Water your plants and get an eye mask: 48 life rules every student – and adult – needs to know

If you’re a fresher, this may be the first time you’ve ever lived away from home. So how should you socialise, feed yourself and look after your health?

You don’t realise until you leave home just how idiosyncratic every family is, and how many of its customs are tacit, invisible, or maintained by someone else. Now you’re among people who emphatically aren’t related to you. How would you have any idea which of your practices were universal, and which common courtesies your upbringing had totally skipped? How do you even know how to keep your own body and soul together without the behind-the-scenes input of parents, who also have peculiarities of their own? Here’s a starter pack on how to function.

Something quick that has protein in it and is not toast. Suggestion: an omelette.

Something that is a full meal, covers protein and vegetables, and can be eaten over several days. Suggestion: bolognese or vegetarian chilli.

Something that you can scale up to feed two or four without bankrupting yourself or showing off. Suggestion: pesto pasta, but please always add broccoli right at the end – such a small price to pay to not get scurvy.

Something that you can make for others that is comforting and nobody can take against or be allergic to. Suggestion: risotto.

Something that you can just pour boiling water over, like a cup of tea, only it’s food. Suggestion: miso soup or soba noodles.

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