Welcome Week: A Survival Guide

by Shannon Leigh · 12th Sep 2017

Welcome is officially underway and no doubt a fair few of you crawled into your Monday morning induction, feeling more than a little hungover. So here’s a list of our top tips, so you can make it through to the other side. We believe in you.

1. Taxi!

Whilst the Union put on some absolutely brilliant events and put on an excellent shuttle service. You may end up attending events which aren’t a part of the official line up, or even just continuing the party down town after a Union event is over. Saving a few taxi numbers before hand is vital, no matter how close your halls are, walking home is not sensible, especially in a place that’s new to you. It sounds daft but you might be too drunk to google anything and a yellow cab can be seriously pricey.

2. Too much of a good thing…

Don’t try to go to everything. It’s just not possible. Whilst the timetable of events is well planned, it can’t be made to fit around everybody’s induction timetables. Don’t be disappointed though, as you wont be the only person. Try to pick your favourite events and just go to those. And if you can’t decide then it’s always worth asking flatmates or others from your course which events they are off to and tagging along to those. Don’t exhaust yourself, there’s still plenty to do after Welcome is over.

3. More of the same..

Joining societies and sports teams are a vital part of the uni experience. But much like welcome events, joining too many is not always a good thing. Once societies and teams begin their regular meetings they can be difficult to balance with studies if you’ve joined too many. So it’s important to make the right choice for you, but you also have more than one year here, so if you want to try some new ones after your first year, there’s plenty of time! You’ll have chance to talk to to societies and teams during the welcome fair and keep an eye out for our article dedicated to helping you decide later in the week!

4. It’s not a myth…

Dreaded ‘freshers flu’ is not a myth. Even though it’s welcome week rather than freshers, you won’t escape. The volume of new people from a variety of places is the perfect breeding ground for illness. If you do get sick during welcome, it’s important to rest as much as possible. Even if that means missing a few things you were looking forward too. Not only does freshers flu linger for a while it makes you feel awful if you try too hard. Plus staying in bed prevents the spread!