All the realities of redoing first year at UoB

You failed the year, you dropped out, or you changed your course. You'd be surprised how many of us do first year more than once. If you are considering dropping out, here’s some of the best and worst things about being a fresher AGAIN:

House or halls?

Yeah, you’ve signed up for a house with your friends, you’ve been buzzing to live with the people you actually want to be with all year, but will this separate you from your new first year friends? Halls were pretty fun last year, right? Maybe you’ll get a decent flat? But what if you don't? Risky.

BIG money for a fresher’s wristband
You went to fresher’s last year and you swore all year that every event you went to after was better and a lot cheaper. But you can’t miss out on bonding nights with your new fresher friends, can you?

Is £70 worth it?

Last year's friends or other freshers?
You know you’ll have a blast if you go out with your mates from last year who have your back no matter what; your favourite club, followed by hitting that greasy food shop, before piling in the back of an uber, ready to chat until you all fall asleep on someone’s sofa. You know it will be a good night no matter what. But there's a major risk of getting FOMO and the worry your flat will bond, questioning if you even live with them still or you’ve officially moved in with your old friends.

Sounding like a broken record
Not wanting to be associated with the ‘silly fresh’, you feel like you have to make sure to let everyone know that you’ve been here before. "Yes, I am basically a first year. But it's my second year here, I'm not actually a ‘fresher’, am I?"

Comparing everything to last year
You want to let the fresher’s figure it out for themselves but on the other hand you can't live through making all those mistakes again. You’re in the same clubs, the same events and going through the same experiences but with different people, it’s just wrong!

Balancing your “other friends”
You spent 24/7 with them last year, they make you laugh no matter what and you consider them family and all you want to do is catch up about summer. But also you’ve got to remember you have to live with your new flat so some effort is required. The constant worry your flat are bonding when you're away vs the horror that your old friends will start to do stuff without you is always playing on your mind. Finding that tricky balance is key.

Leading a double life

Nothing but getting drunk and sleeping
Yeah you have the odd welcome lectures, but you’ve already been here. Do you really need to show up that morning to learn how long a lecture is when you’ve already sat through those Friday 9am’s for a year?

Knowing your way around campus
"Come on kiddies, follow me, I know the way." You won't be leaving your bed a minute earlier than is absolutely necessary because you know the way and exactly how long it will take to get there.

The excuse of the fresher

So you slept in. Yes, you might be 15 minutes late to your first lecture but you’ve got the perfect excuse – you’re a fresher you "got lost"!

Always getting that perfect pic of Old Joe

40% to pass
Rubbing it in your second year friends faces; you can continue to go out just as much as last year because who cares about getting good grades this year? 40% to pass right?

Making the most of all the uni has to offer
Last year you were too hungover to go to the sports fair and missed out. You saw all your friends having the best time at sports night and were hideously jealous. But this year you know what to do, find yourself a new sport for beginners, who cares if you’ve never done it before, you’re a fresher, you can be naïve.

The best night out
You’ve lived through it before, suffered getting ripped off on bar crawls and countless nights in the awful big clubs. When you finally got talked into going somewhere else, you never looked back since. I don’t want to spend every night of the week in Pryzm.

So much better

Knowing a ticket seller
“Oh yeah, I know a seller, drop me a message if you want paper tickets”. Your whole block questions how you know so many sellers and if they’re legit. But you’re ahead of the game, they’re buying full price tickets on the door and you’ve got early bird to all the best upcoming events this semester. Suck on that.

Save those paper tickets as a souvenir

New friends
Walking round campus, its guaranteed you're going to see someone you know. And on a night out you’ll have to say hey to every second person you see. But it’s worth it. Your new friends are jealous of how many friends you have, your second year friends think you're popular AF. It’s a win win really

So, maybe there's the whole balancing old and new friends thing, but trust me, it's doable. Who can complain really? You’ll have double the friends, another year of going out most days of the week and getting to take advantage of everything uni has to offer again. What’s not to love. If you have a bad year, why not do it again? It’s fun. Trust me!