Who to befriend for the best year ever!
Freshers’ week is fast approaching, and it will probably be one of the, messiest, scariest, best weeks of your life! By now you’ll likely have read countless articles describing the various and often much maligned characters you’ll encounter. You’re all clued up on the people to avoid, but, what about the flipside of the coin, which freshers are the ultimate in mate material?
Some friendships will make or break your time at university. Ok, we’re maybe being a little dramatic, but it really does pay to choose your friends wisely. Stick only with your own kind and you might miss out on great friendships and great opportunities. Luckily for you we’ve done the hard work. Here’s a list of the five people you need to meet at freshers and why, because let’s face it, we all need friends in life besides our chunder chums!
THE MUM
In every flat-share you’ll usually find the Mum. A caring and considerate individual who’s perhaps a little old before their time. While they may not be the life and soul of the party, they will be a great and loyal friend, the one to dab your homesick tears, or tuck you into bed following a bout of actual sickness. Come morning they’ll be on hand to offer you painkillers, a cup of tea, or just a shoulder to cry on. The Mum’s instinct to nurture is strong, just don’t be that asshole that takes advantage of their good nature and you’ll have a friend for life!
THE PROMOTER
The go-to guy, he’s got ALL the connections! Befriend the Promoter and guarantee yourself access to the best clubs and VIP areas, all without breaking the bank. If you plan on partying hard the Promoter is a friend you can’t afford to be without!
But don’t be fooled, underneath that party boy exterior can usually be found a budding entrepreneur and shrewd business brain. While their job might appear to be one big party, it’s a job they take VERY seriously. It’s a stepping stone towards building their empire and they won’t stop until they reach the top. Spend some time with the Promoter and you’ll learn a lot about drive, ambition and the work/life balance, because trust us, one day these self-starters will be the making the big bucks!
THE ALMOST ROYAL
Every halls-of-residence has one. The posho who looks and sounds exactly like a member of Made in Chelsea, in fact, they’re probably friends with half the cast. While you’ve spent your summer partying with your mates in Malia, they’ve been soaking up the sun on their family yacht in St Tropez.
If the high life of table service, Grey Goose and winter weekends in Verbier sound up your rue then the Posho is the friend for you, not to mention the connections they’ll have come internship and grad jobs applications! But a word of caution, go after the Posho purely for their money and they’ll see straight through you. Only approach the Posho with honest intentions, because behind the bank of Mater and Pater you might just uncover a genuinely cool person, as long as they don’t bang on too much about ‘finding themselves’ on their Gap Yah!
THE CHEF
We probably don’t need to sell you on the benefits of befriending the Chef, unless of course you have a penchant for Pot Noodles and frozen pizza. Like the Mum, the Chef loves to take care of others and they do so with their cooking. While the rest of us struggle to not burn our toast, the Chef has mastered the art of the three-course meal. Befriend the Chef and you can look forward to some comforting tastes of home, plus a properly nourished body stands a better chance of fighting off the effects of freshers. Chicken Soup might be food for the soul, but the Chef’s Sunday Roast is the cure to your ‘kill me now!’ hangover.
THE BIG NAME ON CAMPUS (BNOC)
A magical unicorn amongst university students, the BNOC is that one annoying individual who seems have it all. Scoring firsts on their assignments, goals on the sports field and of course with the opposite sex, everything the BNOC touches seems to turn to gold. You’d love to hate them but as natural leaders nobody including you can resist their charm, and you shouldn’t. The master of the work/life balance the BNOC is probably future CEO material, forever finishing first in life, well beyond the class of their degree. Befriend them, learn from them and you just might too!
