Millie Holding, 2nd year Medical Student
FIRST YEAR SURVIVAL GUIDE
SOME HANDY ADVICE FROM MILLIE, OUR PREVIOUS
Millie Holding, 2nd year Medical Student
FIRST YEAR REP.
The prospect of university is certainly a daunting one for anyone. The half-way house between leaving home and entering the real world. The chance for you to stand on your own two feet and really test out this new found independence. Your first few weeks will be filled with meeting new people, plenty of drinking, fun and trying to figure out how the washing machines work. Don’ t worry, you’ ll stop dyeing all your clothes a charming shade of pink after your tenth go.
Along with all that drinking, you’ ll obviously fit some time in for studying. Liverpool has one of the best campuses, and there’ ll be plenty of friendly people to point you in the right direction when you ultimately get lost. Your first week allows you to explore everything that the university and city has to offer, apart from the clubs. You’ ll get to meet your lecturers, find out what your course entails for the next year and meet people that you know you will be friends with for a long time. Or at least you can all figure out how the library works and where to buy the best lunch. My biggest piece of advice I could give to new students is to bring cold and flu medicine. You might not think fresher’ s flu is a real thing, but trust me, it’ ll be the almost death of you. You also never really get over it either, you just have to accept this new lower standard of health.
Depending on your course, your timetable can vary hugely. However, there is always one thing you can count on having. The dreaded 9am lectures. Waking up at 7:30am for school doesn’ t seem all that bad right now, but when you’ ve got a raging hangover, haven’ t eaten a square meal since the last time you saw your mum and your funds are running low, 7:30am feels like 4:30am. Don’ t let me scare you too much, the 9am lectures aren’ t really that bad. As soon as you see your mates sat in the lecture hall, you’ ll realise we’ re all in this together. Plus, there’ ll always be plenty of chances for those mid day naps to keep you going. The nights out help as well, especially seeing as there’ s a student night almost everyday of the week. Raz Mondays are always an experience.
As soon as you’ ve finished that uni work, of course, your weekends can be spent exploring the amazing city of Liverpool. The Beatles and Liverpool One aren’ t the only things going on. I highly recommend a trip down to the Albert Dock, not only is it beautiful, it’ s also home to many museums and galleries, such as the Merseyside Maritime Museum and the International Slavery Museum. The Museum of Liverpool is also located by the waterfront and is the world’ s first museum devoted to the history of the city, and the World Museum by Lime Street is my personal favourite. Free entry as well, so no excuse there. Liverpool is also renowned for its food and drink scene, from sleek dining to indie bistros. For our tight pockets, Bold Street is the place to be to discover great places to eat and drink on a budget. The Liverpool Food and Drink Festival also occurs twice a year in Sefton Park. While we’ re on the topic, Sefton Park is a 235-acre Grade 1 historic park and is another favourite of mine.
So all there’ s left really to say is, welcome to Liverpool! Strap yourself in for the best few years of your life in the best city there is. Oh and stay away from Kensington, you can thank me later.