{FRESHERS 2020/2021: due to Covid-19, it is likely that your fresher’s week will be slightly different to previous years BUT the pandemic will not be with us forever so look forward to the amazing uni life that Oxford has to offer once it’s all over! Make an effort to immerse yourself in all of the planned freshers’ week activities, socialise, have fun and try to find the silver lining in everything! Much love to you guys <3}
Freshers’ week is the week where you officially say bye to your parents, make some amazing friends, share some crazy (if not questionable) memories with those new friends and put your liver to the ultimate test (if you wish to, of course). I had the most amazing freshers’ week!
Arrival in college was chill. I filled in some forms and made some of the Fresher’s committee (students from your college who volunteer to help the freshers out) carry all my stuff up three flights of stairs. Once I was unpacked, I said bye to my mum then started my journey of independence. Well, you can’t really call it a journey… more like ten steps to the room that belongs to my now-best friend. That’s correct, I made friends with my best friend within the first hour of being at Oxford. Not bad right?
The week proceeded with informative talks throughout the day, followed by evening activities that brought all the freshers together. The talks during the days covered a range of topics and were very important – Most of them will be compulsory to attend… so don’t miss them! We had fire safety talks, welfare talks, talks about BAME, LGBTQ+ and other important topics relating to the student body.
The evenings were very fun and always jam-packed with stuff to get involved with. These options were, generally, split into alcoholic and non-alcoholic activities. So, if you care more about your liver than I do, then you don’t have to drink every night. These evening activities normally comprised an open mic night, pub crawl, Oxford tour, trips to the famous Oxford Ice cream parlour ‘G&Ds’, gatherings with alcohol and outrageous stories from the Fresher’s committee (disclaimer: your view of the ‘typical’ Oxford student will be tarnished) in the earlier hours. In the later hours we’d normally end up in a club.
There were also some additional activities that took place. One afternoon, the freshers got to meet students from older years who did the same subject. This gave us opportunity to ask any questions before lectures started the following week. Another event which took place was the Fresher’s fair – this happens on both a college and university level. These fairs give you opportunity to sign up to as many different societies as possible (and believe me, 90% of the societies I signed up to I never saw again – but that is the beauty of the Freshers’ fair). One final thing that took place was the tutors’ dinner. My Earth Science peers and I got to have a formal meal with our tutor in college. This involved three courses of amazing food, a little bit too much wine and a lot of laughs. This is a really great opportunity to get to know your tutor and build a good rapport (which is important as your tutor has both an academic and pastoral responsibility for you).
Friday night saw our first ‘BOP’ (college-organised parties) where the theme was to dress as our subject (as shown in the image above). It was so fun and such a great way for fresher’s week to draw to a close. That was the first night I tried the almighty ‘Crosskeys’ (St Peter’s Bar’s most renowned and equally lethal drink). However, being an Earth Scientist, that Friday night was followed by an early morning rise and a five-hour bus journey to Pembrokeshire for our first field trip. Don’t let anyone ever tell you that long bus journeys and hangovers are okay…. Because they’re not!
I hope that I have been able to shed some light on what to expect from Fresher’s week. The key thing to pick up is that there’s no need to be afraid or nervous. Everyone is in the same boat and you will come into your own and have a really fun and rewarding time. Also, don’t be afraid to be yourself, don’t take yourself too seriously, keep an open mind and be adventurous and try new things. After all, this is the beginning of your new adult life – live it how you want to!
Best wishes my lovelies,
Abbie xx
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