Freshers Week can be daunting, but fear not! Here are my top five tips to make the most of your Freshers Week in Trinity College Dublin.

Do go to daytime events.

Take part in every part of Freshers Week: From the crazy nights out to the campus tour, Freshers Week can be a lot of fun but it’s also important to make friends and settle into college life. In Trinity there’s a week-long freshers fair with loads of events organised by societies. It can be nerve-wrecking but you should go to events and introduce yourself to other freshers. Remember everyone is new and will all want to make friends. Don’t be embarrassed by in going to the freshers debate, a speed-friending event or ultimate frisbee.

Although you won’t be friends with everyone you could meet your future best friends. Freshers week is a chance to meet new people, find your way around college and test the waters of a new chapter in your life. The events during Freshers Week are the best way to take a leap into college and see what societies you’d like to get involved in.

Sign up to societies.

I met most of my friends through speed-friending events in Freshers Week or through societies throughout the year. In Trinity society culture is huge. There are 121 societies in Trinity from knitting to comedy the scope of student groups is huge. You should try to join some fun societies and some relating to your course of studies. I study French and Arabic so I joined the French Society and the Arabesque society. The French Society have regular coffee and croissants meetups so I could practice my spoken French. I also joined the theatre society Players as they had some pretty cool events. You can find more out about societies in Trinity on the Central Societies Committee website.

Find out where your classes are.

When you enter through Front Arch you might be intimidated by the crowds of students and society stalls but fear not! There is a whole team of students who will be happy to help you find your way around the college. Freshers week is a great opportunity to explore the college without the pressure of getting there before class starts! You should print out a copy of your timetable for classes and try to find the building where they will take place, don’t be afraid to ask for help. You’ll get to know the layout of the college a lot better and you won’t be nervous about finding your way on your first day!

Meet your S2S mentors.

When you come to Trinity your Freshers Week timetable will have a scheduled meeting with your student to student (S2S) mentors. Do take the time to go to this, it’s a great chance to meet people from your course, ask questions and get to know Trinity from a student’s perspective. Your mentors are usually in the same course of you so you can ask questions about modules you’ll be studying as well. I know my S2S mentors helped me a lot when I was confused about our courses exams. The S2S mentors were freshers like you, don’t be afraid to ask them questions!

Look after yourself.

My advice to you is to join in as much as you can in Freshers week. Make new friends, join societies and get involved in student life but also take some time for yourself too. Freshers week can be an overwhelming experience for a lot of people.You could be living without your family, cooking for yourself and adult-ing for the first time. But you’re not alone, every single fresher goes through the same thing and its normal to feel anxious or worried.

Take some time to relax, everyone is in the same boat and are feeling the same way you do. The transition to college life is hard and everyone has their own way to get through the initial uncertainty. You will settle really quickly once the routine of classes start. And remember if you want to talk to someone about settling into college you can always talk to your S2S mentor who will be more than happy to help.

Trinity Freshers Week 2019 takes place 2-6 September 2019.

If you have any questions about Freshers Week in Trinity don’t hesitate to ask me questions on my socials.