The Top Five Reasons to get involved with Societies

If there is anything I regret about my time at Swansea University so far, it is that I haven't joined enough societies.

As much as I like putting that down to my 'extortionate' workload, realistically, it is due to my pure laziness , lack of enthusiasm and lack of motivation that I am not involved in all of the societies that I would like to be. In my first year, I spent at least 6 hours, if not more, wandering around the Fresher's Fair trying to find something I'd enjoy, (whilst bagging all the free pens I could fit in my pockets), and even at the end of it, I wasn't sure I could commit to attending anything weekly as I was just getting to grips with everything that was going on.

In my second year, I was a part of the Fresher's Fair, manning a stall trying to entice people into writing for The Waterfront newspaper as I battled round two of severe Fresher's Flu. Again, I had major hopes of joining lots of societies like cheerleading, netball, Hogwarts appreciation, French and Photography. But as I wandered aimlessly around the fair, (again, grabbing all the free stuff I could get my hands on), I never really got round to it.

Now, I'm halfway through my degree and still, all I have managed to achieve is signing up for the newspaper, drinking my liver into a comatose, successfully scheduling my classes around showings of Jeremy Kyle and doing a bit of work towards my degree. It doesn't really seem to me that I have utilised my time here to the best of my ability.

This thought was particularly renewed in the midst of the Swansea University Students' Union Full Time Officers elections. (Try saying that twice as fast.) Election night is always particularly exciting for me - not because it's probably the biggest event of the year for the paper or because of all the emotional candidates that add up for some fantastic coverage, but because I get to work alongside what I refer to as my 'Waterfront family', to produce some incredible work.

My Waterfront FamilyFrom left to right - Jake, Alan, Craig, Catrin, Fred, Me, Jon, Sam, Melvin, Chris, Lauren, Emma, Ina and Sophie. 

I've been working at the Waterfront now about a year and a half and the people there have literally become my family away from home. There are really no words to describe how wonderful these people are, but they have become my brothers and sisters and, more importantly, my very best friends.  I spend every single day with these people, putting together a paper, finding stories and working hard and yet, at the end of it all, I don't want to kill them. That, my friends, is love.

My point is that I should've joined more societies and met more people like this.

So, all this got me thinking of why exactly students should and do join societies. Whilst I may not have had the true motivation to get off my arse and do it, I think I've nailed it into five points.

1) Smart students have realised that societies don't just mean sport

When I initially started studying at university, I was under the clichéd and very American impression that all societies were going to be very much sport orientated. With my being 'athletically challenged' leading to my inability to understand the offside rule, (no matter how many times the salt shakers are brought out), and my motivation to pass my driving test on the first try, it was the one thing that was making me dread my upcoming time at university.  However, it turns out that there are societies out there to cater to everyone and everything from snitch and bitch societies to Quidditch societies, (I've done my research - these are genuine societies).  For me, this was fantastic news, especially as I was born and bred to be a writer, not a runner.

2) Some students just can't rely on their CVs

CVs can either be the bane of your life or wonderful, magical slips of paper that grant you access to money.  I've had it constantly drummed into me throughout my education that employers are now being increasingly greedy and wanting someone who has more than a good degree. Being a part of a society proves to potential employers that you have had previous experiences of fun that will prepare you for the staff parties throughout the year. This separates you from someone who focuses all their time and energy on their degrees. Sure, it's great to get a first, but I'd rather get a 2.1 and have fun doing it than get a first and be a boring sod for the rest of my life.

3) Knowing that socialising is key

The very last thing you want to do at university is not to socialise and meet new people. Societies give the nervous and shy students to meet other like minded students who they can drink with, chat with, drink with, have coffee mornings with, drink with and generally enjoy themselves with. Plus, you genuinely do make lifelong friends through all this stuff.

4) Wanting to learn new things

Ah all you freshers with your shiny new backpacks, student accounts, notepads, pen and stars in your eyes! You've just passed what you feel have been the hardest exams you'll ever have to sit, you're free of the shackles of sixth form and A levels, you're free from the time old 'you'll live by my rules when you live under my roof' argument, and you finally have your own space. You think you know it all but think, take a step back between finding the best things to pawn when your student loan runs out and consider that you may actually learn something new through joining a society. Since joining the Waterfront, I have learnt so much about the career I'm planning to go into. And not just that, I've learnt so much about myself - what exactly I want to do, where I want to go and who I am as a person. Societies are just one massive learning curve which is why they're so fantastic.

5) ALL THE DISCOUNTS AND FREE THINGS

Some societies, (not all, but some), offer you some worthwhile perks for joining them. Apart from all the new things that you'll be learning, all the friends you'll be making and all the alcohol that you will undoubtedly be drinking in socials, discounts and free things are available. And you know how much students love discounts and free things. Enough said.  

If that's everything covered here, I'm off to start up a 'writers not runners' society - I'm a lover of good alliteration and, well, if there's a way to accept that I'll more likely be writing about the 2016 Olympics than competing in it, then starting a society about it is it. And hey, I have a whole day left of freedom before I dive head first back into my ridiculous 'workload'. I may as well use the remainder of my time wisely and join a few more societies, right?

The new symbol for the writers not runners society! 

All the inspiration you'll need to join or start up your very own society. ----> Top 20 amazingly weird university societies 

Loans, grants, overdrafts and being poor

After a two hour long session in a lecture room next to a guy who reverted to the technique of copying down every word that I wrote rather than using his brain, and a student behind me who was determined to beat out the introduction to Phil Collins hit song 'In the air tonight' on the back of my chair every five seconds, I can't say I'm feeling ecstatic about university life at the moment. However, even at this very moment as I feast on crappy canteen food and dry cheerios  I am still paying to go to these lecture rooms that consist of students slumped on chairs pretending to listen to the lecture while they doodle and throw things at each other, a lecturer nearly crying with the passion of his subject and the occasional question and answer time.

