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Looks like it’s that time of year again, yes its university enrolment. I can imagine quite a lot of you are nervous about that big day when you pack your bags and move into student accommodation. This articles aim is to help you through all the problems and issues you may be facing with student accommodation, freshers week, making new friends at university and student life in general. I bet I can kill a lot of your negative thoughts.

I'm a student, and I will be moving into student accommodation in Bournemouth on the 20th of September. I feel very positive about this and I genuinely look forward to that day I take the next step in my life. But, I know a lot of people think differently to me. I’ve talked to people who are extremely nervous about the whole thing, and that’s why I wrote this article.

Student Accommodation

Most students opt for student accommodation with the chosen university. So this little section is just for you student accommodators.

Student accommodation can be a scary thing because you leave your comfort zone, and move in to an uncomfortable zone with complete strangers. But, don’t be alarmed. There are many tools you can use to eliminate some of your issues involving this. You can firstly eliminate the ‘stranger’ factor by talking to people who will be on your course, in your accommodation or even talk now to your future flatmates all from a social networking site setup for this very thing. The site is called yougofurther and can be found at www.yougofurther.co.uk. At this site you will find thousands of students, just like yourself. It’s almost certain you will find fellow students going to the same university as well as the same course as you. It’s not too late to start chatting to your future friends, so go there, sign up and participate. Also add me as a friend! My profile can be found here.

If you’ve gone ahead and signed up to yougofurther, you’ve taken the first steps to getting rid of issues you may have about student accommodation and the student life in general. Since you are certain to make friends there.

The only issues you may have left standing is the anxiety you may feel about setting out on your own to a completely new place. This is nothing to worry about. It’s completely normal and natural to worry about these issues, so don’t beat yourself up over them. You just need to come to terms with what is going to take place. You will not get harmed, even though some of you may feel the same feelings as if you’re going to die!

If you’re male, I suggest you take a look at these articles –

1. Female Psychology – An Introduction
2. Female Psychology – Evolutionary Biology for Women
3. Female Psychology – Attributes
4. Female Psychology - Congruence

I’m certain these articles will help alleviate a lot of issues you may feel when interacting with new people, especially interacting with females, if you’re male. If not here’s another book which you may find interesting from the social interaction section called How to Talk to Anyone 92 Little Tricks. This book applies to both males and females. I didn’t leave you out girls!

Fresher’s Week

Fresher’s week is one of the most important events in a student’s life. This is where you get to meet new people, gain new friends, get free stuff and much more.

At this time you may have had a letter from your University congratulating you and confirming that you will be attending within the next few weeks. You probably also received another letter from the student union at your chosen university. The student union letter will outline what you can expect at fresher’s week and other useful information such as the price of certain activities. If not, I’m sure you can find all the information online either via yougofurther or by searching for details about your student union via a search engine.

I’ve written another article dedicated to fresher’s week called ‘9 fresher’s week tips’. If you want to gain useful fresher’s week tips, I suggest you read that article as well as this one.

Making New Friends at University

This may be the hardest thing you can think of to do. But don’t panic, making new friends at university is easy. It’s easy because everyone is looking to make new friends, so you are almost certain to pick some up. Firstly, if you’re staying at student accommodation, you will already have a small group of people who you’ll be living with. I’m sure these people will be your first group of friends to start your university life.

The biggest stumbling block of making new friends at university is confidence. If you are not confident, you may find the whole idea very scary and may have even opted to not go to student accommodation and remain at home for that very reason. Just know this; the majority of people there will be as nervous as you. There will also be a few who will love the new challenge of making friends, and these people can be valuable to you, especially if you are having trouble coming to terms with your anxiety involving the matter. Look for the characters in the crowd and get friendly, these people are almost certainly going to value you. So don’t be afraid.

As I mentioned earlier I do have a wide selection of articles in my social interaction section that you may find interesting. They will teach you valuable skills and techniques for you to control your confidence, self-esteem and most importantly, they will motivate you. So I suggest you check out the social interaction section.

I’m sure the aim of this article was reached by alerting you to important issues that may affect you on your next step in life. Also, I believe I’ve pointed you in the right directly of incredibly useful resources and tools for you to make your student life, a much more fun one.

If you’ve enjoyed this article I suggest you check out the 9 Fresher's Week Tips to further help you get in tune.

Books I Recommend

If you want further advice and information regarding issues with university and freshers week, I'd suggest you check out these books from Amazon. Especially Worst Case Scenario - Survival Handbook to University and Going to University - The Secrets of Success.

Craig is a 22-year-old student currently studying psychology at Bournemouth University. He runs a self improvement blog and community filled with useful advice. His main aim is to help people exceed their expectations and reach their true potential. If you enjoyed this post, get free updates via RSS or E-mail.

Useful Links

• The Handshake
  
• Great First Impression
  
• Where to Sit
  
• NLP Eye Movements
  
• Social Interaction Area
  
• Eye Contact Skills
  
• Public Speaking Practice

Top Questions answered by this article

1. How do I make friends at university?

A. This may be the hardest thing you can think of to do. But don’t panic, making new friends at university is easy. It’s easy because everyone is looking to make new friends, so you are almost certain to pick some up. I suggest you read the rest of this paragraph.

'On The Run' Summary

This is a broken down version of the above article. The 'On The Run' Summary is here to provide you with basic headers and points about the article so you can get the 'idea'.

Student Accommodation

• Most students opt for student accommodation with the chosen university
• Student accommodation can be a scary thing because you leave your comfort zone, and move in to an uncomfortable zone with complete strangers. But, don’t be alarmed! There are many tools you can use to eliminate some of your issues involving this
• Issues you may have left standing is the anxiety you may feel about setting out on your own to a completely new place. This is nothing to worry about. It’s completely normal and natural to worry about these issues, so don’t beat yourself up over them.

Fresher’s Week

• Fresher’s week is one of the most important events in a student’s life

Making New Friends at University

• This may be the hardest thing you can think of to do. But don’t panic, making new friends at university is easy
• It’s easy because everyone is looking to make new friends, so you are almost certain to pick some up
• The biggest stumbling block of making new friends at university I feel is confidence. If you are not confident, you may find the whole idea very scary and may have even opted to not go to student accommodation and remain at home for that very reason. Just know this; the majority of people there will be as nervous as you.

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