By Ellie Conran, July 2025
I’m Ellie, a third year/ recent graduate in psychology and I moved to Lancaster from Kent to start my fresher’s week on the 1st of October 2022. The last three years have been full of lots of hard work, trying new things, and developing into the person I am today. As I reflect on my time at Lancaster University (and try to cling onto my last few weeks of student life), here are some things I wish I knew when I became a fresher.
Put yourself out there and try new things! It’s the best way to make new friends outside of your flat. I tried the hiking and baking societies for a short-while after the January re-freshers fair, but before that I was hesitant to join any societies because I’m not a very sporty person and thought that the societies were mainly sports groups (which isn’t the case).
Top Tip: In the first couple of weeks most societies run free taster sessions - which are great to try as a low commitment way of meeting new people and trying something new.
Eat more vegetables and learn it’s okay to say no to going out!
My first term at Lancaster ended with a long course of antibiotics and three weeks in bed. Safe to say trying to extend the freshers’ week party lifestyle throughout the rest of the term did not end well for me!
Moving 300 miles from home meant that from October until Christmas I didn’t visit home at all. It took me a while to settle into my new, independent life, but looking back I would have prioritised my health much sooner! From January, I was planning my weekly meals, and ensuring my cooking included my five-a-day. I actually realised how much I love cooking!
Top Tip: Those first quiet evenings can feel a bit lonely if you don’t have much to do (especially throughout winter) and cooking can often be a great way to socialise through coordinating meals with your flatmates.
You start your first week at university and they’ve given you the instructions for your first assignment, but it’s not due for five weeks- yay! Until four and a half weeks later when you’re starting an essay three days before the deadline, it suddenly feels like you’ve got way too much work, and the only way to get this handed in on time is to pull an all-nighter in the library! So, if you get into healthy work habits early on, you won’t have to learn how to manage your workload when you are most stressed!
Top Tip: Start early, make a checklist of all the small tasks that a large piece of coursework might require, and each week aim to make a little progress towards those smaller tasks. Thank me later.
During my first term I genuinely had the largest amount of student finance I would get, alongside some money for uni-spending/ freshers’ events that I had saved from working during the summer- yet I spent it the fastest and had to survive the last two weeks of term scraping together for food!
Top Tip: Work out your weekly budget per term/ month from the money you have available and set up a weekly payment to yourself. Opening a student bank account is great for the welcome bonuses they offer, but then I just used mine to house my monthly budget and would only spend money out of my current account which just contained my weekly budget, making my spending much easier to keep track of.
I wish I had known the benefits of working for the university/ my department sooner! The Employment and Recruitment Services advertise lots of vacancies and have lots of tools available to help with your applications.
I became a Psychology Student Ambassador and Student Content Creator in third year, but I wish I had applied to be an ambassador much sooner! In terms of needing ambassadors for open days etc., many departments are keen to have lots of first-year students, and being an ambassador is great for making connections with staff and meeting new friends on your course.
You can find more tips in student Michael's blog about finding part-time work at Lancaster.
In the blink of an eye my degree is over, and my time in Lancaster has come to an end. There have certainly been ups and downs, but now it’s all over, the last three years seem to have flown by, and I am leaving Lancaster with lifelong friendships and incredibly fond memories.
Feeling nervous about starting university is normal. Take your time to settle in. Don’t feel pressure from others about what you should be doing and how to spend your time. Keep trying new things and putting yourself out there to meet new people. You will soon settle into your new routine, surrounded by new friends, and the worries of today will feel like a distant past.
