Blog: 6 ways to celebrate your birthday at university
Hi, I’m Alice and I’m a third year Digital Media and Communications student. I just celebrated my 22nd birthday at university surrounded by some of the closest friends I’ve made here and it hit me how different it felt from my first and second year at university when the idea of celebrating my birthday honestly terrified me. Back then, I hadn’t formed strong friendships yet and the thought of having to come up with a fun way to celebrate felt overwhelming.
Whilst uni is great fun, it can feel weird to spend your birthday differently to previous years, especially if you’re used to spending it at home with family like I always was! It can make coming up with ideas on how to spend it, either alone or with new friends, feel daunting. If you’re someone who likes to celebrate but doesn’t know where to start, here are my 6 favourite ways to spend my birthday when I’m at university that might get your creative juices flowing:
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Start a new birthday tradition! For example, treating yourself to a pamper night or making pancakes for breakfast with your favourite toppings. I’ve started writing a letter to myself to open on my next birthday and it’s such a wholesome activity.
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Watch a movie or do a movie marathon by yourself, with housemates, or, if you have Netflix, with family or friends from home via Netflix Party! Don’t forget to buy some sweet treats!
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Hold a flat/house party with a fun theme. Think under the sea, cowboys and cowgirls, costumes starting with the first letter of your name… there are’s countless ideas! One of my friends held a tomato themed party where everyone had to dress in red and bring a tomato-based dish! She decorated the place with tomato bunting and tomato balloons. Don’t be afraid to get creative!
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Host a dinner and/or games night. You can get everyone to bring their own dish each (maybe with a food category e.g. comfort food, tapas, DIY pizza) and their favourite board game. You can find some great ones in charity shops!
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Make yourself a birthday cake! I’m a firm believer that a birthday hasn’t been celebrated unless cake has been eaten so why not try making your own! BBC GoodFood have some great beginner recipes or, if the ingredients look too expensive, cake mix packs are great for making cake on a budget!
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Create a vision board for the upcoming year. This is one of my favourite things to do on my birthday to start my new year off to a positive and optimistic start. Turn on some music, snuggle up with a blanket and get on Pinterest. If you’re in a particularly creative mood, you could print the photos off somewhere on campus and then create a physical vision board in a scrapbook with fun materials from Poundland, The Works or Hobbycraft.
Hopefully this gives you some ideas on how to spend your birthday! Remember that it’s completely normal to feel the pressure of making it a ‘perfect’ celebration, especially if you’re still figuring out your social circle, but this doesn’t mean you can’t or shouldn’t celebrate! We’ve all had to navigate the new chapter of university and it’s okay to feel unsure. Whatever you end up doing, have fun and be kind to yourself.