Jordan Harris, 18, is studying history at the University of Bristol
I arrived at freshers’ week two days later than all of my flatmates, due to a family memorial service. I was very nervous and keen to make a good first impression. In true university student style, our first night out as a complete household revolved heavily around drinking as we all sat at our kitchen table. I was kindly invited to compete in a drinking contest with my flatmate, who stands at a huge 6ft 4in, whereas I am in his shadow at a mere 5ft 8in. Safe to say, this culminated in me bringing up the contents of my stomach in the kitchen sink … of a neighbouring flat. My new flatmates thought this was hilarious and were even able to capture a very unflattering image, which has become our flat’s WhatsApp group photo.
Daniel Romo, 21, is studying strategic communication and entrepreneur-ship at University College London
On the first day of classes, I had no idea where my lecture was being held and I didn’t want to risk looking uncool by holding a campus map, aimlessly wandering and trying to find the right academic building. I ended up walking about half a mile past one of the university quads into an area of off-campus housing. Despite it being about 9 o’clock in the morning, bands of older students were heckling any passing freshmen who were just as lost as I was. Being the stubborn individual I am, I didn’t dare risk to stop and ask for directions. When I finally arrived at my class after nearly 40 minutes of meandering, the professor began a slow handclap as I walked in. That night I went back to my dorm and planned entire routes for all my classes for the rest of my week.
Hannah Beth Woolcott, 22, is studying politics and international relations at the University of Greenwich
My first year was full of laughter. One time I went to a silent disco party with a friend, and she was a bit of a lightweight. So I took her headphones away from her at the end of the night, and she was still dancing in the middle of the dancefloor as if she had them on.
Hannah-Louise Reek, 18, is studying business management at the University of Plymouth
It was early morning, we’re talking 2am, and my fellow business group students and I were all frantically revising for our exams in the library. I was on my eighth solid hour of revision when, suddenly, my friend brought a kettle out of her bag and started making us hot drinks. It really made me laugh. Even the librarians were laughing, although I’m not sure they’d be so lenient if it hadn’t been 2am.
Jon Pyne, 21, is studying marketing at University College London
In my first term I was in a rhetoric class and for an assignment we had to choose a song and analyse the lyrics. We had weeks to prepare so, naturally, I put it off till the morning it was due. I fired off a paper that was questionable at best, and submitted it to my teacher online right before the deadline. I strolled into class thinking I had pulled off being a slacker yet again, when I looked up at the board to see “Presentation order” with everyone’s names listed below. I didn’t know there was a presentation portion to the assignment, so was forced to think one up on the fly. To make matters worse, everyone had picked cool pop, rap and hip-hop songs, while I had chosen an alternative song that no one else had ever heard of. I powered through the presentation and got a good grade, but to this day I cannot listen to that song without cringing a little.
Sujay Shah, 21, is studying business and management at Aston University, Birmingham
The fire alarm went off while I was in the shower. It’s bound to happen to someone at some time. The struggle of rushing out of the shower to grab any piece of clothing I could find before everyone started running out of the building was crazy!
