HELLO soon-to-be Oxford freshers / pals! Welcome!!
I’m Nell, a second yearFrench and Italian student, and your freshers’ rep. This means that I am organising your freshers’ week, and should be your first port of call for anything and everything once you arrive —I am here to give you all the support and information you may need in order to have a really great time and introduction to Oxford.
First things first – HUGE CONGRATULATIONS for getting in!! You should be ~extremely~ proud of yourself –it is a massive achievement, and you can now look forward to spending the next few years surrounded bybeautiful architecture and a ton of clever and interesting people. Of course, coming to university can be a daunting experience and given the onslaught of emails and information you have likely received,some stuff might have slipped through the cracks. If you have any questions,or just want a cup of tea and a chat (I will bring jammy dodgers / choc fingers if preferred)my no. is 07769288817 and my Facebook name is Nell Norman (add me now – freshers is not the time to play it cool with adding people).Please contact me for anything – I want to know if your wardrobe is broken or you can’t find your ID or if you have no idea what subfusc is.Last year I spent about two hoursin a state of considerable distressdue to my absolute failure to find the sports ground (a short walk through meadows), and the moral of the story is that the whole ordeal might have been avoided with a quick call/message to my freshers’ rep. I am also easily found in Peck 2:6 (on the left as you come from Tom Quad/leave the library).
Freshers’ week looms! You should be very excited, we have a lot of fun stuff lined up –barbeque(s?!),live jazz in the Masters Garden (normally only open in the summer),two separate freshers’ fairs (one for the whole university, one just for Christ Church) and great club nights. The final event is BOP on Saturday night – this is a college party that occurs twice a term, in which all years dress up and party together in the Junior Common Room (JCR) on Tom Quad. It is traditional to try hard with these outfits, and the theme will be released a few days before in order to allow some time to prepare.I would recommend bringing some random dress-up items with you, and if not, the fancy dress shop ‘Celebrations’ on Turl Street and Primark (left before Cornmarket) are good. With regard to general clubbing wear, it is informal– I typically wear a t-shirt, jeans and trainers on a night out– but you WILL need some black tie outfits for family formal (dinner in hall with your college family) and subject formal (the same but with other students of your subject and …tutors)!!! Do not forget these!! If you do, call me!
I also really want to stress that if you don’t want to drink, that is entirelyyourchoice. I have a lot of friends who drink very little or never drink for a whole number of reasons –because they don’t like it, health reasons, religious reasons etc., and therefore if / when / how much you choose to drink is absolutely at your discretion. Simply not feeling like it is a perfectly valid reason for declining a drink. I would personally strongly recommend a sober club night, and anevening at the Oxford board game café ‘Thirsty Meeples’on GloucesterGreen is reliably brilliant. I have organised lots of clubbing nights this freshers’ week to accommodate those of youwho want to go clubbing, butyou should definitely try to make the most of the tons of other fun nights planned!! Clubbing tickets will be batelled, which means that I put the cost of each club night on your battels, a list of outstanding paymentswhich you pay at the end of each term along with other things, etc.
Freshers’ week is very much the time to make an effort with other people in your year and make the most of the activities I have lined up for you; that said, don’t push yourself too hard as Freshers’ flu is real, and starting your first term at Oxford with a raging cold is not ideal. Whilst it is extremely acceptable to be hazy on names for the first 1/(2?) terms, I would strongly recommend making a concerted effort to learn people’s names – it can go a long way. It is also worth making a particular effort with your corridor / staircase. With regard to work / preparation: your college parents should have addressed this briefly in their parent letter. They will give you good advice on how much / what preparation is necessary and what to expect when you get here – if you are unclear on this or want more info, definitely drop them a message, or message me and I’ll put you in touch.
I am so excited to meet all of you!!! You are going to love uni – it is crazy that youcanjust spontaneously put on a play that your friends will act in for free, orplay with really top sports teams in your spare time, all whilst being taught by absolutely top professors. Enjoy your summer –maybe consider reading a book or two – and I’ll see you on the Sunday you arrive! There will be a meeting in the JCR (we’ll direct you) at 3pm where we’ll make all our introductions.
See you soon!! Message me if you have any questions at all – I want to know / help you out.
Love Nell xxx
(To reiterate- Nell Norman on Facebook, 07769288817, )