Yep. I'm living the high life.

Anyway, today, after trudging back to the Waterfront office, and deliberating whether to trip up the student in front of me, (it was the one who had kicked my pelvis out of place during our lecture,) I decided that it was finally time to pay off my internet bills for my shiny new house and, of course, for my room in my shiny new house.

It cost me just over a grand.

A GRAND. A whole load of money that big just... POOF! Gone in a flash. I had tears of pain in my eyes as I clicked the button to confirm that, yes, I was actually going to give away all that money and no, I wasn't going to change my mind, just so I don't have to sleep in a cardboard box.

And with that sum of money in mind, I wouldn't object to the box right now.

 

www.funnyjunk.com

Now, I know that I don't have it as bad as some students do. I guess I could say that I'm rather lucky with the fact that my parents decided to have me when they did. A year later, and I'd be facing tuition fees of about £9,000. (We'll ignore the fact that I'm Welsh and that my government is purely awesome for the next few minutes)

Last year, as you may well know, (Hi Stalkers!) I started my education at Swansea University. The school talk about student finance seemed a long time ago then - it was way back in July at the end of year 12 and for some reason, it was scheduled for a Friday afternoon, which had followed a week of 'learning'. I can assure you that I was not prepared to listen to somebody coming in from Glamorgan University to reel off a pre-prepared and over-rehearsed speech about university and, 'more importantly' student finance. As she rambled on, my mind, and most of the minds of those around me, drifted to fresher's fortnight, the parties, the alcohol, the societies, the alcohol, meeting new people and possibly finding a bit of independence, (which I am yet to find.)

I vaguely remember being told to apply for my student loan as soon as I had decided which university I wanted to go to and which course I wanted to do. Unfortunately, I didn't listen to a word and I was stuck at the last minute, panicking, trying to remember which bits to fill out and what to put down. Fortunately, my mother is an accountant, (and a damn good one at that), and filled it out for me in ten minutes flat, while making my dinner - the women is a domestic goddess.

Then, I had to change my current bank account to a student one. On this occasion, my dear mother dragged me out of my room, away from my Friends box set and into the bank on NatWest to partake in what I assumed would be a ten minute job. Actually, I turned out to be there for at least an hour, what with my easily distracted persona marvelling at the bank advisers hair and thick welsh accent and the fact that at least a ton of information was being thrown at me about saving accounts, debit cards, overdrafts, all on top of the actual current account. It makes my head spin to think about it now - I wisely passed on my money issues to my mother.

So now, my purse is brimming with cards for this, and that and everything else, and I feel like a business women. Well, on the outside anyway. On the inside, I'm worried about remembering my bank details and wishing it could be a tad easier, especially for me, being a History student and all. (We're very easily confused.) The only thing I did look forward to was getting a free railcard. The disappointment I felt when discovering that NatWest had scrapped that perk of the deal is symbolised in the phone bill my mother used up telling them how useless they were.

Unlike most fresher's, I didn't budget and I actually survived my first year. Like a true student, my finance outgoings were decided on unplanned impulsivity. Now I'm in my second year and looking at the seriously depleting rates of my bank account, I can't help but worry about how I will survive off chocolate animal biscuits again at my grand old age of 20... nearly...

NatWest provides it's answer to my problem with a piece of plastic, called a 'credit card' and a scam to take all my money known as an 'overdraft.'

Handy isn't it?

The tuition fees of over three grand that I pay each year was a lot for me to take in. I've never even seen a fifty pound note, so you can imagine how it blew my mind that universities wanted to take all this money from me that I didn't have. I can only imagine how the incoming fresher takes the news that they have to pay up to £9,000 a year to not attend the lectures and seminars that they're supposed to, but to spend the year drinking their livers into a state of shock and living off takeaways.

This is where the beauty of the 'student loan' comes in. Taking out a student loan for university is like indentured servitude. You will be paying your way to freedom for the rest of your life. You'll soon be living off cereal, (like me), and craving some protein or meat or... well, anything other than cereal. Basically, if you're going to take out a loan, do so wisely - make sure your parents are loaded or that you take out a subscription to online bingo.

But, it can sort of help you out during the poorest time of your life. I genuinely don't think I'd be alive right now, if it weren't for my student loan. With my inability to get a job, the lack of jobs and rent to pay, food to buy and alcohol to purchase and consume to drown out my money worries, my student loan is absolutely vital to my continued existence. While I wish I didn't have to depend so heavily on the government, (especially because it's English), I have to pass on my heartfelt thanks for keeping me alive for so long.

Perhaps I'm worrying too much. I've managed my finances rather well when I've accumulated money in the past, so coping with the virtual money that is now lingering around should be relatively easy. Learning to budget may or may not come in time but until then, pop tarts and animal biscuits should see me through this semester. And if I'm coping, (ish) I assure you that the rest of the student population will most definitely survive.  

Just don't ask me how - I'll let you know when I figure it out. 

Student loans video <---- Watch this - It'll make your poor, empty student lives way more interesting! 

Welcome to Carnage - Alcohol, dressing up and sexism

Today, as I was informed by my handy iPhone 4s that I hadn't written a blog in near enough to ten days, I let out a sigh of agitation and proceeded to throw it the length of the room (I'M JOKING MOTHER). I am very sorry that I haven't updated in these last ten days or more - I'm sure you've all been going out of your minds with boredom, especially the few who have emailed me in the last week to tell me you've bookmarked my blog in your favourites as a subtle hint - (I'm touched guys, but maybe it's time to turn the computer off now and do something else with your lives). The point is, I'm back, my internet isn't playing up quite as bad anymore, and I've finally finished my work to a mediocre standard, which means I have more time to doss around.

