First year: a year of finding your feet, adapting to a new environment and creating everlasting memories. As a first year myself, I think it is fair to say that this past year has been extremely chaotic: amidst several lockdowns, online classes and evidently missing out on the true first year experience in halls, it has been one hell of a journey. Regardless, I have learnt A LOT of things along the way. So, here we have it: your first-year survival guide.
O week can be overwhelming, and that’s okay: I moved into halls after coming straight out of MIQ: no human interaction to interacting with over 1000 people in a week really tested my social anxiety. I said hi to everyone, moved in alone, knew no one and I had never even visited Auckland before, so I truly jumped into the deep end. Although I made so many incredible friends and connections through O week, I was EXHAUSTED by the end of it. Don’t feel you have to go to every party, social gathering or even eat with people if you are mentally exhausted — you aren’t the only one.
Walk around the campus and get your bearings before your first day: This was hands down the best thing I did. In the fear I would be the one kid who would walk into my tutorials and lectures late and have everyone stare at me, my friends and I walked around the campus finding where all our classes were. It made my first week at university so incredibly smooth, and I didn’t feel stressed out trying to find where my classes were. 10/10 recommend.
Don’t try to sneak into clubs when you’re underage: I tried this on O week and (almost) got arrested.
Buy your course books with your friends (if you can): I honestly hardly used my course books this past year, but if you need one, I recommend going halves on them with your friend — course books are so insanely expensive for NO good reason. Also, I bought my books before my classes started because I thought it would be a good idea to get ahead; turns out, a lot of courses have the textbooks ONLINE for free, and then I hardly touched my hardcopy….
Budget: Anyone that knows me knows that I have an addiction to spending money (on coffee and clothes mostly) and so the best thing I did was budget. Even though I found it difficult to stick to my budget sometimes (once again, blame my shopping addiction), it was useful to learn how to spend my money efficiently. Also, don’t get Apple pay, its convenience got the better of me.
Therapy is expensive, so learn how to destress in other ways: Once again, because money is tight as a student, find little and cheap things that bring you peace. For me, it was sitting in the Viaduct watching the boats and drinking a cup of coffee while listening to a podcast/music. This was my own therapy and taking time out for yourself is SO important. Especially if you are living in halls/based in the city, things can get very overwhelming, very quickly. In saying that, the university does offer $10 counselling sessions and they are great if you just need to vent or chat to someone!
Bring a rain jacket or umbrella with you everyday: I learnt this one the hard way. What appears to be a beautiful, peaceful sunny morning can (and will) turn into the thunderstorms of hell within 20 minutes. And yes, you will hear the phrase ‘it’s like 4 seasons in a day’ about every hour. In that case — bring protection.
Join a club or 2 — but don’t join 20: The club expo is a really great way to introduce yourself to different clubs and societies the university has to offer but try not to over commit to 20 different clubs. Start small, and you can always join mid-year. I didn’t realise they had a second round of the club expo in the second semester, so there is always time to get involved later.
So there you have it: a brief but crucial survival guide to your first year at university. At the end of the day, first year is what you make it, and it’s important to look after yourself. No matter what happens, through the ups and downs, you will make it out the other side.
