Everything you learn about Sheffield Freshers when you work in Endcliffe

Let's face it, living on campus during your first year at uni is both a hilarious and mildly tragic time for pretty much everyone. That’s why as a second year student, working on campus serving messy freshers is one of intrigue, confusion, and to be honest, slight concern. We’ve got the inside scope on what it’s really like to work in Endcliffe Student Village.

You witness the evolution of students gradually realising that they will be painfully broke for the next three years

Naïve, unsuspecting, and excited about their first maintenance loan just having dropped, most students come to uni never having had to handle their own finances before. Students come into The Village Store in Endcliffe during fresher’s week ready to blow what they initially perceive as a large sum of money on tobacco, food, and litre bottles of Smirnoff.

Scanning their concerningly expensive choice of items, you wonder whether you should warn them that by the end of the semester they’ll have -£1,000 in their bank account or whether you should just let them live their best lives.

Fast forward a couple weeks later and the same students who were making £50 transactions on booze come in financially battered from the tragic reality of managing money, desperately trying to save and questioning why bread has gone up by 5p. Lol, welcome to uni life.

Some first-year males are definitely a few years behind on maturity development

It’s a well-known fact that boys mature at a slower rate than girls. In fact, The Telegraph claims that men don’t completely mature until the age of 43. Tragic. This becomes apparent when a first year boy approaches your till with a banana and three condoms whilst his mates snigger in the background. It’s really not funny at all.

Okay, maybe it's just a bit funny

You learn that some first years go to extreme measures to avoid spending money

We’ve all been there – after being hit by accommodation rent and countless heavy nights out, we’re sick of having to spend even more on our groceries when our fridges get empty. However, some first years are more committed to the cause than others. Witnessing a student bringing in their empty ketchup bottle to refill it from the free sauce supply whilst on a shift at The Edge really gets you thinking about the meaning of life.

Approximately 90 per cent of first years live on a pure diet of pasta and oven pizza

After scanning through the 75th Chicago Town pizza and the 52nd Independent Pasta of the day four hours into your shift, you become to feel genuinely concerned for the health of these young students. Are you eating well enough? Have you had any of your five a day? When was the last time you consumed a carrot? There’s a stereotype that uni students lack culinary skills and working on campus proves that for many students, this is no myth.

First years are actually generally the most pleasant type of people to serve

Anyone who’s worked in any kind of job which involves serving a predominantly adult audience will know that middle-aged adults can be a pain to serve. Steven, the 38-year-old business man, goes off on one in Pret at 8am because his favourite muffins aren’t in stock and Karen, the 47-year-old mother of five, bursts into Dorothy Perkins raging that she’s unsatisfied with the customer service and demands to speak to your manager.

However, working with students, you quickly learn that they’re mostly a nice bunch to serve. They’re polite, patient and aren’t likely to kick up a fuss about stuff.

"Sorry, I accidentally mashed your food together so it looks gross."

"Nah it’s alright mate, it all tastes the same anyway."

It’s unclear whether first years are chill because the trauma of uni life has led them past caring or what, but either way, you're a decent bunch.