Autumn days when the grass is jewelled...

September means one thing to me. Back to school. School can be actual school, college, university, whatever. It's a time for a fresh start. A new pencil case (I have my eye on this guy).

I'm coming to the end of my time at uni (sniff). Next September may not be back to school for me (although a Masters is looking more and more likely - I'm not sure I can handle not being in education just yet).

But for now, I count myself lucky to be in Scotland, where the standard 4 year undergraduate degree, rather than 3 years like in the rest of the UK, means I can eek out another year of, lets face it, a frankly ridiculous life of living in the library or the lab, eating more cake than is probably recommended, box sets and the odd bottle of mango Absolut.

I love what I have here. The thought of this time next year makes me feel faintly ill. But when I first came up, I had no idea what to expect. Here's a few thoughts for anyone just about to make the big move away from your home to university.

Packing

There's hundreds of lists of what to take, all going over the same boring bits and pieces. Cutlery, blah, duvet, blah, first aid kit, blah blah blah. Check out one of those boring lists, which are quite useful to be fair, but then come back to this one.

Fairy lights - they brighten even the most boring room, and unlike what you've been told before, they're not just for Christmas. You'll also want posters and photos to help make your room your own, and remember pins! You're almost certain to have a notice board you can pin fun things to.

The kitchen of my house in second year - note the fairy lights!

• Your school tie, and if you still have it, blazer - you will, at some point, go to a school uniform party. Like the headache the morning after a bottle of red, it's inevitable. And like for me, in my freshers week, a really good night to go out if you're not sure about what to wear on a night out. Like it was in school, uniform is an equaliser.

This was my first night out at uni, three years ago!

• A cake tin and a simple recipe book - everyone loves cake. Leave a cake in the kitchen with an "eat me" note on it. Even if you don't hang out much with some people, they'll always think of you positively. And for cake, well, you need a tin and a recipe. Anyone can whip up a good chocolate cake, you don't need to be Mary Berry. A loose bottom, non stick, decent size, tin like this one will see you through the year, although two is even better - sandwich cake anyone? 

• A little set of drawers - my halls room had a lovely big wardrobe, and some great desk drawers, but it didn't really have anywhere to keep underwear unless you shoved them in a box on a shelf in the wardrobe. I picked up some draws just like this and sat them in the bottom of my wardrobe. So much more organised! I also had a little sink in my room, so I got some plastic drawers to keep all of my toiletries and make up and things in. They don't look fantastic, but everyone has them, and it stops the clutter from building up, so easy in a small room!

• Slippers - the floor of the kitchen in your halls will not be clean. I promise you. But you don't want to be stuck in shoes all the time, so get some cute slippers that you can slip on when you venture from your room. Accessorize and M&S have some great choices.

The grey ones in were the ones I had in first year. In hindsight, they aren't that cute. But I never took them off my feet.

• Camera - you'll want to immortalise your fun. I'd recommend a relatively cheap point and shoot, so when you drop it in your pitcher of Sex on the Beach it isn't an enormous issue. But for some people, a more advanced camera is also good to have. I have a point and click for nights out and parties, and an Olympus Pen for taking when we go on days out, when I'm cooking, or when I'm doing field work.

I love my camera! And my woolies.

• A hat, scarf and gloves - okay so I live in the North East of Scotland. So I think I'm biased when I say how important they are to bring. But it gets pretty cold all over the UK. I know it's balmy just now. But in February you'll be thanking me. And there's probably no luxury of hopping in the car to pop to the shops like you're used to at home. You'll be walking everywhere. Which brings me on to my next point -

• Decent shoes - Splurge on a good pair of boots, and at least one good pair of flats. If you get a good pair they'll last you the year and save you money in the long run.

• Your teddy - don't question it, just do it. Everyone has one (or two!) One night you'll realise you're not at home, and you miss your Mum, and teddy will be the best thing you've seen all day. That's okay. Everyone has those nights. Everything seems better again in the morning.

• A mini fridge - I had this one. I don't have any horror stories about people stealing my food, it was just really nice to be able to keep a few essentials in your room. The fridges in our kitchen used to get pretty stuffed too, so it gave a bit more space. Get a kettle too, and keep it on top of your fridge with a tin of biscuits. People will love popping in for a cuppa. 

• Letter writing paper - your parents will love you if you send them a note every now and then, and it's a fun way to keep in touch with friends back home. Facebook is great, but something in the post every now and then will make someone's day. In a similar vein, a stash of birthday cards - then you're never caught out!

Halls

Moving into halls is pretty intense, and when you think about it for long enough, just weird. You get put into a corridor, or a flat, with a lot of people you know nothing about, and you have to live with them. You share a kitchen, might share a bathroom, and you have a room with the square footage of a dog kennel for when you want privacy. 

It's also amazing. You make friends really easily, because everyone else has been forced into the same weird situation. Some of the people you meet, you'll be best friends with for five minutes, and you'll hang out for the rest of the year on and off, gradually realise you have nothing in common and then for the next few years you'll be awkwardly avoiding eye contact on the street. Everyone who writes something like this says it, and there's a reason for that. If you don't get on with the people you live with, that's cool. There's societies, there's class, there's loads of places to meet people. But it's likely you'll also make some really good friends in your halls.

Liv was opposite me on my halls corridor, and this was taken a few weeks ago!

I was self catering, and some people cooked together every night, and that could work for you. I couldn't hack it, but I found eating together as a group once a week or so was great. If you do eat together, just make sure that everyone contributes equally to the shopping. 

Freshers Week

Is insane. Even if you're not a big partier, it's so busy, you'll be exhausted by the end of it. There'll be societies fayres, sports fayres, probably a meeting with an advisor. Throw yourself in. Join societies. Go to socials. Try what's on offer, you don't have to go back if you don't like it. Explore the city a bit. Party for at least one night. You just have to. But don't worry if you end up spending a few days with your new friends just sorting out rooms and getting to know each other too. Just don't let your parents hang around for too long - it'll be hard to say bye, but you'll see them again soon, and you need to bond with people.

Try and be sensible with money, don't spend your last tenner on the cute dress. But fresher's is expensive, there's textbooks, there's more nights out than there will be in any other time at uni, and there's the sudden conflict that you love meat/fish/fresh fruit but that stuff is not cheap! It's likely that by November your bank account probably won't be looking too healthy. That's okay, you can get by on pasta and pesto if you need to, and you get a lot better at money as time goes on.

Jazzing up pasta and pesto with garlic bread

After freshers time will fly by. You'll have lectures, you'll have settled into a society or two, maybe joined a sports team. You'll spend a few days in bed either because of the dreaded freshers flu, or because that last shot of tequila probably wasn't the "best idea everrrrr!!!!" after all. Don't panic if you miss a lecture or two, the notes will probably be online, and nothing is worth throwing up in a lecture theatre. You look shocked but I've seen it happen. Save your dignity, catch up when the hangover has passed. 

It'll be Christmas before you know it, and you'll be home for the holidays. It'll feel weird being at home - "take your keys!" "have you got a coat?" - "I've lived on my own for three months!!" but you'll get used to it again, for the holidays. 

And that's it. You've survived your first term. If you can do that, you can survive the rest. 

If you're reading this and you're just about to head up to uni, I'm unbelievably jealous. You have at least three years of, yes, incredibly hard work that will sometimes have you huddled in a corner crying under a blanket eating cold pizza, but of incredible fun too. Go on. Take a load of photos. Learn stuff. Have a ball. 

If anyone has anything to tell freshers you think is essential, leave it in the comments!