Cambridge students are not always renowned for their sense of fun. It might be hard to believe, but many people don’t consider setting up camp in a library, or initiating a ‘political thought discussion club’, to be the pinnacle of student life. It is with this in mind that many newcomers start Cambridge Freshers’ Week. Certainly, many will relish in the unparalleled opportunities for intellectual development that Cambridge offers; with Freshers’ ‘Week’ typically lasting about four days before the first essay is set, these students will not have to wait long before their scholastic cogs will be forcibly turned up a gear.

For others, however, having waited at home for weeks while their friends embarked on different university careers, Cambridge can seem a rather turgid place. As others flood Facebook with pictures of drunken club nights, fancy dress and literally hundreds of new best friends, it can be easy to imagine that a sad, sweaty, sordid night in Life may be the be all and end of the Cambridge social experience.

Fear Of Missing Out, or ‘FOMO’, is one of the most pernicious phenomena of the social media age. Varsity plays its part as well – see page 20 to read all about what you missed at the Edinburgh Fringe, a festival to which hundreds of Cambridge thesps decamp every year. Freshers’ Week is peak time for FOMO affliction. Don’t feel like going on the pub crawl? You’ll definitely never make friends. Accidentally miss the freshers’ welcome picnic? Say goodbye to any kind of social life for the next three years.

A feeling of FOMO can haunt anyone at anytime, but is particularly acute when you start university. And it’s not just with regard to socialising – the Cambridge Union Society has some of the most aggressive marketing methods known to humankind, and much of this is based on peddling the myth that everyone else in Cambridge is already a member. There are many benefits that come with Union membership, but one of the main reasons that people cough up £185 for a lifetime membership is FOMO.

However, do not be fooled into thinking that Cambridge life revolves around any one hub. The city may be small, but university life is not confined to the Footlights, the Union, the ‘clubs’ (or even to Varsity...). Sure, you don’t want to miss out on any of the exciting opportunities that Cambridge has to offer, but truth be told, it is the students, not the schedules or the societies, who offer these chances.

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