As any fresher is on move in day, to experiencing ‘freshers week’ and finally attending my first lecture, I was excited yet nervous at the same time wondering how well I would settle in and get used to somewhere other than Jersey.
As an overseas student, like many others, I had two choices of travel to get to university, these were; Get the four hour ferry over from Jersey to Poole followed by a three to four hour drive to Brighton or fly over to Gatwick Airport and catch the train down.
Normally, I would have chosen flying as I hate travelling by boat (the seasickness was horrible) but I had gathered some belongings with me from home that needed to be brought over, so ferry and car it was.
The night before I moved in was exciting as I struggled to sleep, knowing that Brighton is now my new home and how much I already loved it. As morning rolled around, I was up and ready before any other of my family members.
We then began the short drive up to Moulsecoomb campus and as soon as we arrived, I practically bounced through the door to collect my key card out of sheer excitement. And this was when I finally felt as if university had begun.
Although the unpacking was a tedious process, I have never realised the number of items you need to live by yourself!
It was surprising and truly a learning experience for myself as I knew that I was responsible for myself now in a new city with many new people to meet and places to explore.
This is what I did during ‘freshers week’, I explored Brighton during the day with people in my course alongside experiencing the nightlife side of Brighton as well. But I have to say that Brighton’s nightlife is very different to Jersey by a mile, and it really shows how different Jersey is to the UK in many aspects- not just the nightlife.
Another aspect of freshers’ week which I enjoyed a lot was the ‘freshers fair’, not just because you get a lot of free items too! But because I was able to see the amount of different societies Brighton has to offer. Any interest you have, there is probably a society for and if not, you can set it up.
Avoiding the Monday blues, as I have Mondays off, I begin to move into my first semester at the University of Brighton. And I am excited to see what this week brings and how different University is in comparison to 6th Form.