. Doing things for yourself

Sure, you might have done the odd load of laundry or meal yourself, but not to this extent. You’re suddenly buying your own food and washing things regularly. This goes onto our next point…

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11. Pushing your clothes to the limit

Because it’s totally okay to wear the same pair of socks a few times before washing as long as you turn them inside out, right?

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12. Cooking for yourself

Who knew that there was a whole other culinary world besides potato waffles? Not you, that’s for sure, and the amount of food you burn in first-year is ungodly. I once knew a girl that genuinely didn’t know she had to cook Super Noodles with water though, so you weren’t THAT bad at least.

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13. Bin Juice

This next one won’t have happened to everyone, but if you’re sharing a dingy kitchen with like 6 people it probably has. Two words: Bin juice. That nasty, foul smelling liquid that collects at the bottom of your bin and ALWAYS comes back no matter how hard you try.

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14. Referencing

The painful, painful procedure of learning how to reference. MHRA, Harvard, Chicago… why are they even a thing?! It’s annoying, time consuming and is absolutely the only reason you got 37 in your first essay.

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15. The Walk of shame

This also won’t be an experience for everyone, but it most definitely is for some: the dreaded Walk of Shame. From the tell-tale signs of last night’s outfit and messy hair to sneaking back in the flat before your housemates see, this is one of the most shameful experiences out there.

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Kayla Jenkinson 14 June 2018