This week will see Trinity once again become a hive of activity; yes it is indeed Freshers’ week. Just under 3000 of you new students will stride proudly through Front Arch, safe in the knowledge that your college life has finally begun. The cobblestones will take a hammering as you eager newcomers rush to join every society. And rightly so; one must keep with tradition and throw 3 euro at any society which so much as catches your eye. Of course you already know about The Phil and The Hist, you’ve read their mail-out magazines so often that you’re thinking of friending their committees on Facebook. Do, they won’t think it’s weird at all.
Freshers’ week is a time to indulge in all things collegiate. You will undoubtedly get horrendously drunk at least once, insult a Philosophy student for not knowing who Jean Paul Sartre is (guilty), and meet loads of new people who you swear you’ll stay in contact with yet will never actually see again. Ever. Turns out they weren’t in Trinity; that was a UCD event you attended. Duh. Yet aside from all these fun, if slightly shameful, activities, this week is a great opportunity for you to really get a feel for the college and what it can offer you. There are nearly 100 societies in Trinity, along with 40 sports clubs, so you are bound to find at least one area in which you can really excel. If you enjoy reading or writing you can join the Literary Soc. Consider yourself a talented actor? Join Players! Want to make your parents really proud? Look no further than the Rifle Club. Yes, it does exist. So watch your back.
Make sure and have a good ramble around the campus. As it’s your first week, impressions will be lasting. Get to know all the trees individually, you never know when they might be gone. Acquaint yourself with the most important parts of the campus: The ramp outside the Arts block, the Top Secret Garden (well uh..not anymore), and of course, The Pav. Yes that shining beacon of hope at the end of the cricket pitch, which funnily enough is used for anything but cricket. Anyway this extensively refurbished luxury student bar is where you will be spending many a night sipping tumblers of Midleton Rare whilst discussing the various existentialist theories behind Beckett’s ‘Waiting for Godot’. Alright I lie. In reality you will be necking a can of Bavaria (or Prazsky. be careful, they alternate so no bringing your own) on the steps outside in the freezing cold, probably watching the Ents officer get waxed for ‘charity’; yes that’s his excuse…
Your first week in Trinity will be one of your most memorable, so imagine how great your first year will be? As you slowly become more familiar with the college you will find a niche. This will be your comfort zone for the next four years so choose carefully. Reputations are made and instilled within these fine walls of Trinity. However, first years are exempt from such harsh judgement, and thankfully so because, trust me, you will inevitably find yourself ensconced in at least one or two socially uncomfortable/inappropriate situations. You’ll know when it happens; it’s like love that way.
Therefore fear not Freshers! This is the one year of your lives when you can say yes to everything. Leave no room for regrets. Go to that 9am lecture hungover, read everything except what’s actually on your course, decide that the Palace is ‘loike totally amazing!’, score that older guy you think is really popular and powerful, only to find out later that, well, he isn’t. There will be the unavoidable ups and downs along the way, yet these will only contribute to the mass of knowledge that you will acquire about yourself and others. Yes it is very cliché, but this year will teach you an awful lot. But enough of that for now, get down to Front Square immediately; it’s time to sell your soul to that society for a can of non-alcoholic Bavaria and a soggy Granola bar. It doesn’t get much better than this.
