Social Adjustment

I've never been away from home - how can I adjust?

Most people who come to University have never lived away from home before so they find it a little bit difficult to adjust. The University is aware of this and they'll put on social courses on topics such as cookery and money management, so you can learn some new skills. If you're in halls of residence everybody's in the same position, so you can learn together, which can be quite fun in terms of social adjustment. Finally, before you leave home make sure you speak to your parents. Ask your mum, "How do I cook this?", "How do I wash this?", "How much money do I need to do my weekly shop?" so you you're already clued-up before you get to university.

I feel isolated in my halls of residence - what can I do?

If you're feeling isolated in your halls of residence, the first thing to do is take a deep breath, go out there and talk to your flatmates. If you don't get along with them, you can consider transferring. Or you can just go to your common room, and find out if there's other people in your halls whom you get along with. Otherwise, join a university club or society. That way you'll find people with similar interests, and it might not matter if you get along so much with your housemates in your hall of residence.