Grace Armatage

Grace Armatage was a Senior Frep for her College, Trevelyan, this year. Senior Freps are very much the unsung heroes of Freshers’ Week. Without them it simply would not occur. Grace did a fantastic job with Trevs’ Freshers’ and I sat down to pick her brains about the experience.

Did you enjoy being Senior Frep?

YES!! This year I had a co-partner Toby Murray; and I couldn’t think of a better person to run the week with!  I’m the brains and he’s the Looks behind the operations, we had our moments throughout the week but I feel that this experience has strengthened our friendship! Sure there were times that I woke up after only 3 hours sleep and thought WHY AM I DOING THIS? But I’m sure all Freps in Durham can relate to this.

What are the skills you need?

It’s essential in my eyes, that you have previous experience of being a Frep. This gives you a strong foundation in which to plan the week. You need to be organised, responsible, authoritative, outspoken, confident, a team player and have great project and time management skills. Oh and you also need the patience of a saint when dealing with mass crowds of drunk people. 

When did you start organising Fresher’s week?

We started organising the week at the beginning of summer; this lasted right through to the beginning of Michaelmas term! It was a long slog; made difficult as my co-partner went  ‘gap yah’ on me and went to Peru for 4 weeks in August. I also learnt that organising over Skype and not face-to-face is extremely difficult; 3 hour Skype chats were a regular occurrence!

What did you organise?

Our week was packed with events to welcome freshers to our college; we had an ‘Apres Ski’ Bop (with a snow machine omg!), Mardi Gras Bar Night, 60’s Swing Night, Academic Parent Formal, Mentor Pub Quiz, Pizza and Film Night (We watched Mean Girls and ate over £350 worth of pizza!) and held an Open Mic Night, which was great as lots of freshers got involved! The week was incredibly fun; for both freshers and freps and I wouldn’t change any of it!

What did you have to do to be elected?

We had to run for election together and give a hust in the bar in front of Trevs students outlining our plans, experience and why students should vote for us. Our election was actually uncontested meaning that no other candidates were up for fulfilling the role,  in hindsight it would have been nice to have a bit of healthy competition!

What do you wish you had known when applying?

Luckily I had previous experience of being a Frep, so knew (kind of) what the week would entail. I did however, underestimate the amount of organisation and admin needed, Microsoft Excel quickly became my best friend. 

What advice would you give to anyone wishing to apply?

I know it might sound lame but be you! We pick freps based on personality and enthusiasm, if you really want the role these qualities will shine through!

Any words of wisdom for the fresh as they start uni?

Here’s my three main points of wisdom:

1)    Bring lemsip, freshers’ flu will rear its ugly head and you will get it.

2)    The catering staff are the best people.

3)    Enjoy your time here, go to events, join societies and really immerse yourself in Durham life, you’d be a fool not to!