Predictions for a Fresher’s Easter term

Easter term is fast approaching, the end is nigh and you can almost see the light at the end of the Cantab tunnel: your first year at Cambridge is almost over.

Whether you’re dreading this term for understandable reasons or are remaining blissfully ignorant of the impending stress yet to come, do not fear – Easter term is not as bad as you think it will be* and here’s why. Buckle your seatbelts freshers, here’s what you can expect.

You’ll get stressed

“No shit, Lauren”, I hear you mumble sarcastically, shaking your head with great disgust and outrage. “How dare you remind me that I have exams in a few weeks.” Don’t close this tab just yet (pun not intended) because although I am telling you something that you do already know, it’s important that you know that it is completely normal to feel stressed or overwhelmed or a bit lost in Easter term. All that’s important is that you try to stay as calm as possible and remember that you will get through it. You may feel like everyone around you has their shit together, sticking to a work schedule and colour coding each topic when really they’re drowning in flashcards and stressfully watching film trailers from 2008 as procrastination.

Don’t make the same mistakes I did

You’ll go a bit delirious

Despite your thoughts that this term is just about work, you will still manage to have fun – everyone still goes out in the first few weeks and there are stress-busting events held where you get to pet animals so don’t despair just yet. You also tend to go a bit delirious due to lack of human contact for hours on end, resulting in you finding things funny that aren’t particularly amusing at all and a serious deterioration in your social skills. On top of all this, the temperature will suddenly rockets and Cambridge starts to feel more like Florida, minus the palm trees and overall sense of care-free happiness, so make sure you bring your shorts and T-shirts with you, otherwise you’ll end up like me and have to borrow your friend’s clothes while you do a last minute ASOS delivery.

Never has a town map looked so chic

You’ll explore Cambridge and the best places to work

Speaking of the sun, Cambridge is a great place to explore during Easter term. That being said, you’ll be stuck inside most of the time but if it’s any consolation, you’ll be stuck inside the most beautiful libraries in the UK. If you’re anything like me and you blame your work environment for the fact that you’re not getting any work done and not your incredibly short attention-span and generally laziness, you’ll get around the University’s long list of libraries like some sort of scholarly slut, lusting for a place to work that’s full of natural light, working sockets and an atmosphere that allows you to achieve a zen-like state of concentration.

It’s also worth noting that Easter term is not just exam term. Despite popular belief, there does come a time when you don’t have any work to do which seems unimaginable right now but trust me, Dobby will be a free elf one day and when that day comes, there are things in Cambridge to do. You’ll finally have time to visit the Botanical Gardens or go punting, although you’ll probably be too hungover to do anything and spend your newly-found free time sleeping and watching back to back episodes of Peep Show. Chance would be a fine thing.

Why we felt the need to take this photo in front of a big circle in Sidgewick, I cannot remember.

You’ll eat a lot of food

If you haven’t already become well acquainted with the wide culinary range Deliveroo offers by now, Easter term is the time to do so. You’ll find yourself stocking up on chocolate and snacks on your weekly/daily Sainsbury’s trip and chipping into your overdraft on meals out because the idea of doing any other type of work on top of studying makes you want to cry. If you haven’t struck up a friendship at 2am with the guys at either the Van of Life or Death by the end of term, then you’ve been doing something wrong.

Eat away the pain

You’ll get very drunk and very tired

It’s easy to forget that while this is the term where you’ll be working the hardest, it’s also the term where you’ll play the hardest. That may sound like the slogan of a wine-guzzling middle aged woman but it applies just as much to you: Easter term brings you Caesarian Sunday, garden parties and most importantly, all the balls. Be prepared to feel more tired and hungover in May Week than you’ve been the whole academic year, as the balls start at 6pm and end at 6am. It can feel like you’re heading into a military operation in a dress and heels as you strategise when exactly to take advantage of the free booze as not to get too drunk too earlier, and how to go about eating all the food without getting full. If you thought your stress-free days were behind you at this point, you were obviously wrong.

Looking happy at Jesus May Ball at 6 in the morning

Most importantly, getting to the end of Easter term means that you’ve survived your first year of Cambridge. It’ll feel like a bit of a blur and as if fresher life has passed you by in a flash, but don’t worry – you get to do it all over again twice, whether you like it or not.

*I accept no liability for the validity of this statement