So it’s that time of year again and as a fully-fledged Leeds students we have been brought in to help you little freshlets settle in to lovelyLeedsland, as patronising as we may sound while doing it. Prepare yourselves for some of the most random, ridiculous and bewildering moments of your time at Leeds. Mostly because you have been thrust into a large building full of people you don’t know who may be some of the weirdest of the weird and some of the greatest of the great. Not a recipe for disaster as such, but certainly makes an interesting social experiment (see Geordie Shore/Big Brother – with no cameras, thankfully).

The first nights out are some of the best but also some of the most surreal and disorientating because, most likely, you have no idea where the blaady hell anything is. Having halls on campus meant that I spent most of the first week dragging my drunken feet (and those of others) to and from the Student Union. When in doubt the Union is a haven for the young blood of Uni – but don’t get too stuck there, Terrace is a great night out if you want a ‘does what is says on the tin’ kind of a time, but there is an awful lot of broken glass on that floor and quite a lot of sick in the toilets. Clubs in Leeds are in abundance and don’t all play Rihanna remixed by ‘DJDancefloorhitz2k12’. Hifi in town has prime location right next to McDonalds for when you’re hunkering for 24 chicken nuggets at 4am, and you will be after a solid 4 hours dancing to motown, funk and soul. During my last trip there I was told by my flatmate that I was pulling some not so funky moves, which is why I struggle to pull men instead.

Mint and Mint Warehouse offer some amazing house nights for those of you who love a head bopping techno two step shubz, and that ceiling will be a lovely novelty for some of your first nights out. For the Freshers Carnage I would say to anyone DO IT but one Carnage experience is probably enough to last you a lifetime. I returned at 11pm having been put in a cab with my shirt ripped in half and tied up to try and maintain what was left of my flailing dignity, so concluded that perhaps it wasn’t the night for me. D-Fusion, a Chinese restaurant by day but club by night has definitely been a highlight – watch out for the night ‘Moschino Hoe/Versace Hottie’, it’s a banger.

All I recommend is – explore – you will not regret it, and find a way to remember your address so that you don’t end up in an amber taxi heading out to Otley – it all gets a bit ‘wolf creek’ once you get out there.