Anyway, today after I picked my phone up off my sofa and sobbed a truly heartfelt apology, I finally took some notice of the flyers that my housemates have decided to stick to the walls. (This is done in the vain hope that we'll entice each other to go to these events throughout the year, which will be dominated by the typical 'Fresher'.) I soaked up all the information like the wonderful student I am, and couldn't believe it when I read that the carnage theme of 'Pimps and Hoes' was actually happening. There was me thinking that my boyfriend had been lying to me!

Slag'n'Drag. Geeks and Sluts. CEOs and Corporate Hoes. Golf pros and tennis hoes. Ah - I see that Fresher's week hasn't diminished after its ending last week- It's returned with a gusto of sexism. How interesting.

The most notorious and debauched student pub crawl takes place tomorrow night. Hundreds of Freshies will be taking to the streets of Swansea to participate - unashamedly stumbling around, kissing on the streets, reeking of vodka shots and behaving as their usual drink and disorderly selves. Female students will more than likely be wearing little other than bras and miniskirts with suspenders as they adhere to the fancy dress code of prostitutes, while male students will be wearing the typical glasses and full on suits that make your eyes water.

All this for ten pounds? Thank God I'm not going!

In all seriousness, it has raised a fair bit of controversy this week in the national news. The sexual objectification that the 'Pimps and Hoes' theme trivialises is something that I am against, which is why I'm not going. I know that we students like a laugh, a kebab at 3am and a good ol' fashioned piss up to proceed it, but even I think this is taking it a tad too far. And frankly, I'm always so far past the line, that it's a dot to me.

Let's look at it this way; a 2010 study conducted by everyone's favourite free-stuff-giving organisation, the NUS, showed that out of a nationwide sample of 2000 female students, 14% had been physically or sexually assaulted, 68% were subjected to sexual harassment and nearly 15% had experience unwanted sexual contact during their time at university. Given that bundle of statistics, maybe it's time for carnage to come up with a new theme.

I think that it's perfectly possible that the intention is light-hearted, and I hear all the people out there shouting that it's only fancy dress and that, (and yes, I've seriously read this argument), you're only young once, but it's scary to consider that a bunch of fresh faced, over enthusiastic and highly intoxicated students are being sent a message based on sexual devaluation. Male students are made to believe that they are powerful, intelligent and talented with titles following successful lines, while female students are led to believe that they are the subjects of their sexual desires. Sorry lads, but I'm far more than a sexual desire - I'm a woman with (semi) intelligent thoughts, (half hearted) feelings and fantastic sandwich making abilities. And I don't feel like being some sort of sexual object. Thanks, but no thanks.

Adam Gray/ SWNS.com

Ladies, let's get this straight. You don't have to participate! Like I said, I'm glad I'm not going. I don't really see the attraction paying ten pounds of wearing a pair of short shorts that I -

1) Don't own

2) Will cost me money I don't have

and 3) will (undoubtedly) proudly put my thunder thighs and cheeks on display for drunken lads to grab at. I don't own any fishnet stockings, corsets or a black hat to round off the whole assemble either, (if I had enough clothes on to call it that) and, I think that, like any other girl, I would have to have a hell of a lot of alcohol in my system to feel good about myself when dressed like a prostitute. I can walk around my room at home on any old day in just my underwear for free. So, I think I'll pass on that event.

What I want to know is what happened to the good, clean and fun carnages that we had last year? All I was expected to do was dress up as a nurse, a cavewoman and a policewoman  In that order. I can admit that some female students took pleasure in sexualising these somewhat innocent forms of dress, but I didn't. I'll be honest - I wore about fifty layers Dad. Scratch that, I wore a full on burka. I promise.

Adam Gray/ SWNS.com

I swear to God that last year, Carnage was promoted as an event where you got to meet people. I didn't meet anyone I particularly liked, if I'm perfectly honest, (bar a lovely hobo named Jonathan), and I can't imagine meeting anyone I'd want to make lifelong friends with after showing them more flesh than my mother has seen of me for years. The nice friends that my family so desperately craves me to find this year will not be found while I am wearing next to nothing.

This theme of 'Pimps and Hoes' has brought so much in to light - newspapers and blogs especially have been ranting about the sexual objectification of women and, as a result, the fad that is 'slut dropping' has been brought to the forefront of our attention.

Slut dropping is literally one of the most disgusting things I think I've ever read about. The idea, my clean minded, innocent friends, is to drive around town with friends in the early hours of the morning in the pursuit of offering a lift home to a woman that they deem as a 'slut' - (this is usually someone who is stumbling, drunk and all of the other things I described the young fresher's to be as of tomorrow night.) After asking her address, they drive as fast and as far as possible in the opposite direction, before forcing the women out of the car and filming her as they drive away. While there has only been one reported event of it, it's disturbing, we can't deny it.

Then again, who gets into a strangers car, drunk or sober?  

Thank God for the women's officer who gave me a brand new free rape alarm this week. Can't say I'm loving the faulty pin on it that made it go off at around 5am this morning, prompting me to think I was actually being raped but, the idea is there and my safety is intact. (IGNORE THE IRONY!)

All I'm trying to say with this blog is that women shouldn't be objectified in an event where the sole purpose is to drink yourself into a stupor that will undoubtedly still be hanging around  a week later. I'm not saying that female students shouldn't go out and enjoy themselves because 1) That would make me a hypocrite and 2) I would lost at least half of my blog readership. Women should be able to go out, get drunk and do whatever the hell they like. YOU ARE FREE WOMEN! But dressed as prostitutes? Well, that's a whole other kettle of fish...

