20 Mistakes Every University of Durham Freshman Makes

You’re away from home for the first time and finally free from the watchful eye of mummy and daddy, what could possibly go wrong? Freshers is all about making mistakes and quite frankly, if you don’t end up doing any of these things, you’ve done first year wrong. Here are 20 mistakes EVERY University of Durham Freshman Makes!

1. Eating too many potatoes.

Now this is definitely a Durham thing and it’s down to the catering in college. You’ll find there are so many types of potatoes you didn’t even know existed. You’ll pile as many as you can onto your plate and probably go back for a second bowl of curly fries which always seems like a good idea at the time. It’s not. You’ve heard of the “Freshmen 15” but at Durham if you only put on 15 lbs, you’ve done well.

2. Getting with someone on your corridor.

It’s a classic. You’ve been warned so many times but you’ll probably still do it anyway. “Don’t sh*t where you eat” is a phrase you’ll hear over and over- it’s gross for a reason. Avoid the good looking guy/girl down the hall like the plague as though it seems convenient at the time, what’s not convenient is seeing them at dinner every day when it turns sour.

3. Packing things you don’t need.

Most colleges in Durham are fully catered for and the pantries are so tiny you couldn’t even cook if you wanted to. Yet there will always be one person who brings their whole kitchen from home with them- bowls, plates, a potato masher, you name it. Girls will often bring their whole wardrobe with them (guilty as charged)- pink hot pants you wore at V festival? Why not? People tend to forget that moving away from home is not the same as moving to a different planet and if you run out of things you can always go to the shops.

4. Trying to get into every single club photo.

It’s really quite annoying and it doesn’t make you cool. Though sometimes you might get a good Instagram out of it, 9/10 you’ll be tagged in a picture that makes you contemplate you’re entire existence and think “Do I really look like that?!”

5. Worrying about those College/Subject Facebook group chats.

You’ll get added by someone you don’t know into a huge group chat and it seems like a good idea at the time- it breaks the ice and you might make some friends. You’ll soon come to realise that there are way too many people in the group, the majority of them won’t say a thing and the people that do are really irritating. No one actually makes friends this way, so save yourself the stress and put it on mute already or just leave.

6. Thinking you’re still going to be the smartest student.

There are a lot of clever people at Durham and even if you got the best A levels at your sixth form there is certainly someone who did better and they probably play sport too. That being said, you still deserve your place so don’t let the people who actually speak up in Seminars knock your confidence, they didn’t get into Oxbridge either.

7. Feeling like you have to go out every night.

By all means, go ahead, it’s first year, but don’t feel obligated. Looking back, a seven day bender during summative season was not very sensible. People sometimes feel like they have to go out every night because that’s the uni lifestyle, but that’s just not true. There are also many other ways to spend your evenings in Durham- The Bede Film Soc, DST and the Union to name but a few.

8. Trying to pee in the sink.

One I can’t personally relate to, but after a recent and interesting conversation with my housemates it’s more common than you think. Many college rooms have a basin in them and apparently this is really handy when you can’t be bothered to walk down the corridor to the shared bathroom. This is quite gross though and especially not a great idea when you come in from a night out as you’ll probably wake up to find that your bedroom smells funny.

9. Forgetting everyone’s name.

This is inevitable as you’ll meet so many new people, but the real mistake is forgetting someone’s name and leaving it too long after freshers week to ask them what it is again. When this happens you either bite the bullet or forever call them “mate”.

10. Trying to reinvent yourself.

University is a fresh start for many people and that’s great, but don’t be the person who isn’t true to themselves for the sake of fitting in. No one wants to be Oregon from ‘Fresh Meat’.

11. Spending your overdraft.

Student bank accounts are great for getting you out of a tight spot and I’m forever thankful for the interest free overdraft, however it’s all too easy to abuse it. Just because you have £100 available balance doesn’t mean you should spend that £100 because you actually have -£1900 to your name, oops…

12. Spending your overdraft in Paddy’s.

I get it. The pizza is amazing and sometimes you NEED that garlic bread before you walk back to college. But do you ever really need to spend your money on a takeaway especially when you don’t have any to spend? The answer is probably still yes.

@Durhameme

13. Being unprepared for the fire alarm.

Now this a tricky one as it’s basically unavoidable especially when college purposely chose a time to catch you off guard. If you haven’t had a fire drill yet, it’s coming and it’s coming at 4 in the morning. Unless you really have your life together (can’t relate) and always have appropriate clothing on hand, the chances are, you’ll end up in a random towel/stash/pyjama combo – or worse, in fancy dress from the social you just got in from. P.S. Also don’t be the person who sets off the fire alarm, the sensors really do go off if you burn your toast or spray your deodorant too close to it.

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14. Buying all the books on the reading list.

It’s really really expensive and also unnecessary. You probably won’t read them anyway even if you do buy them. First year doesn’t count – you can get a solid 2:2 without reading a thing, I promise.

15. Going to Klute regularly.

Every now and again going to Klute is acceptable but does anyone really enjoy dancing to ‘The Bare Necessities” in a club that is officially the worst in Europe? Your feet stick to the floor, there isn’t enough space to move and you actually have to pay to get in after 11 pm.

16. Stressing about housing.

It’s always better to wait longer to establish who you want to live with than panic- If however you do end up signing with people you realise you hate, remember you only have to sleep there and you can spend your days with your real friends doing whatever you want. (And if you’re good at pulling, you don’t even have to sleep there, oioi).

17. Working too hard.

It’s a formative year.

18. Not working hard enough.

This is still better than working too hard though, seriously, first year doesn’t count.

19. Losing your keys on a night out and crying to the Porter about it.

We’ve all been there haven’t we? The fact that College has porters who can let you into your room is a great relief until you wake up in the morning still key-less and with the burning memory that you made a huge noise trying to break your way in and cried to John the porter about how you’re so sorry and so thankful. You’ll tell John and yourself that this will never happen but it probably will.

20. Underestimating the Durham Bubble.

In a city that feels populated by students it’s easy to forget there is more to life than Durham University. Though you may get bogged down by the work load and commitments to extra curricular activities remember that it is not the be all and end all. Cut yourself some slack, realise there is a whole world out there and try to call home every now and then.

And that’s a wrap. As you can see you’ll make many mistakes in your first year but don’t worry, everyone is in the same boat and also you’ll makes lots of different mistakes in your second and third year too.