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by Exeposé
lifestyle Memoirs of a FRESHER
BANANA PANCAKES
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FANCY something slightly more exFreshen Up Your citing than a bowl of cereal that doesn’t take an age to prepare? Then this is the one for you. Banana pancakes Room are super easy and simply delicious. This two-ingredient recipe never fails; it is the
perfect introduction to student cooking. U NIVERSITY bedrooms are notoriously All you need is a banana (ideally near cold and soulless. Spending time at the end of it’s prime) and an egg. the beginning of the year to put your Mix them together with a fork, or potato own stamp on your new room will certainly masher if you have one. If you think the mixgo a long way to settle any feelings of hometure is still a bit runny, then feel free to add sickness. Here are five simple and affordable a tablespoon of plain flour to thicken it up. ways to make your room feel more like a home. Grab a frying pan and drizzle in oil (or a few Firstly, and perhaps most obviously, put sprays of frylight), and scoop the mixup photographs. Being surrounded ture onto the pan in around by pictures of your loved ones, four pancake shapes. memories of holidays Fry the pancakes on and music festivals, or a low-medium heat, just some pictures of and be sure to keep messy Freshers’ nights flipping them until will give your room they turn golden brown. that personal twist. Serve with a drizFreePrints is a great app zle of honey, or as they are. Image: Nikldn, Unsplash which prints images from your Georgia Shepherd, Lifestyle Editor phone quickly and affordably.
CHICKPEA CURRY Hang up fairy lights- would it be a uni room without them? In fact, investI PRACTICALLY lived off this recipe in my first year as it is really easy to make. You’ll need a one jar of tikka masala sauce, one can of lamp will help create a relaxing ambience, perfect for when you’re hungover or needing a break from coursework. drained chickpeas, a handful of spinach, one Get lots of cushions and throws. Soft furred onion, two peppers (red, yellow or orange) nishings will further help to create a cosy and plain or basmati rice. and homey environment; Dunelm and TK Start off by chopping onions and peppers, and Maxx stock great quality pieces at low prices. drain your chickpeas. Then, in a saucepan, add Plants are a fantastic way to bring some coloil, peppers and onions and sauté until the our and, literally, life to your room. Supermarpeppers and onions soften. Following this, add kets usually have a great selection and the chickpeas to the pan and brown slightly. Wilko is always an affordable option. Add the sauce and let it bubble slightly for Finally, storage boxes are an efaround 10 -15 minutes. If it looks like it's drying fective way to store your belongout, cover to keep the moisture in. Whilst this ings and keep your bedroom is happening, wash your rice and boil it for the clutter-free. IKEA have a great stated time on the packet (usually 15-20 minselection of boxes and baskets utes). Rice can sometimes be difficult to get in a range of dethe hang of, especially portion-wise, so this is signs, colours kind of trial and error. If you are having sides, and materials get these prepared whilst the curry and rice is to help keep cooking. Drain your rice, and serve with the your room organcurry. I usually freeze the rest of the portions, ised, yet aesthetiwhich is super handy when you have late days cally pleasing. at uni or simply cannot be bothered to cook. ing a little into lighting like a bedside
Ceri Jackson, Lifestyle Editor Alice Tait
ENTERING as a fresher into my first English seminar, I did not know what to expect and was at first intimidated by my peers who seemed articulate and well-read when I had barely managed to roll out of bed, pant up Forum Hill, feverishly sip a coffee and find the correct room in Amory’s labyrinth of corridors. However, my feelings of impostor syndrome could not have been further from the truth – I quickly realised that everyone else was thinking the same thing. This was especially true during a seminar where I looked down my row and there was line of laptops, all searching for the assigned reading… it happens to the best of us.
Anna Taylor
Image: Anna Taylor
IREMEMBER I was super anxious about meeting my flatmates; it was the first time in around seven years where I would properly be meeting an entirely new group of people. It just so happened that everyone in my flat was moving in the day before me which did not do much to help my anxiety – I was filled with worries: “what if they have already made friends and I’ll just forever be the girl that turned up late?“ Which, in hindsight, was a pretty silly outlook. As a flat we made a group chat as soon as we found out where we were living, and I remember the day I moved in, I received messages saying they were excited to meet me. When I eventually arrived, they all came out of their rooms to say “hey!“ There was no need to feel anxious and turning up late made no difference to my relationships with my flatmates. That evening we all went out (I must say drinking with a group of complete strangers is a tad odd), and the rest is history, as they say. I find it funny to think back on how anxious I was, especially now I am going into my third year of living with people.
