Good Morning!
I hope you are having a lovely day so far.

If you received your A-Level results last month, you might possibly be heading to freshers very soon. This can leave you feeling a wide range of emotions, sort of between excitement, worry, concern, and possibly feeling nervous? However, this is completely normal. Freshers is definitely a once in a life time experience, you can go in your second or even third year however, it will never be the same as your first year as an actual fresher student.

Freshers can be very crazy, very full on, exciting and sometimes quite exhausting. However, it's an experience you'll never forget so it's probably, most likely worth experiencing all of them different feelings and emotions just for a week or two, right? But, as long as you don't drink too much, you won't forget it and it will be an oh so memorable few weeks before the real university starts.

Many universities are different however, you'll be able to find nightclubs, fresher fairs, freebies, socialising activities and the welcome lectures somewhere, or everywhere! As part of Anglia Ruskin, there are four campus' altogether which is absolutely insane, however as a ARU student, I can go to every single fresher fair and nightclub if I really want too, which is great!

So, here are my tops tips on surviving freshers!

Be open minded
Firstly, be open minded. Embrace the unknown! Be flexible and adapt to the new environment and have fun. If someone suggests you go do something, as long as it's safe; have an open mind! Why the hell wouldn't you go to the freshers fair where you can pick up freebies? If you go into Freshers without having an open mind, you're not going to have that much fun and would it really be worth the money which you spend on the tickets? Enjoy the unknown and embrace everything that's happening around you!

Register to a doctor/health clinic
Quite an important factor of freshers. Freshers Flu. Everyone gets it! Everyone wakes up with a sore throat and sounds like they've been screaming from the top of their lungs for 48 hours. Although you'll easily recover from this, you might not be able to recover from something more serious unless you go to the doctor. So make sure you register to some sort of doctor or health clinic near by where you are living so you can go there if need be whenever you have some time. I know so many people who have had accidents on their first night of freshers while they've been drunk and messing around with their friends!

Have fun
This one is simple enough, just have fun. This is a once in a life time experience and you need to enjoy it. Make some friends, have a laugh and express yourself! Let yourself free!

Stay Safe
This point includes many different aspects. Firstly, stay safe with sex. We all know someone is going to do it throughout freshers with the first guy/girl they meet, just stay safe if that's what you want to do. Use a condom, make sure you take your pill, use the morning after pill if need be; you don't want to find out in a few weeks that you're pregnant. Secondly, if you're planning on going somewhere after a night out down the club, make sure for 1. You're not driving whilst under the influence of alcohol and 2. If you're getting a taxi, make sure you call them before you go out so you know exactly where they are picking you up from and at what time. You want to stay safe in the evenings especially when you're in a busy town or city.

Don't do anything you don't want to do
I cannot stress this enough! So many people do things which other people are doing just because it means they're getting involved, getting people to like them and having fun at the same time. But are you really having fun? Do you really want to be mixing your drinks because everyone else is? Or snogging every guy that you see? Please do not do anything throughout Freshers which you don't want to do, it won't make you feel any better and people will love you for the way you are!

Don't get too drunk
This is entirely up to you however, I do suggest not getting too drunk that you can't remember a single thing the next morning. Freshers is a wonderful experience and you want to be able to remember that experience don't you? or don't you? Getting paralytic on the first day of freshers isn't exactly a great idea either, but that's completely your decision!

Healthy lifestyle or kebab lifestyle? You choose
This one will always make me smile. Obviously we all know having something ridiculously greasy after drinking alcohol is the best idea because it soaks up all the alcohol. However, do you want to be going down the route of a kebab lifestyle every single day when you're out drinking with all the other freshman? I don't think so. Healthy lifestyle or kebab lifestyle? What do you think is better for you? and what do you think is better for your brain? Personally, I'd choose a healthy lifestyle, not only because it's better for every single system in your body, but it will make you feel so much better in the long run!

Buy your tickets asap
Freshers tickets can sell out very very quickly so when they've available to purchase, buy them straight away. You don't want to be leaving it until the last minute and finding out that they're all sold out when you go to pay for them. If you want to go, buy them asap before it's too late.

Do you really want to spend all of your money?
Freshers can be ridiculously exciting but you need to decide beforehand whether you want to spend every single penny in your bank account on alcohol, food and anything else you want to purchase in the few weeks of freshers. Plan how much you want to spend, set yourself a budget and make sure you don't spend more than originally planned. You don't want to wake up the next morning, not knowing what happened the night before and finding out that you spent all the money which was in your bank account. Also, withdraw your money! You don't want to take your bank card to a nightclub and end up losing it or having it taken out of your bag when you've left it on the side while going to the toilet! Just think smart.