Natalia Talks About

I told you to keep your eyes peeled for more blog posts on university themed pieces and I didn’t lie! When I started to write this post I was going to write about surviving your first year of uni, but then me being me, I got nostalgic and found myself writing about my Fresher’s week itself. So here in some detail I shall start from the beginning…

Where were you when you found out which University you were going to be studying at? Was it at school when you picked up your results? Maybe you went through clearing and felt that mixture of relief and joy when they confirmed your place on the phone?For me it was in August 2013 when I was sat in my kitchen alone after breakfast. I didn’t want to check UCAS before I got my results, for fear of seeing that I didn’t do as well as I hoped. I was planning on checking UCAS once I had my results envelope in my hand, so I could brace myself for what was to come. Suddenly I found myself logging into UCAS on my phone, probably due to the anxiety and the amount of pressure I put on myself for that one moment combined with those months slaving away on essays and working harder than I ever had. I decided to bite the bullet. If I remember correctly before me I saw the words, “Congratulations! Your place at University of Kent studying Psychology has been confirmed.” I was shaking and overcome with joy, I had done it! The next few years of my life were planned, I was going to Canterbury, the city I had fallen with when I first visited the university open day in September 2012. That day the sun was shining and it perfectly framed the Cathedral, instantly reminding me of the castle from Disney; it was a picture that I had carried with me throughout the toughest study period of my life. I was ecstatic, I was going to being studying and living in a place that already felt like home and made me smile and already nostalgic every time I looked at the Cathedral.

Immediately I was excited for all the memories I was going to make, the people I was going to meet, and how it would be the best years of my life ( no pressure, right?!) I remember the day that I moved into halls. I had carefully planned my outfit that day, my favourite jeans, a new top and my hair curled in that “it took me five minutes to get this look” but really it took about half an hour. The universe was also on my side, I had mastered the perfect winged eyeliner that day too. Everything was going smoothly, even my parents who notoriously leave much later than they plan to, were even on time. When I arrived at my halls, a couple of uni students helped carry my bags from the car along with my parents. I had a flashback to being 11 years old on my first day at Secondary school where I looked up at the sixth form and thought they were so grown up and adult like. This time I was the adult, where had the time gone? In the same breath I was also looking at these uni students and thought, wow, they are so old and mature! It really was a mix of emotions.

Once my bags were in my room, my parents shortly left and I left my door open saying hi to my new flatmates as they came in, introducing myself and swapping the standard, so where are you from, what are you studying, how did your A-Levels go chat. After I unpacked it seemed that dinner couldn’t come soon enough. For my first meal I made pasta and whipped up some tomato pasta sauce and grated cheese- a guaranteed meal that I would not burn. TBH I remember being conscious not to overcook the pasta, as I didn’t want to be known as that girl who could not cook, Turns out everyone was pretty much in the same boat so there was no need to worry. Pre- drinks could not come soon enough. I remember getting ready quickly and getting out that rosé out pretty sharpish. My flat was all girls, which can be a blessing or a curse! I knew some balance was needed and luckily my boyfriend was also studying at Kent and he had all boys and one girl in his flat, so by combining the two together we had a pretty good mix. What helped was that everyone had already somewhat bonded and overcome the small talk in our respected flats, (well mostly- it wasn’t something a bit of ring of fire could not sort out!)

Most unis have a plan for the week ahead and for my Fresher’s week each night had a theme such as “back to school”, “Freshbook” and some random night out we had to wear the colour that our halls were given (mine was pink), as well as the most exciting of them all, The Fresher’s Ball featuring a silent disco and an appearance from Miss Dynamite-tee-hee…

I think the thing that I loved the most about Fresher’s was the energy everyone had and how nice every one was (everyone wanted to make friends and tries hard regardless) Whether your Fresher’s is a week, two weeks or even a month (bless your poor liver) those long days cramming and memorizing quotes from Shakespeare’s Anthony and Cleopatra, really are worth it. I hope that you enjoyed this snippet and reminisced yourselves about that first week or if it was your Fresher’s week recently, I hope you had fun and that you raise a toast to all those “friends” you made in the bathroom, who you most likely won’t speak to ever again. That really was a beautiful short lived friendship. RIP.