The student coming of age in 10 steps.

As we students at Swansea University near the second week of 'Freshers', I cannot help but look back on my Freshers' week with fond memories that are, although blurred in some places, generally good. Last year, I drank my liver into a state of shock, fell over on some cobbles in shockingly high heels and drank so many shots of sambuca that I succeeded in getting completely hammered in a mere fifteen minutes. Personally, I think that's a world record. 

 I have tried my best this past week to go out whenever possible - I even went out on Thursday after being struck down by Fresher's Flu the very same day - (if you aren't sure what that is, you'll know soon enough.) Recreating the feeling of being a Fresher is pretty much impossible, and while I love going out and getting drunk as much as the next student, it doesn't really have the same glamour to it as when you are a Fresher.

In America, it's called 'Orientation Week', or 'Freshman Week.' Australians call them 'First years', which is straight and simply to the point. New Zealanders call them 'Freshies', which I think I'm going to adopt as my reference to them too. It's much better than my romantically starved friends and I calling them 'Fresh meat'. We are Shakespeare's in the making.

Everywhere you look, 'Freshies' are going to be referred to as something different. Whether they are Freshmen, First years, Freshies or Freshers', there are certain rites of passage, if you will, that remain the same for all first year university students the world over. Things that every student will go through at least once if not in their first year, then the two years following and, if you're anything like the infamous few at Swansea University who have been around since it opened, for the rest of their lives.

1. Freshers Fayre madness

From cheerleading to reading poetry, Skyrim appreciation to football, there are clubs and societies for excited students to join for pretty much anything you could possibly imagine, and a whole load more. This year, a Hogwarts society joined the ranks of Swansea, (much to my delight) and apparently, they've been raking in the freshers'. I mean it when I say that there is a society for everyone. At the fayre, they'll all be after some 'fresh meat'... or refresher meat - putting pens in your pockets, giving you mugs for advertisement, taking your phone numbers and email addresses, begging for you to come to socials and generally bragging that their society is the best thing since sliced bread. This is all done in the vain hope that you'll spend your student loan signing up.

If it's money that they're after, hold out a little bit. I always find that the athletic societies tend to be more at ease with bleeding you dry but, it is worth it to shed all those pounds and get involved in some initiations that will make you cringe in years to come. There's no rush to sign up, but take all the free things that you can! Freshers' fayre is one massive orgy of free things - completely worth going to.

2. All the pub crawls and dressing up like tools.

Pub crawls and dressing up are possibly the most unoriginal ideas that student parents have about the questionable activities that their children are up too whilst living away from home. The reason for all the cliched ideas is that students generally do go on lots and lots of pub crawls and wear lots and lots of fancy dress. For the lolz - naturally. 

Last night, I swear to God that I saw some Freshers' dressed up as Dalmatians. I really want to say that they were celebrating how awesome dogs are or something but, alas, no. It was purely for the lolz - absolute legends already.

Oh and mother, father, Nan and other family relations - look away. NOW.

NOTE: Make sure you have sorted your Facebook security settings so that the photos of your goings on will never ever ever make it back to your parents. For some reason, seeing your child down a shot or five of tequila upsets some parents. Goodness knows why.

Steph and I - I'm the one looking like a complete tool

3. Your details

During Freshers' week and beyond, you will discover that there is a list of sacred facts that students list off to each other. This ensures that you can befriend anyone. Your name, course and hometown usually do the trick, though if you are destined to be more than 'freshers' friends', the conversation may expand to where you are currently living and if you'd like a free drink. They might even ask for your number. Only give your phone number to people you expect to see again after that night. I have learnt this the hard way.

4. Learning that what happens in Freshers' week, stays in Freshers' week

Parents - look away NOW.

Flings and other acts of drunken futility are the stuff of the Freshers' experience. Above getting a degree, moving into a new house and the nights out, there is one thing that most students are looking forward to when they get to university. Everyone hopes that they can meet a nice young lady/man to schmooze in the students' union or local pubs and clubs, of course, with a little alcohol to fuel a testosterone filled system.

All that testosterone in the air fuels the excitement, the dancing, the alcohol and, well, the kissing that usual happens before the name knowing bit. Obviously, people try to do it as discreetly as possible, but all the alcohol often means that everything gets a bit muddled up. Anyways , just try to adopt the tactic of smiling in the face of your embarrassment to your new flatmates and, of course, to the person you kissed. Not that I would know, but apparently, it works.

5. Getting 'carparked' and calling all your friends from home.

You moved into your new 'home' approximately 48 hours ago, and yet, you have the urge to call up all your friends from your previous life and tell them how much you love them, miss them and how much fun you are having being constantly drunk and living off cheese and toast. After you have a drink or ten in you, the urge is impossible to resist.

It'll be the usual spiel - making promises to visit each other, telling them about your new friends, discussing how long ago school seems like and blah blah blah. It doesn't sound particularly interesting, but if you're anything like my friends and I, these conversations can last hours.

Plus, the likelihood is that they've also had a fair few drinks and will be drunkenly screaming the same things back at you, which means double excitement. YAY!

Any Swansea students wanna guess where this is?

6. Drink more alcohol than you have consumed food... in your lifetime.

Once upon a time, when I was in my first year, I decided to mix some alcohol to make a special kind of 'cocktail' which all students will happen upon at one point. This, my friends, is called the 'dirty pint' and is only drunk on your birthday or on a dare.  The rule is to always finish it off with a dash of blackcurrant or cranberry to make it look less menacing.

It tastes vile to be perfectly honest. It destroys your insides completely. It stains your lips and tongue for a good few days. But, it's cheap, it'll get you nice and drunk and well, you only live once right?  

