What to Expect From Your First Semester of Freshers Parties

Freya Hugheson 1 October 2019
What to Expect From Your First Semester of Freshers Parties

Freshers Week might be over, but the party is far from dying down.

For those of you in your first year, the semester ahead will be brimming with house parties, flat parties and the occasional gathering in the middle of a field. 

These are parties with an atmosphere you might not have experienced before. Think hype, hijinx and a lot of high ...energy.

The rest of the term is set to be pretty damn exciting. 

From shots to drinking games, pranks, dares and tasks, each party you attend is likely to be unrecognisable from the last. Yet strangely familiar…

First up – birthdays

They’ll be dotted throughout the first three months of your university career. And they can be the best nights of the entire year. 

Some tips to make each one memorable in its own right:

  • raid the pound shop for garish garms to drape around the birthday person, 
  • create never-been-drunk-before cocktails especially for the night, 
  • see if you can make a birthday cake that actually tastes good, 
  • choose a really specific fancy dress theme to embarrass the hell out of the birthday person.

For a lot of people, it’ll be the first time they’ve spent a birthday away from home. So try and get creative with the celebration and make it a special day.

October

As the cold creeps in, parties will start erupting out of the darkness of your freshers neighbourhood. 

People will be underdressed. Entire flats or houses overspilling with party guests. Shrieks of drunken delight piercing the night.

This month starts with Mean Girls Appreciation Day (it’s October 3rd). A day to rewatch the movie while creating a burn book and then learning valuable life lessons when it all goes wrong. 

Quite the respite from the usual night at the club. But this year falls on a Thursday so no wearing pink, you hear?

International Beer and Pizza Day is celebrated on the 9th. It might sound like just another day in the life of a fresher to you. But this time you have a legit reason to carb load, washed down with pint after pint. Lovely.

And, October is home to one of the best parties of the year.

Halloween. Expect fake blood to cover everything the eye can see. Extra points for convincing the arty one in your halls to give you a real scary makeover.

Feeling brave? 

Host your own party. 

But if you do, you’ve gotta pull out all the stops. A trip to the pound shop will get you started but if you can find lighting and a great playlist, you’ll be the most popular person in town.

If you’re not so brave to host, your SU will almost certainly be throw a party.

And if you can come up with a group themed outfit then you are the winners of Halloween.

While we can’t speak on whether it’ll be shocking or thrilling, the afterparties are sure to be killer. 

November

Kicking off with a bang, November starts with Bonfire Night. There are celebrations held across the country, to varying levels of awesome. It all depends on where you are.

Don’t attempt to do your own fireworks, though. Please.

Instead, why not use this occasion to round up your new favourite people and sip mulled wine while you watch the show. It’s a bonding experience to just... be. 

Especially when you’re usually dolling yourselves up for the club. 

That said, the night will be young when the fireworks stop. If you’re heading back to campus, there might be some sparkling night you want to check out. 

And, November plays host to Thanksgiving. Got any American flatmates or coursemates? Make them feel at home on turkey day with a boozy day of food, friends and American football.

December

Before you head home for the end of the semester, take a sec to celebrate the fact you’ve all made it to the end of the term.

And it so happens to marry up date-wise with the biggest celebration on the Western calendar. Convenient.

A new take on it? Well, there probably isn’t one. But the classics are overdone for a reason. 

Christmas jumper parties. Dress as your favourite Christmas decoration. Perhaps even a big Christmas dinner in your halls. 

Whatever it is you decide to do, have some fun with it. There’s a lot to be said about making decorations all together while getting merry on fizz. Or eggnog. Whatever you’re into.

December also plays host to Hanukkah, Kwanzaa and a range of other cultural and religious holidays. This could become a great opportunity to have a big, diverse, cultural celebration to see the term out. 

Freya Hugheson 1 October 2019