Image: Ceri Jackson
Ceri Jackson, Lifestyle Editor
DEVON RAPE CRISIS
REED MEWS WELLBEING CENTRE
Phone: 01392 724381 Email: wellbeing@exeter.ac.uk Website: http://www.exeter.ac.uk/wellbeing/contact/
EXETER SEXUAL HEALTH CLINIC
Phone: 01392 276892 Unit 4 Sidwell Street, Exeter, Devon, EX4 6NN
EXETER NIGHTLINE SERVICE
Email: listening@exeter.nightline.ac.uk
Memoirs of a FRESHER
Exeposé Lifestyle writers give you their best fresher tips
IWAS pretty lucky with my first year flat, we jumped in at the deep end and it was like we had known each other forever. We decided that to mark the end of Freshers’, we would do a group cooking session to round off what had been a pretty crazy week. Following seven days of going out and drinking, staying in for the night to cook and watch movies sounded delightful. What came first was the big debate. Trying to find one recipe, with reasonable cost, that suited eight different sets of taste buds, was a challenge to put it lightly. Luckily, we stumbled upon a student cookbook, which soon became our holy grail for the next year, pricing all recipes at £1 per person. And after a week of spending on club entries and club drinks, a cheap but hearty meal was something we all needed. The decision was made; we would cook the butternut squash and parmesan risotto. Overall, the process of group cooking, the sharing of prep and cleaning up is a very wholesome experience and something I would highly recommend doing throughout your time at uni.
Kamila Bell, Editor
Image: Kamila Bell
ONE of the highlights of Freshers' Week for me was English Society’s bookshop and café tour social. We all met on campus and walked into town as a group, where committee members showed us where to find the best bookshops and cafes. This social was where I met a few of my closest friends from my course and got to properly walk around Exeter for the first time. The tour ended at Boston Tea Party where we got to have a drink and chat to other freshers. BTP later became a favourite coffee shop for me and my friends, and I owe that mostly to English Soc’s Freshers' event! On getting home from the tour, I remember texting my boyfriend from home saying, "everyone’s so nice!” I felt really reassured that I would make lots of friends on my course as there were clearly a lot of like-minded and friendly people at the event. It was the best society event I went to in Freshers' Week, and one of the best English Society events I went to in my first year!
Bridie Adams, Music Editor
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BEING YOU IN FRESHERS
FRESHERS' Week is often made to seem er that will be the most comfortable you. like the most exciting part of starting One thing I realised as I made my debut on Exuniversity; a seven day bender before eter’s campus was that I didn’t know anyone. you hear the word ‘deadline’. The idea of reinMaking friends is essential for general comventing yourself might also cross your mind, fort at university, so you want to find genuwhether it's a complete transformation or ine people, who like you as you are, who you a new and improved version of your school can relate to and who will step up to lookpersona. But you should ask yourself whething after you through the dreaded freshers’
Exeter's Most instagram-able areas
WHETHER you chose Exeter on your sunny, so try early morning or evening strolls. UCAS form because of the studentFurther afield, Devon boasts stunning to-tree ratio or because the South coastline accessible from Exeter, whether West was far enough away from home, Exeter, you are after the surfing hotspot of Bantham, and Devon generally, is a place where getting open water swimming in Exmouth or seaside out-and-about in the fresh air is an easy cure for scenery in Sidmouth. Salcombe is a beautiful hangovers and library boredom. Being a closetown in South Devon with numerous small knit city, Exeter may not have the most thrivcoves to discover, gorgeous walks through the ing nightlife or the greatest shopping scene, countryside and a laid-back atmosphere probut when it comes to getting daily exercise, viding a well-needed break from uni life if you within the city and surrounding area, we are are lucky enough to grab a lift from a friend overwhelmed with coastline and countryside. or join one of the many excursions that socieHere are some of the best places in Devon to ties make duing term time. If you want history check out during your alongside your daily extime at the University ercise, then walking the of Exeter, amidst the coastline from Torcross TP Wednesdays and to Hallsands, small seminar preparation. fishing villages with A welcome lockcharming character and down discovery of stories, can provide an mine, Mincinglake Valeducational side if you ley Park is a stunning so desire. As far as counmeadowland only 30 tryside is concerned, minutes’ walk from the Devon is blessed with city centre. Overlookthe best, including Darting Exeter, it boasts moor National Park. If some of the best views you do not make the you will find near the trip to Dartmoor at University, as well as some stage in your deunmatched peacefulgree (access permitting ness. With many difof course) you are missferent routes round ing out on arguably the the park, it is popular Image: Red Morley county’s greatest asset, with students, dog walkers and people having where walking, climbing, canoeing and swimpicnics, as it is a nice escape from the busyness ming are just some of the ways to stay active. of town. If you are a keen cyclist, walker or runDuring the pandemic, exercise has proven ner, taking the canal route from Exeter Quay to to be an essential part of our daily routines, Double Locks, where you can grab a pint, is a whether this is through home yoga practices, go-to as the scenery is stunning and the tranJoe Wicks or using cans as weights in your front quillity a distraction from essays. As it is a firm room. Why not keep moving in the great outfavourite for daily exercise, avoiding the crowds doors? Devon has enough to inspire you. to maintain social distancing is necessary when Elinor Jones, Online Lifestyle Editor
flu - and that can feel like a mammoth task. One for which being you is vital. It will give you the best chance of finding those people. It’s also important to note that university is filled to the brim with all kinds of people. Not everyone will like you, and you won’t warm to every student you meet, but there is certainly someone for everyone. Similarly, people can change. Remember that you don’t have to be lifelong companions with the first person you sit next to in lectures, or your flatmates for that matter. Finding friends is about matching up with people who are just as individual as you. To express this more concretely, my flat’s group chat was called "weird not rare."