7. Freshers' Flu

Ah Freshers' flu - a name that fills students with fear. Around 90% of students are struck down with the illness in their first week of university, including symptoms of headache, coughing, sore throat, fever and some general discomfort. Unfortunately, there's only so much alcohol abuse that the human body can stand. One week of solid drinking, sleeping and eating kebabs will leave you yearning to be back at home in bed with some soup courtesy of your mum.

It's all about timing really. Time is well and you'll be in full health, all excited and shiny faced for your lectures the next week. And if not... are lectures really that important?

Well... yeah but... you get my drift.

8. Challenge someone more experienced than you to a drinking game

This year, I have noticed that many second years, (like myself), seem horrified at the thought of being seen as a Fresher, which is down to one simple factor - we don't want to participate in drinking games with our already severely damaged livers. Being in your first year means that you discover a whole host of interesting, new and exciting things about yourself. For most, that means finding out that you're an 'expert' in a whole host of drinking games - from blackjack to ring of fire, you are a pro. Well, you are according to yourself anyway.

Courtesy of Student Beans 

Truth is, you aren't. Challenge any masters or third year student to a drinking challenge and well, you'll pretty much get your arse kicked. Losing games is never fun and often, the result is downing a pint of Strongbow or Guinness. So yeah, good luck with that.

9. Stand outside your new halls at 4am after a fire alarm

I lived on campus last year and I am not lying when I say that there were around 3 to 4 fire alarms a month. We only had one legitimate fire in the duration of the year. And even that was just a bit of smoke after someone burned their oven chips. Seriously, who makes oven chips at 5am?

The likelihood of that happening to you is up in the top ten. With drunken students cooking at all hours and student smokers who think that they can get away with having a cigarette hanging out their bedroom window is more often than not the case of the fire alarm going off.

It's a good way to bond with your flatmates though - complaining about how cold it is in your pyjamas, watching drunken students try to get into their room while campus security try to stop them and expressing how pissed off you are at whoever set it off makes for interesting conversation beyond 2am. Honest!

The Guardian have actually made my day with putting this picture online. YAY!

10. Traffic cones and shopping trolleys

It's what most people expect from students these days and with good reason. No word of a lie, I have honestly pushed my boyfriend around the students' union in a shopping trolley before. Which is a feat in itself, given how athletically challenged I am... Personally, I've never accessorised my outfit with a cone, but I have known several people to bring one home with them when finding partner for the evening fails. I suppose it makes a nice change to cwtch up to a plastic cone for comfort. All in all, it's what we're expected to do. Let's not let the masses down...

If that's all, I'm off to find a traffic cone to put on my head. God knows that you need to do something at least once in your lifetime, (especially if it's free),  and hey, lectures don't start until next Monday. I have another 48 hours of freedom before I am plunged back into this thing called 'work'. Urgh. Until then, enjoy the remaining days of Freshers' before I get all serious again with my 'degree'. Who knows - I might just not fail it if I accept that I am no longer a fresher.

Who wants to scrap Freshers' Week?

So, this weekend, I get the opportunity to move into my brand new accommodation, which I am grabbing with both hands. Don't get me wrong, I love being at home, but  I haven't adapted to the introduction of these things called 'rules' since they re entered my life in June.

Frankly, I can't wait to have my own space again, which I can abuse as much as I like.. well, within reason.  I can't wait to come home from a day on campus, fall onto a double bed and throw my clothes around the room, which will be cleaned up when my parents decide to pay an impromptu visit. (My mother is now internally cringing as she reads this - I joke, mother, I joke.) Apart from all the excitement of moving out and renewing my independence, there is one thing on my mind which is on the lips of all students, lecturers and fearful residents in the surrounding area - Fresher's Week.

Our Freshers' Week at Swansea - My flat and I are actually in this picture. :')

Ahh Fresher's Week. Try as you might to cover it up to your parents as socialising, gathering up bundles of independence and getting a head start on your lectures, the first week of university is indisputably defined by alcohol. New students will be moving into halls, getting lost around campus, skipping off to get their student ID cards for the library and generally trying to fit in which is, of course, all done under the shadow of a pint glass. (Well, it is if you're me.)  

But, as the cost of living and student fees rise, (unless, of course, you're Welsh and purely awesome), do university students really need a Fresher's week?

I'm not asking this question myself, which I would have to answer with a resounding YES. It's just that today, as I idly woke up at half past one and turned on my laptop alongside a bowl of coffee and a mug of cornflakes,(I kid you not), I came across an ongoing online debate via the Huffington Post, (don't ask why), entitled 'Does  Fresher's Week do more harm than good?'

Does Freshers week do more harm than good?

Now, I love a good debate, purely because I usually win, what with my persistent habit of not keeping quiet when I'm told to. I also love procrastinating, so reading the arguments wasn't much of a challenge, as I avoided tasks that my mother had entrust me with. They got done eventually, so no harm done.

Studies following the line of questioning above have already been done and show that students, like us, see freshers' week as a significant part of university life. I loved freshers' - it was one gigantic whirlwind of neon paint, alcohol, skeleton costumes, alcohol, silent discos, alcohol, campus parties and... well, alcohol. But it was as terrifying as it was fun. It was the week in which I was bombarded with more questions than I think I had been in my whole 18 years of being alive. Some mundane as "What A-levels did you do?", and some more scary ones like, "How will I feed myself without getting food poisoning?", or "What's the best thing I can pawn when my student loan runs out?"  

My second Freshers' week is starting in ten days and like many other students across the UK, I am thoroughly preparing myself for my second bout of freshers' flu, even though I'm a returning student. I'm saving up money to waste on sambuca shots and allowing my intolerance for alcohol to deteriorate even further by not drinking the stuff excessively. Basically, I can't wait.

