Liberty Belle's advice for freshers

Starting university and moving away from home for the first time is already a daunting concept, let alone during a pandemic.

Despite the many COVID-19 restrictions in place and the current circumstances meaning teaching is mostly online, Liberty Belle has put together some advice for freshers so you can still make the most of university life.

1) Establish a routine- Making a timetable is a great way to keep organised and enables you to balance your university work with making sure you leave the house and see your course mates and friends. Setting a specific day to meet up with people to go over work or grab a coffee means that you are staying social and will make your learning more enjoyable.

2) Use your weekends to relax- With a lot of University being online, make sure you take time away from looking at a screen and make plans with friends to explore the area and city that you now live in. One of the biggest pieces of advice I can give is to make the most of any free time you have, even if it’s only 30 minutes!

3) Join societies!- Joining multiple societies, which could be your departmental society, team sports societies, and special interest or creative societies gives you the chance to meet a variety of new people you wouldn’t otherwise meet and make friends who have the same interests as you.

4) Say yes (within reason)- If you’re invited to a (COVID-safe) event or meet up, take the opportunity by saying yes! It can be scary at first when you meet new people but there’s every chance that these people could turn out to be some of your friends for life.

5) Stay active- Even if you have nothing to do on a particular day, leaving your flat and going out for a run or walk around the local area will do wonders for not only your physical but also your mental wellbeing.

6) Remember everyone’s university experience will be different- Although it is tempting, don’t compare yourself or how well you are settling in to those around you. Especially during a pandemic, try not to put pressure on yourself and whatever you do, make sure to make the most of your university experience by putting yourself out there while also following government guidance.

Edited by Vicky Sales