In coming-of-age movies and on social media, freshers week is often celebrated as a wild week packed with partying drinking and hangovers.
While going clubbing or to the pub is certainly an easy way to meet people at uni, there are a number of fun sober activities you can fill your freshers week with if you don’t fancy drinking.
These activities are a unique way to not only meet new people, but to properly get to know them beyond drunk chatter.
Through accommodation and course group chats on Facebook and WhatsApp I connected with a few people before starting uni, who I then arranged to meet up with during freshers and I’m still friends with many of them today.
1. Check out the Freshers fair or society fair
This classic freshers week activity is an amazing way to discover opportunities and societies you can participate in at university, as well as to meet new people and to pick up a bunch of free tote bags pens T-shirt’s and sweets. Most universities will host their freshers and society fair on campus. Invite your flatmates, block mates or course-mates along with you to learn more about their interests and explore what your campus has to offer. Sometimes you can even get a £1 Dominoes pizza at the freshers fair.
2. Board game cafe
Whether you choose to play Scrabble or Kerplunk, visiting a board game cafe is a fun way to pass a few hours and spark conversation with a new group of people.
3. Picnic
During the pandemic, meeting in a park for a picnic became a staple way of socialising. When the weather’s on your side, grabbing some snacks from Aldi is an ideal way to hang out with friends during freshers without spending much.
4. Pottery cafe
If your city has a cafe where you can sculpt or paint pottery visiting this is a perfect way to spend an afternoon during freshers week and create some artwork for your new bedroom.
5. Shopping trip
If you’ve moved to a big city from a small town the array of shops on your doorstep will likely catch your attention. Head out for a shopping trip during freshers to grab some decorations for your room or new outfits.
6. Roller disco
If you don’t want to go clubbing during freshers, busting some moves at a roller disco is a funky alternative.
7. Society taster sessions
From windsurfing to pole dance to battle re-enactment there are an array of sports and societies at university that you likely won’t have heard of or tried before. During freshers week many societies will put on taster sessions where you can try them out for free. These tasters are an amazing way to find a new hobby and meet likeminded people.