From left to right - Me, Becky, Laura, Daisy, Amelia, Sophie, Chloe and Amie.
Freshers Week.  

This certainly wasn't the case this time last year. The thought of throwing myself at complete strangers with the intention of making new friends for life left me weak at the knees. Whenever someone mentioned Freshers' Week, my palms got sweaty and I felt like throwing up. As an incoming fresher, I was pretty crap to be perfectly honest. So I really can't wait to go out and redeem that status by enjoying freshers' week to its fullest.

The fact is that freshers' week is completely different to the rest of university life - it is pretty much the only time that everybody talks to everybody without any social hang ups or pretensions. Those individuals who are painfully shy - the type you are prepared to hit with a hammer to get them talking - blossom under the influence of alcohol which is good, because it means making friends is a hell of a lot easier with everyone so merry and not socially awkward. Something definitely changes when freshers' is over. The athletic types get together to have deep discussions about the pros and cons of protein powder. The middle class, Pippa Middleton alikes have battles about who owns the most horses and surnames. Those venturing in from London set out to find others from London, or keep on being friends with those they previously knew from London. The Welsh students take refuge in discussing nostalgic memories of coal and the sheep back at home. The Scots settle to drink everything is sight and feast on Haggis to feel at home. The Irish find solace in spending their pots of gold on shots and grimacing when someone asks them to say 'potato'. You're differences don't matter, however, when you're all dressed up as Smurfs or Skeletons.  

The presumptions and stigma surrounding freshers' week makes it out to be one gigantic piss up and while that is what most students get up to during their final week of being able to retain sanity before returning to lectures, to be told how unemployable you are and will be for the next three years.  However, that's not always the case. Sure, people end up having a pint... or five, but the reality is that you don't spend every waking second of Freshers' week drunk. You still need time to be hungover enough to throw yourself into a cold shower, watch your Friends boxset and thrust yourself back out into the wilderness of student events in the evenings. There are other events going on in Freshers' week, and while I didn't attend them, (I opted for a Freshers' Flu to last me until December), I hear they're pretty good for the student whose idea of fun doesn't involve lying on the floor in Oceana and asking the room to stop spinning. 

Without a doubt, students shouldn't be pressured into downing a bottle of Tesco Value Vodka, (and I wouldn't recommend it), which is why alternative events are going on every day throughout freshers' week. Ultimately, Fresher' is a vital time for students to settle into new environments, make friends and get to know a whole new city; something lots of incoming students have never experienced.  Let's face it, it's basically a piss up with structure, for the student who wants to be drunk and locked out at 4am, and the student who may not want to be involved with some of the more typical freshers' antics.

I answered the question myself and it turns out the 

72% of us don't think that Freshers' week does more harm than good. For me, whether Freshers' week lasts five days or two weeks, it is a wonderful and exhausting experience, where you are sure to be locked out, so drunk you forget your evening, hungover, have thrown up at least once, fallen over and woken up with mysterious bruises. You will end freshers' with a whole bunch of shiny, new friends, some which will end up taking part in your wedding day, and some you will awkwardly nod at when you see them in Tesco's in the future. When freshers' ends, you will be a tiny bit more independent than you were the week before, (well, you'd have survived your cooking, right?) and all set for the next night out. If having a few too many pints, shots or glasses of cheap wine is what it takes to get you there, is that such a bad thing? Uh.. No.

So give the newbie's a break and let them get themselves so drunk that they're still lying on the campus grounds the next morning, face down in a puddle of Smirnoff ice. Freshers' is one of the best times in your university life and everything is plain sailing from then on, (aside from the degree that has to be done. But no biggie.) Even if you like Justin Beiber, (you may not want to mention that, though), there is something for everyone to do and someone for you to do it with. 

10 reasons to go to university

Just the other day, I ran into someone I used to go to school with. You know the kind of person I'm talking about - the one you haven't seen since your last toy day in Junior School, not because they moved, but because you've spent the rest of your days avoiding them. The one who you always disliked for no damn good reason, and the one who you hoped would just go to college or Zimbabwe already. Anyways, I hadn't seen this person since starting at university, so we had a nice chat, witty repartee and an awkward silence when I was inevitably asked: "So what are you doing with yourself these days?"

Make no mistake that the awed silence I was hoping for did not follow my response that I am studying a BA in History at Swansea University. She looked at me with a look of disbelief, and began ranting about her own life in college. Not one question about university. Absolutely zilch. I should've at least thought she'd ask me about my life as a student or why I decided to study at university but nothing. And so, I've decided to give her an answer, (despite the fact that she didn't want one), on why I'm at university and why most people probably should be too.

So, why should students go to university? Let's start with the off putting facts.

In the beginning, it will probably be awful, I'm not going to lie. It will seem like you have gone back in time to the very first day of school as you cry for your mother, stop caring what you look like when you go outdoors and begin to wear your backpack on both shoulders all over again. You will start believing that dancing in the rain is a legitimate activity and you will find yourself being greeted all over campus, while you wonder who the hell just said hello to you. Exactly like nursery, you will soon realise how necessary snack time is, start crossing the street without looking for cars, realise how important daily naps are and you will never eat any of the healthy food that you are supposed to eat. I suppose that I'm making it sound slightly of chronic, but there is a plus side to all this 'growing up'. (Oh ignore the irony.)

 This may all sound repulsive to the average incoming fresher but, believe me, you will soon forget your classmates names and pine for letters from your parents. The amount of times I have woken at half eight, pulled on a pair of jeans and a hoodie over my pyjama top, is far too many to count. I find that this applies to the fortunate few who live on campus rather than a house several miles away.

