Settling Some Uni Myths…

Happy Friday readers, I hope you’re all keeping well. With the start of uni being right around the corner, I thought it might be good to hash out some of the ancient uni myths that have been continuously told for generations.

First thing’s first, let’s settle one thing – ‘freshers flu’ is a real thing. Before coming to uni, I watched a bunch of YouTube vlogs and videos about different students’ freshers experiences. I kid you not, but in each and every video freshers flu was mentioned. Back then, I was convinced this was some kind of uni culture obsession, and was only something that people said to emphasise and convince themselves and everyone around them that they were actually at university. There are lots of preconceptions surrounding freshers flu and the belief that EVERYONE gets it in their first few weeks of starting university, so although I can concur with the fact freshers flu exists, I will say, though, that not everyone will be subject to this uni phenomenon. Essentially, freshers flu comes about from a lack of sleep, excessively drinking on consecutive days, going out nearly every day, and a series of back-to-back late nights… so if you want to avoid being subject to this myth, then avoid doing the above.

Secondly, following on from freshers flu, it ties in quite well to the drinking culture that is stigmatised around having the proper ‘university experience’. To be frank, I don’t think anyone should go into university with this mindset. People will always have their own ideas of how their uni experience will be, which everyone is entitled to have, but I’m a firm believer in ‘whatever happens, happens for a reason’ and ‘what’s meant to be is meant to be’. I personally don’t like going in with high expectations, or thinking something will be likely to happen, because most of the time, it will end in disappointment. So while it’s perfectly natural to assume that university is full of getting drunk and doing crazy things you’d never imagine yourself doing, it’s importance to have self-awareness of what goes on around you and to surround yourself with good people and avoid peer pressure.

Now, there’s always people that will scream and shout about having that one person in their flat who could never cook or eat a proper decent meal. Although it’s not something I wanted to believe before going to university, and though I never really experienced anyone in my flat like this, it most definitely is true for some students out there. The type of food people eat at university is subjective to each individual’s preference, as is the importance of cooking and eating something healthy and substantial. I’ve always enjoyed cooking, and viewed the concept of eating well and healthily of the upmost importance, however I can appreciate that this isn’t the case for everyone. So all those stories you’ve probably heard about uni students eating the unthinkable… well, it probably is true for some people… grim, I know.

Finally, as I’m sure many of you would have heard before starting university, hygiene and ‘kitchen thieves’ are real problems that many university students struggle with. You may have seen a whole host of TikTok videos shaming one’s uni kitchen, and unfortunately, to many people’s disbelief, this is quite a universal issue. I couldn’t quite believe what I was seeing when I was watching uni videos before starting, but nothing could quite prepare me for the kind of hygiene I was exposed to at university. Let’s just say that the build up of dirty dishes in the sink, mouldy plates of food, overflowing bins, bin juice, and stolen food and cutlery are all a testament to being a student and living in uni hauls with a bunch a strangers to begin with.

Frankly, after having spent two years at university, I’ve come to believe that absolutely anything could happen and that any myth that has been spoken about in the past can be true. You will come across such a variety of individuals at university, that you’ll realise anything can be possible. Although these myths may be somewhat true for some people, it may not be true for everyone. Myths are subjective to one’s time at university. What I will say though, is to not let these ‘uni myths’ define your uni experience, let your uni experience settle all the ‘uni myths’.

Jess x