As a 'Fresher' I didn't know what to expect.
I was fresh out of high school; I walked through the doors to Northumbria University with mixed thoughts, uni stories, tales and so on. The week before the big move I was antsy and you can guarantee I watched every YouTube video and every article about student experience- what to bring, what to expect, should you pack this… Truth is I stressed myself too much as most people do before they come to University. After asking several different students and learning from my own experiences I have some hacks that I think will be useful for you;
- Supermarkets like Tesco tend to do really good deals around 9 as it nears closer to closing time, it's great to get all your weekly food shopping done around this time and have a smaller receipt
- If you don't get a NUS card you can download a free app called UNiDAYS which is amazing for offering a wide range of student discounts from high-street stores to supermarkets and technology stores
- Need to scan something important and don't have a scanner? No need to fret there's this nifty app called CamScanner which allows you to take a picture of the document/picture you want to scan and voila! CamScanner quickly processes it and it looks exactly like a scanner!
- If you're like me and you've ran out of drawer space, a nice little hack is actually to roll your clothes and voila you've got more space to feed your shopping habits!
- If you would like an alternative to Microsoft Word, I highly recommend using Google Docs, which I've been using for years now. Google docs is operated through wi-fi, you can access it easily through many devices and each word you type automatically saved if you are connected to the internet
- I find some days I struggle to decide what to make for my tea; Pinterest is a great place where you can find tons of healthy recipes and on a student budget
- Another thing that has been incredibly helpful for me is cooking large quantities of a meal at once and then storing in plastic containers and put them in the freezer or in the fridge. Then if you are tired or busy it saves a lot of time and hassle cooking a nice meal
- If you're staying in student accommodation I really recommend making your room as homey as possible decorate it with, little things like photos or plants, anything from home in your old bedroom it really does help a smoother transition and it is very soothing
- There is this app called Focus Now that allows you to grow a virtual plant depending on how long you set your study session for-so this ultimately doesn't let you use your phone and eliminates most distraction but if you click off then your plant withers away
- If you hate doing the dishes, a few people can attest to this but investing in paper plates prevents a mountain of unwashed plates and it is less time-consuming. Alternatively, use cling-film around plates
- At the Library, avoid trying to print during deadline times because you will likely not be the only one waiting to use the for printers