Your first week at university feels strange for the simple reason that it has been something you've been building up to for almost a year, and when you finally do get there, your not quite sure what to do with yourself. You spent autumn filling in your UCAS forms, winter and spring completing your coursework and exams to actually get into your chosen university, and summer saving up like hell, so your not skint when you get there. The past year of your life has revolved around getting to this certain place, but once your there, no one has told you what exactly it is you should be doing now.
I have just completed my first term at York University studying for a history degree, and feel that I can now look back with some satisfaction at having made something out of it.








 











And of course, everyone is falling all over themselves to give you discount off everything. Believe me you've never had it so cheap.
But the best thing about starting uni is all the new friends you make, particularly your housemates. Living with all your friends, someone who is equal to you, is amazing. No one is charge of you anymore.  There's always someone around for a chat, there's always someone to go out with, and there's always someone who's willing to help you out, be it with money or fixing your computer. It is unlikely that this experience will ever be repeated again in your life. The first term at university may seem daunting during the first week, but its surprising how quickly you settle in. You'll even start to feel guilty when you stop missing your parents. So after you've spent a whole year putting in the effort to get to this 'magical' institution, just enjoy yourself. If you've spent all that time trying to get there, you obviously deserve to have fun there.

Everyone seems so concerned with telling what you shouldn't be doing (don't spend all your loan too fast, don't overdo freshers week, don't eat too much junk food...etc.), that you've got to figure out what you SHOULD be doing for yourself. And this is where the smugness comes in. For the first time in your life, being 18 actually means something, and you can take pride in being responsible and organising yourself. You are treated as an individual adult, not as some by products of your parents. If this still sounds scary because you don't feel like a adult, then the university is there to direct you most of the time, and will try to make your first year as easy as possible.

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