Knowing you have finally settled into university life is marked by certain milestones which are usually achieved throughout the first year; You'll find yourself walking at least two miles for a party, wearing dirty socks three times in a row, (and thinking nothing of it),  going to sleep when it's light and waking up when it's dark and looking out the window as a form of entertainment. You will know the pizza boy by name. You'll rather clean than study (isn't that weird??) and suddenly, rearranging your room becomes a new hobby. Having a phone in your bedroom means prank phone calls, you start scheduling your classes around sleep habits and shows and you realise that the weekend lasts from Thursday to Sunday.

After all that, if you're still determined to go, here are the reasons why being a student is just plain awesome.

1. You can make your A-levels a horrible memory

It seems bizarre, but I found that the best way to move on from A-level results days was realising that I was soon venturing into the big bad world of university. When you're at university, nobody actually cares how you did in your exams. You were smart in Secondary School, so what? There are more interesting things to talk about, like who threw up all over that girl they fancy last night after having 10 shots or the winning strategies of the lottery.

2.You'll actually be interested in what you're learning

At school, you have no say in what you get to learn but at university, you do. Studying History, I choose what eras I want to study. You don't even have to stick to the parameters of your course - I'm taking a module in media studies this year. Just for the lols.

3. Cash

When we consider the long term effects of going to university, you can't deny that there are a few benefits. You're much more likely to be living it large one day. The average graduate this year earns a salary that starts at £26,000. That's 4% more than graduates were earning in 2009. Realistically, there's not really been a better time to study a degree.

4. The wonderful benefits you can bring to your country

The UK is, let's be honest, slightly deprived of skills, and is in desperate need of highly educated people. And university, well, it educates people... highly. So, by studying at university, you can tell all your distant relatives who have taken a sudden interest in their soon-to-be graduate relation, that you're working for Britain.  Of course, don't let it slip that working means sleeping all day, dossing around and bringing severe damage to your liver. Which leads nicely to my next point.

Time to doss around! 

5. It's the one chance you get to doss around.

If you're one of THOSE people who thinks that the benefits of leaving education and launching yourself into full time work is better than the student lifestyle, think again. Admittedly, the average wage that young people and students earn isn't all that, (and that's if you can even find a job), but weigh that against our way of life.  It  is a rare moment in my life when anyone in my flat is awake before 9am. The average boss wouldn't allow you to put your feet up at half past nine every morning to watch Jeremy Kyle, never mind the benefits of 1:25pm and 2:15pm viewings, which is a necessity if you, like me, are not awake until past midday.

6. Tell me what else you're going to do?

No, seriously. Without a degree, finding a good and well-paid job is tough. All your student friends will be calling you at 1am from a far, honouring you with drunken texts declaring their love for you and telling you how much fun they're having. You'll still be living at home. You'll still be living with your parents. You'll still have a curfew. And you'll be constantly nagged by family members to apply to university already. You might as well bite the bullet, and get going.

7. Remember, it's never too late.

You don't necessarily have to be fresh out of school to be able to cash in on a student loan and go to university.  I know people on my course at university who are nearing their thirties, (and doing a much better job than me at passing their degrees.) One of my friends took a gap year last year to doss around and travel. It's never ever too late to get educated.

8. Getting to meet people

The first day of moving into your brand new accommodation is one of the most exciting and scary days that you'll ever experience. Sharing accommodation with dozens of teenagers is a once-in-a-lifetime experience. The kitchens will become rat-ridden, the sink will be piled high with moldy plates and cups and there will be arguments about borrowed milk or bread, but, you will make amazing lifelong friends.  You'll learn how to do magical things called cooking, budgeting and being independent. And it's actually fun, especially when you're surrounded by like-minded people to either sympathise with you or to laugh at when things go wrong. 

Plus, you have the most incredible times with these people. I particularly remember having a high speed chase with my friends in our flatmates car during a fire alarm at around four in the morning, where we bought skittles from a petrol station, drove along deserted roads and got followed by a mysterious person in a blue car. It was scary at the time, but we can now look back on it and laugh.

9. You'll have crazy experiences that you can't find anywhere else.

Since being at university, I've joined the student newspaper, History society, photography society, media society, French society... So maybe I haven't been involved with all of them, but that's just because I've been making friends, working and watching Jeremy Kyle. I've made last minute decisions to sign up to societies that I know I wouldn't be able to be a part of in a million years, like Cheerleading or vegetable appreciation groups. I've stayed up chatting until dawn and won an award for writing an article about prostitutes. (Don't ask.) I've stayed in clubs until closing time and even had conversations with hobos at 4am. Student life will offer you opportunities that go way beyond education.

10. There's a very small chance that you'll 'go down in history.'

(Check out this link to prove that! ---> Celebrities that went to college )

By the time that you graduate, it may turn out that your course has inspired you into new found greatness. It's the ultimate reason to go to university: spending three years meeting new people, enjoying yourself and figuring out who you are might push you to work out what it is you want to do with your life.

So, if I were you, I'd go for it. There are another good few reasons not to give it a go but, that's for another discussion. If you're going to university this year, good luck! And if not, well, good luck for when you do decide to go.

I'll think of an appropriate title later...

As autumn approaches, and we find that we are packing away the sun cream we never got to use and giving the umbrella's a more pride of place in the house, (I suggest the mantelpiece), I wonder how I am going to motivate myself for the next semester of university. At the moment, I am watching people finish off the vital DIY work that's been going on, (if you've been living under our roof this summer, that is), getting ready for their new and exciting jobs and preparing their pencil cases, (which will be decimated in five weeks), for the new school term, and  I cannot help but wonder why I am not as motivated as these wonderful individuals. It may be due to the fact that, I am a student who has been on holiday since May 21st. Or, it could be that these people don't exist and that Britain is in the steely grip of procrastination. I'll go with the latter.

