New Beginnings | A guide to fresher's week

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Freshers' week is often referred to as the 'best' week you will ever have at university: It is the week where you finally get to move away from home, gain independence, make new friends, join sports and clubs, and, of course, drink copious amounts alcohol without feeling bad about it.

As thousands of young people are just about to embark on their life-altering journey to university, I have put together a little guide to help first-time-freshers make their intro week as stress-free and enjoyable as possible!

1.  Find your flatmates on Facebook It's very daunting knowing that you are going to be living with complete strangers for the first year of your university life. I was so nervous about it that I'd wake up in the middle of the night with a cold sweat, but you've got to remember you are a stranger too, and everyone is feeling the same as you! Most universities have a Fresher's Facebook page, so be sure to join that and find your flatmates. Get talking, find out what you're all interested in, and hopefully that first walk into your new flat won't nearly be as scary as you were expecting.
2.  Find your coursemates on Facebook The second worse thing next to not knowing who you are going to be living with, is not knowing who you're going to have classes with. The first few days can be really nerve-wracking, especially if you don't know anyone on your course. Find your coursemates on Facebook and introduce yourself. Even if it's just a simple "Hello!", at least when it comes to your introductory lectures there will be a friendly face you can sit next to and not feel so worried about looking like the antisocial person you secretly want to be on the first day.
3. Make friends with the flats around you This is one of the things I really regret not doing in first year. Introduce yourselves to the flats around you and maybe invite them around for pre-drinks before going out, making for all-round more fun nights out. My flat was only small, so sometimes there would only be three or four of us out at a time. We could often here next door having flat parties and we would think "why didn't we introduce ourselves properly?!". Even if you don't end up doing anything with the flat opposite, at least you introduced yourself and will have slightly less awkward conversations during early morning fire drills in your slippers and shower cap.
4. Go to the activities and sports' fairs Freshers' week isn't just about drinking your weight in jäger bombs *shock*. The activities fair has hundreds of different clubs and societies you can join, so sign up to anything that looks interesting to you! But only actually take part in the ones you genuinely enjoy because it is surprising how much time they can actually take up. Even if you don't end up joining anything, it is worth just going along for the freebies. Did someone say free pizza? I'd also check out your uni's sports fair even if you aren't really into sports. There is so much more to choose from compared to your old school's clubs, including sports you didn't even know existed. What even is Korfball? Some universities even hold Give it a Go sessions so you can try out different sports before you fully commit to them. 100% recommended. 
5. Do NOT buy the Fresher's Week tickets/wristbands Apart from the fact these are a total waste of money, you don't want to be limiting yourself to the same club every night. Freshers week is a chance to try out the different bars and clubs to find your scene, so you don't want to be stuck in the same grotty club every night. Aside from that, your flatmates might want to do different things. Speak to your flatmates beforehand about what kind of events they want to attend. Are you all wanting to try out the paint party? I'd try and avoid buying any tickets before you get to uni, unless you are all sure that this is the place you want to go and it is guaranteed to sell out. Even if you decide to not go in the end, you can just sell your ticket on, there's probably someone willing to buy it.
6. Try something different You're most likely in a new city, with new surroundings and new friends, so why not try something you've never done before? During freshers' week a lot of universities host one-off activities for you to try. Go to something garish and out of your comfort zone all in the name of being a fresher. You never know, that wine tasting session you went to might just end up being your new favourite society.
7. Organise a film night You don't have to go out every night of freshers. There isn't a written rule that says you must. Besides, sometimes the best nights are those spent with a pizza and a big tub of ice cream, miming the words to your favourite chick flick. Class it as some serious flat bonding time (and to find out that the boys in your flat really do know all the words to 'Let It Go').
8. Don't go out on the last night of freshers Okay, if you don't have lectures until the afternoon on your first day, then go out and party to your hearts content. But if you have an early start on your first day, I recommend you opt for a cosy night in instead. And I'm speaking from experience. After a Uni of Vs Poly bar crawl, I was not in the right frame of mind for a two hour long lecture starting at 8am. The fact I managed to stay awake for both my lectures that day was a real miracle. But that isn't to say I wasn't nodding off and dreaming of my uncomfortable halls bed. It really wasn't worth it.

