Today, we wanted to introduce you to the Residence Life Team, a service made up of current students working to support everyone living in residence.
Basically, we’re here to help.
Our Team Leaders are available every evening during term-time – all have lots of experience of student life and they’re available if you need someone to talk to, or have a problem you aren’t sure how to resolve. You can find out how to contact your team here.
You’ll also meet our Mentors when they pop round to visit you throughout the year. If things are going well, it’s just a chance to say hi and find out about any useful messages they can pass on; but if something’s bothering you, they’re here to listen and to help you work out how to resolve it.
We’ll also be running events for your residence throughout the year, and we’d love to hear from you if you have any ideas you’d like to see happen.
Right now, we know some of you may be worried about your accommodation, especially if you haven’t been allocated the residence you were hoping for. Actually, our experience is that there isn’t much correlation between whether you were allocated one of your accommodation preferences, and your experience when you get here – some people settle right in even though their room wasn’t in a residence they’d applied for, while others find the transition tough even though they got their first preference.
Wherever you’re allocated, it’s really normal to feel worried about how things will go. Our top tips for the next few weeks are:
- Even if the accommodation you’ve been allocated isn’t the one you wanted, give it a go. Very often, students in this situation find they really enjoy themselves once they settle in.
- Don’t worry if things feel a bit weird to begin with. This is not unusual, you aren’t alone, and you aren’t studenting wrong. It may take some time, but the good news is that normally these feelings do gradually start to fade away as you get settled.
- Get involved in some events during Freshers’ Week. There’s loads happening, ranging from big nights out to knitting, so there’s something to suit everyone, whatever pace you want to take things at.
- Get in touch with Residence Life if you’d like to talk things through – we’ll do our best to help.
Finally, don’t forget that if you’re allocated a twin room and would like to get to know your roommate before you arrive, you can get in touch with the Accommodation Office – once we’ve heard from both of you, we’ll be happy to put you in touch with one another. The allocations team work really hard to match up students’ interests, so hopefully you’ll have plenty to talk about!
Residence Life Helen