I can almost hear the delightful melody of the final countdown in the air as we fast approach September. If any undergraduates out there are anything like me, apart from being slightly barmy, then all 300,000 of us are struggling to remember how it feels to compose a decent essay. We are wondering how our alarm clocks actually work and trying to remember what the outside world looks like before midday.

While I love procrastinating, even I have to admit that it's a bit of a curse. I can't really remember the last time I set foot into the library at my university without staring into space, gazing absentmindedly at the sexy boys cramming for their final exams, logging into my iTunes account or planning my night out with my flatmates. Come to think of it, I don't think I've ever sat down in the library to do some decent work.  I prefer sitting on my bed , with my Friends box set blaring and highlighting notes, while convincing myself that, "Yes Gemma; This IS proper revision. Ish.."

In case it hasn't been made fully clear yet, I am a fully paid member of the hardcore procrastinators crew. I never open my bank statements, which I instead leave lying round the house, hoping my mother will find them. I run in the opposite direction when I see an email marked as urgent. I didn't sort out my student loan until the very last minute, my module choices for next year still aren't sorted, (not completely my fault by the way!) and I cannot write an essay or an article, (although I intend to be a journalist) until the deadline is at my feet, yapping like a lost puppy.

So, I thought, how can I combat my severe procrastination disorder?

Well, recently I read that a professor of the Haskayne School of Business at the University of Calgary, conducted extensive research into the topic and found that 95% of us, (Yes Dad, ALL OF US), procrastinate at some point. Professor Joseph Ferrari of DePaul University Chicago found that 20% of the world's population are chronic procrastinators, complicating their lives and, in the long run, shortening them, with delaying and task avoidance.

So those figures sort of freaked me out. Procrastinators are less wealthy, more likely to have health issues and more unhappy than those who don't avoid their unpleasant chores.  I suppose it's always nice to have a bit of money, always nice to be able to breathe without wheezing and always, of course, nice to feel happy.

Despite all this, I can't help but love the art of procrastination, especially when I get to hear all the little stories people have made up to justify their behaviour, (me included.) I'll scream it until I am blue in the face, but I certainly do not work better under pressure.  I end up more irritable than any girl would be during her period so God forbid you are around me nearing a deadline. I once threw a book at someone and, yes, it may have missed, but that's just because I'm a female with poor aim. I was still pretty stressed out. Let's face it, we love to leave things until the last minute, but our behaviour always leaves others feelings annoyed and inconvenienced, while we feel flustered and sometimes ashamed of our stress heads.

The fact is that no one enjoys seeing the deadline pass us by. The angry university tutor who is handed in an essay late is exactly the same as the boss who's told that the new business plans won't be with him until next Monday. We get angry, we cry, excuses (or rather, blatant lies) are spewed out and people are fired.  The odd balls of our society - (you know the ones - the hyper organised, punctual types), are unable to fathom the addictive quality that procrastination instills.

"I love deadlines - I love the whooshing noise they make as they go by."

Douglas Adams

Procrastination just feels felonious, doesn't it? Especially in a world society where history shows that swift action is commendable and even a moral good sometimes. Leaders who sped into conflicts, such as Margaret Thatcher in the Falklands War or George Bush in Iraq, are often more widely admired than those who are too cautious.

Professor Pier Steel is under the impression that humans are programmed to procrastinate, which makes me feel a hell of a lot better about doing it all the time. However, he suggests two ways of combating procrastination which I've actually tried and well.. I did alright. I got this blog written instead of playing the Sims 3 didn't I?

So the first idea is obvious - breaking the task down into small chunks which are easier to digest and easier to work through methodically, which, I know, never works, so we'll bypass that one. The second is absolutely magic and is probably the only reason this blog is being written right now - give a TRUSTED friend £50, with the ruling that if you do not complete the undertaken task in the time given or whatever, that they must give it away to a political party or cause that you really don't agree with. It'll work wonders, believe you me.  

Additionally, you need to get yourself sorted. I know it's difficult to crawl out of bed in the morning all perky and ready to get organised, but it is do able. For me, I let my very capable and accomplished mother, (HI MAM!) sort through my files that have long been forgotten or check out my bank balance when I'm too scared to do so. It's not advisable, but it's a last resort while you're trying to get over your procrastination disorder.  

I've been dossing around on planet earth for nearly 20 years now, refusing that I am getting closer to adulthood each day and refusing to accept and complete all of the boring responsibilities that come with that. I'm still the over - sleeping, homework - avoiding, procrastinating, last minute working and now in debt student that I was when I first set foot into full time education. I suppose that all the fun in life comes from pushing your stress levels through the roof the night before an exam and giving yourself the adrenaline rush that comes with using your debit card and wondering if it'll get rejected.  But now, I am someone's big sister, with a loan pilling up, bills I have to pay, essays to write and lectures to attend. Turns out that other people's happiness and peace of mind are starting to depend on mine.

So, my lovely readers, to beg the question, "To procrastinate, or not to procrastinate?" my answer is simple; I'd love to say my procrastinating days are finished but I'd be lying.  The fact is that procrastination is too addictive for me to quit. However, using the tips that some very smart cookie type people have provided me with, (in so many words), via the internet, I think my procrastination days are about to become a lot easier to handle, while certain causes become a lot richer at my expense. 

Now, what was I meant to be doing before I started writing this blog...

http://procrastinators-anonymous.org/  - So you suffers can recognise, pull together and prevent the dire consequences of putting off today what could be achieved within at least the next millennium.