A Letter to my Fresher Self

Dear Fresher Self,

Firstly, I am jealous. I am jealous that you are about to begin three of the best years of your life. I know you won’t believe me now with all those years in a brand new city ahead of you, but trust me when I say that it will absolutely fly by and before you know it, you will be writing this.

For this reason, I can’t stress enough that all your worrying is for nothing. Worrying about who your future flatmates will be, whether you are good enough to study your course, and if you will make friends – it will all work out just fine! When you start, everyone will be in (as cliché as it is) the exact same boat, and are all eager to make friends. Say yes to as much as you can, and as much as you are comfortable with saying yes to. Remember it is okay to take time for yourself as well.

I know making that first move can be scary but you will be all the better off for it, and plus, more people than you know are bound to say yes to a coffee, night out, or shopping trip around town. On that note, make sure you budget before even setting foot on Cardiff territory. This will save you a lot of stress down the line and means you will know exactly how much you can splash on having fun during freshers.

Your first few weeks will be a bit of a blur and you will probably meet more people than you have in your entire life. Go to the freshers fair and join as many sports, and societies as you can – even only if to trial them out once. Who would have thought that Harry Potter society would become part of your weekly uni experience?!

I am pleased to say that you will get on with your degree just fine. You must remember that first year is there for you to make mistakes and to perfect you academic skills. Your lecturers will be supporting you all the way and will be there when you need them. Basically, don’t stress too much!

Living in halls will be a big eye-opener. It is exciting, sometimes pretty dirty, but it is also a place to learn how to be a real adult for the first time. You will create some somewhat experimental meals and a ton of dodgy dinners but before you know it, you will have mastered the spaghetti bolognaise and homemade curry!  

I must stress that you do not need anywhere near the amount of stuff that you are planning to take with you to your halls. The semesters fly by and it is near impossible to get through all 40 of those nail varnishes that you deemed so essential.

And with that, I think you are good to go. My final word of advice is simply to just enjoy and embrace every second – the good, the bad, and the weird. You only get this opportunity to be a fresher once so have fun with it!

Ellie