Finishing School Forever and The Shine School Media Awards

Hello Everyone!

Yet again there has been a prolonged absence from me over the last few months, but when A-Levels call, a student's gotta do what a student's gotta do! However, after many many months of not having much of a life at all and revising up to 10 hours a day, exams are officially over and I'm finished school forever! (Hopefully).

After finishing my last exam on Thursday it was time to celebrate with our school leavers dinner, plenty drinks, and a lovely night with friends; what a way to end 15 long years of school, even though it didn't feel that long at all! Here's just a few of the photo's from the evening/night.

These last two years have been the hardest of my school career to date, but I can rest on the fact that I tried my absolute hardest, and I couldn't have possibly done any more. At times it got a bit too much and I lost my cool, but I've done my bit and now it's time to play the waiting game and enjoy my summer! I've quite a bit happening over this summer, which I can't wait to share with you... starting with a little something from Yesterday!

As some of you will know, I want to go into a career in journalism, and study it at uni. I'd been editor and co-editor of our school newspaper for the last two years, and for the second time we had reached the final of the UK Shine School Media Awards in London at The Stationer's Hall.

Being an editor and contributor for The Alnwickist, with help from the team at The Northumberland Gazette has taught me quite a lot about journalism, but I know University will teach me a lot more.

Back in January when news of Ex-EDL leader Tommy Robinson's visits to schools to speak about tolerance and non-extremism reached the national press, I found some national newspapers (which I will not name for obvious reasons) had taken a quote I had included in one of my articles for the December 2013 issue. Because one online newspaper took my quote, but didn't credit myself or The Alnwickist for it, other newspapers reported 'The ****** spoke to.. etc" and I got to see first hand what national journalism was like, which left me very intrigued.

Moving on from that and back to the point- haha! So yesterday, myself and the rest of the main editorial team made our way from good old North-Northumberland all the way to London- only my third time there! It was a very similar set up to last year, if you would like to read my blog post 'I ventured to London' about that click here.

We arrived at the stationer's hall and took part in a book binding workshop. Lets say us language and writing types aren't the best at logic! It was a lot harder than it sounds!

Then, after a light lunch it was time to take our seats for the awards ceremony to begin.

The awards ceremony was presented by Simon Heffer of the Daily Mail, formerly The Telegraph (I can't remember his full job title, sorry Simon!) and Suzy Cox, deputy editor of Cosmopolitan who has worked on other titles such as Mizz and Smash Hits ,a huge inspiration of mine. Awards were also given out by big names in the journalism and publishing world. Not only this, but Suzy spoke to about her career in journalism which I found so fascinating- especially her story about one member of Busted!

Out of the 200 schools that entered from across the UK, we were one of over 20 schools to be shortlisted for some of the awards up for grabs. We were shortlisted for Best Newspaper Cover, Best Design and Layout, Best Feature Article and Best Newspaper. Out of these four categories we were then recognised as highly commended for Best Cover and Best Newspaper, and although it wasn't an outright win, we were very pleased with ourselves as the competition was tough, dominated by magazines, and we didn't have the budget or the facilities other schools at the final had.

Going up for Best Newspaper. Image credit.

All in all it was still a worthwhile trip and we are very pleased with ourselves as again, it taught us just how competitive the journalism field is. Am I ready for that? I think so.

After the awards ceremony we were left to navigate London and the Underground ourselves, which for me, on a personal level was such an achievement- especially during rush hour! Maybe living in London wouldn't be too bad after all.

Stumbling across Trafalgar Square, again.

I would just like to thank the organisers of The Shine School Media Awards for the chance to  go to London, as without them I would've been sat at home probably watching Netflix! If you want to find out more about Shine, click here.

Cheerio x