Freshers’ Week can be daunting for some people and incredibly exciting for others! Here are some suggestions for the most important things you should aim to do before the new university term gets underway.
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During freshers’ week, you have few responsibilities or tasks – make the most of this! Your workload will pile up quickly for all subjects, especially the reading for the LLB law course.
Even if clubbing is not your thing, make sure you make an effort to go out to some of the freshers’ events during the day or attend some of the trial society and sports club sessions.
2. Buy all the books you need
Books, especially those you need for law, are expensive. A lot of universities have a bookshop, which usually supplies the textbooks you need in a package deal at a cheaper price than at other bookshops.
Alternatively, you can buy used versions of the textbooks from Amazon – however, for subjects like law, it is important to check the publication date because these can sometimes be out of date.
It is a good idea to buy these books during freshers’ week for two reasons. Firstly, as they are expensive, it is best to buy them whilst you still have some of your maintenance loan left!
Secondly, the work will start soon after freshers and you don’t want to fall behind straight away because you are waiting for your textbooks to be delivered.
Read What to Expect From Your First Law Lecture
3. Settle in
Most students will have moved away from home to a different city for university. Therefore, it is important to establish a few new things. Firstly, you should work out where your nearest supermarket, pharmacy (and pub!) are.
You should register with a GP or sign-up to your student health centre – this will make your life so much easier should you fall ill during the year and need medication.
You should also make an effort to personalise your room. Although halls of residence generally don’t allow you to paint the walls, you can put up posters, fairy lights, plants etc, to make your room more homely.
At some point during your first term, you will probably begin to have some doubts about being at university, your subject or even yourself as a person – and will begin to miss your home, family and friends. Making your room a nice environment will make this time more bearable.
4. Join societies
Join whichever university societies interest you. From niche ones, such as gin, power-lifting or Harry Potter society to lacrosse, rugby or orchestra, you are bound to find one that interests you.
Most UK universities have at least 100 societies or more! Not only will you meet new people with similar interests to you, but you may later have the opportunity to run for a position of responsibility within your societies, which will aid your future applications.
You should join your subject society too. Law students should definitely join their university law society because they will receive emails and information about potential networking or other opportunities.
5. Create some kind of timetable
Following the rigidity of a school timetable, lots of students may take a while to adapt to having so much free time, especially with studying a humanities or social sciences subject, such as law and having so many different things to do during freshers’ week.
Even having a loose schedule written down containing your weekly lectures, tutorials or seminars alongside a plan of when you might want to complete work for your different modules will help.
University is the point in your life when you take the most responsibility for your own learning – therefore it is imperative that you are proactive and at least start as you mean to go on.
Read 5 Typical Worries About Law School and How to Combat Them
The main thing you should do during freshers week is have fun. Going out and meeting new people is the most valuable way to spend your time.
However, the above are ways in which you can be better prepared to start work and get the most out of your university experience throughout your first year at law school.
Words: Holly Porter
Read more:
- Read What to Expect From Your First Law Lecture
- Read 5 Ways to Boost Your Employability During University
- Read 4 Ways to Get Involved with Debating at Uni
- Read Benefits of the LLB Undergraduate Law Degree
