C is for Campus:
Finding your way around your university campus isn't always easy at first, and when you've moved away to university you might find yourself getting lost a few times! It's okay though, getting lost happens to almost every new student at University. Students often walk into the wrong lectures or lessons, or even struggle to find where their lectures are being held.
During my first couple of weeks at university, I managed to walk into the wrong lecture. Luckily, it was pitch black and there was a video playing on the projector, so nobody really noticed. But the lecturer stared at me and gave me a "Are you ok?" kind of look. I recall being sat next to a girl and then realising I didn't know anyone in this lecture, so I quickly got up and made a quick escape. In retrospect, I can laugh about this experience, but at the time it was pretty scary!
It isn't even just freshers that can get lost at university, during the third year I accidentally walked past the room my lesson was in and continued to go up 2 floors. I'd already been at the campus for two years, so you'd expect a third year to know the campus inside out? Well, that's not exactly true. At this point, I was already really late for my lesson, probably about 10 or 15 minutes late. I went back down to the first floor and found my classroom... Every chair was full apart from one seat at the front. I was late and had to take the seat at the front, it made me feel really embarrassed! It's like I could feel everyone behind me staring and thinking "What the hell is he doing?", when I look back on this I realise no one probably cared that I was late, and I worried for no reason.
Students going out into town and getting drunk always causes a few issues because drunken students get lost like no tomorrow. It can be really dangerous, especially if you're new to a town or city, or even with people you don't really know. My university actually printed footsteps onto the pavement that pointed in the direction of the university from town to help students coming back home from a night out find their way home. I thought this was a really clever idea because it explained the direction of the uni from town really clearly.
To avoid getting yourself into situations like this, it's good to prepare a little. Don't feel afraid to ask someone at your university for directions, many people are always willing to help out. Another thing I found useful was recognising other students in your year group because guaranteed if you're lost you will probably also see another student in your lecture wandering around looking for the room. You can use this as an opportunity to ask if they're looking for the lecture theatre, and you can even make new friends this way! It's quite an odd way to make new friends, but in some situations, it definitely helped me.
If you're coming back home from town on a night out, it sometimes is best to book a well trusted and licenced taxi or Uber. It will cost a few quid that could've been spent on a drink, but it's always better to know you have a safe way of getting yourself home. Universities will often advertise trusted taxi firms and Uber is slowly becoming available in more and more locations across the UK.
Universities always have maps that you can get for free, often you'll find these on open days. It's just good to have a map on you, that way you can refer to your map if you ever find yourself lost. You could even use this map as a reference when you're asking someone for directions. Despite me going on about being safe and prepared for getting lost while at university, remember to have fun and laugh about the silly things like this. It'll probably happen to everyone at Uni at least once, so remember it's okay to not know where your lecture is!
Thanks for reading,
Will
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