The deadline for UCAS applications has just passed which means, sooner rather than later, there will be a swarm of fresh-faced first-years moving into uni halls across the nation. Uni is a massive change for everyone, from the workload to laundry, so to ease that shock to the system just a little bit, I’ve put together a few things you may not have been told about but should be aware of when it comes to uni life.
1 .Laundry
Now odds are you’re aware you’ll be doing your own laundry from now on – and if not consider this your informal warning – but trust me, from one first year to another, you’re going to want to know EXACTLY what to do before you start throwing your clothes into the washing machine and expecting magical results.
So as an Edge Hill student with McComb you have three options: Prima laundry, conveniently located in the town centre, Circuit laundry, located on the Edge Hill campus (just next to the subway) and if you’re one of the residents at The Elms, your accommodation blocks come with its own laundry room.
You’ll want to make sure you download the apps for Circuit and Prima before you go, and if you’ve chosen Circuit, make sure to load it up with enough credit to use the machine. For Prima, you’ll want your bank card on standby – which is arguably more hassle, but if you want my personal recommendation, I’d suggest going with Prima in the town centre – it’s closer, and more times than not is virtually empty. So, onto detergent, In my experience, using all in one laundry pods is the easiest, just throw it in the back and you’re set to go. Laundry gets old, – very old, very fast – but it’s a necessary evil and one that tends to get overlooked.
2. Introduction are awkward
There’s no easy way to explain it. Introductions are awkward and there’s no way around it. You’re moving to a new place, with a group of entirely new people, but even the greatest friendships had to start with an awkward introduction. A couple of drinks or even a card game can be a great way to ease the tension (If you’re really daring I recommend cards against humanity) – that being said, the best thing you can do is to just do it. It’s scary, but I promise in the long run you won’t regret it. There’s nothing better than living in a flat full of people you get on with. If you take anything away from this it’s don’t hide in your room, leave the door open, walk into the kitchen, pop a message into the group chat. Nobody’s as scary as you think they are.
3. Uni lecturers aren’t scary
If you’ve ever had a secondary school teacher give you that lecture (pun not intended) about how uni lecturers take absolutely no slack and will scream at you for the drop of the hat, a half-complete bit of homework, being late – whatever it might be, forget it. Uni lecturers are there for a good time, not a stressful one. In most people’s experience, not doing a bit of work is not the end of the world and on most courses, some work is just there to do if you have the time, and if you don’t 9/10 times it’s not going anywhere. It’s easy to fall into the secondary school mindset of every bit of homework has to be in by the deadline or else you get detention. There are no detentions at uni surprisingly enough!
If you have a question, again, 9/10 times an email will solve it in no time. Uni lecturers, for the most part, are all pretty cool (I promise my lecturers have not forced me to say that.)
So, to sum everything up, uni is a massive change, but it doesn’t have to be as stressful as you might think. If you get stuck on something, ask. Maybe that will be your cute little way to make a friend, maybe (most definitely) the other person is just as lost as you are. Uni isn’t a road best travelled alone, even if you have to suffer through card games to get there.
