Author, Charlotte Fisher, is a 3rd year English Literature student at the University of Liverpool. You can also watch Charlotte’s latest takeover story on our Instagram channel @livuni
Moving away from home can seem like an exceptionally daunting experience.
The most important thing to remember is that years and years have passed, and thousands have people have felt the exact same anxiety that you are now coming to terms with as first years. Nobody in the history of first years has ever left home and felt like everything clicked into place instantly. I am here to talk you through some of my experiences and those of people I know and attempt to give you some advice from a bunch of third years!
There are so many opportunities within the University that can help you integrate yourself and find new friends. These include the obvious huge selection of societies. This is one of the best ways of finding like minded people and gives you access to the meeting and parties they host within the sectors. You can find all the information about societies by going through the guild website where you’ll find an A-Z list of all the possible groups. This in itself can be a huge step in finding something you can enjoy external to your studies and allows you to make the most of your time away from home. So if you’re anything from a Star Wars lover to a big cocktail drinker there’s a society for you!
A less face to face way to chat to those studying alongside you would be the freshers group chats on Facebook/WhatsApp. These can be accessed through the University website and allow you to converse with people on your course or in your accommodation. These are just some of the many opportunities you can get involved in to meet your university besties! Some other things I would definitely recommend include drinks and quiz night at The Font, football night and gigs in Mountford Hall and the many University Square plant/food sales etc.
I think the biggest anxieties surrounding the big step into university come from feeling isolated, like you’re the only one who isn’t thriving! Well, let me tell you everybody…and I mean EVERYBODY is in the same boat. To second this I have a couple of little statements taken from my friends about their moving our experience:
“It was weird, bittersweet. I gained so much independence. At first, I definitely was homesick and didn’t know how it was going to be. But after a couple of weeks, if that, I really enjoyed making new friends and meeting new people. The only thing I would say is there might be a struggle with the language barrier for international students but even worse was the accent barrier (some people speak scouse not English!!) I just kept myself busy and made my space my own. Making lots of facetime calls home helps too!”
“Being productive in the day makes homesickness feel better. Still enjoying doing things you did at home here is really important. Going out and meeting new people is ‘bloody swell’ everyone wants to be friends because everyone’s in the same boat.”
“Moving away from home allows you to have your own space and learn your living boundaries. It teaches you how to manage money and how to deal with living alongside others. Most people will get a job which further gives you financial independence too.”
All in all, moving away from home is bound to be a big jump, probably the biggest one you’ve taken so far in life but you have so much support from the university and those around you because team work makes the dream work!
Best of luck from me and the rest of the university!
Enjoy!
Lots of love,
A Third Year 😊