Anna Nichols | Contributing Writer
In some respects, my Freshers’ Week was pretty standard. My first week at Trinity was filled with tales of late night revelry, free food and new friends. It was hard to believe that eating burritos twice a day and lounging on beanbags was going to be my new daily routine. More importantly, it was hard to believe that anyone would pay full price for anything, ever, now that we’d been kitted out with enough cards and discounts to float a battle ship.
All this freedom and frolicking was a far cry from the miserable drudge of revision notes and past papers that had been such an unwelcome feature of my life until as recently as this June. It didn’t matter that our new pals from Engineering had a 25 hour week next Monday, or that I’d already received reading for the first week of lectures BEFORE THE END OF FRESHERS’ WEEK, the sun was shining, glitter and vodka were in plentiful supply, and the future looked bright.
While this all sounds terribly happy and optimistic, I’d also be the first to say that Freshers’ Week was also a mildly terrifying experience. Walking into the Pav for the first time last Friday was akin to jumping off a cliff blindfolded, with only this flimsy piece of newsheet for protection. Commuting from home everyday and knowing no one in my course made making friends (and even finding the nerve to chat to strangers) at times an unnerving and slightly uncomfortable thing to do. There were a number of moments when it felt like everybody was having was fun at Freshers Week, except for the Freshers themselves.
This was only made worse by the fact that the majority of people from Halls stuck together, hadn’t much interest in talking to anyone else and often didn’t come in during the day, leaving the rest of us, that is an increasingly unenthusiastic bunch of kids living at home or in digs around the city, to awkwardly fend for ourselves amidst a sea of society groupies and tourists.
Some things that no-one tells you about Freshers’ Week: the Freshers’ Ball is for Freshers only by name. The number of second and third years on the prowl will greatly surpass the amount of nubile young JFs present. Be prepared for serious creeping, an outrageous queue to get in, and some slight disappointment when you can’t find anyone else in the club who shares your excitement about starting university. The Investors’ Society will tell male recruits that they can help members secure internships and work placements. They will tell potential female members that they’re a “networking society” and that there’s free dinner in the Shelbourne. This says a lot about the members of the aforementioned group. Also, LUAS inspectors will have a hard time believing you’re a child if you’re hungover on public transport at 11am on a Tuesday. The DART guys are far more agreeable when it comes to this.
Finally, another thing no one tells you about Freshers’ Week is that the Arts Block bathroom is never rid of people with bumbags and American accents who don’t actually attend Trinity. Avoid at all costs.
Despite this, I’m glad I made the effort to come in everyday. I’m also glad I was eager enough to attend a number of the events that were on during the week, like the Colours Debate, which rendered UCD speechless and decidedly unhilarious, the LawSoc night out, with its fabulous face paint and homeless man in the smoking area, and the Halls Luas Challenge, where more MiWadi than vodka was sprayed into our eyes (some of those wielding supersoakers had a questionable aim).
The start of this week was no less eventful, with the challenge of lectures, long days and the timing clashes of the 14 societies I’d joined all to be faced. Reading lists were eternal in length, navigating the Law library was near impossible, and a trip to the gym after a 9am lecture proved to be a foolish decision. (Another Freshers’ week tip: Don’t have a look round the gym to see if any of your friends are working out too. Everyone will assume you’re checking them out, even if their sweaty asscrack is an eyesore). All in all, it’s been a good start. Let’s just hope it continues that way.
