Making friends at Kingston University

Hello, my name is Moa and I'm a second year studying Pharmaceutical Science at Kingston University London. When I first joined the University, I was worried that I wouldn’t meet people or that I would struggle to make long-lasting friendships, which is funny to look back on after making the friendships I now have with the people live with. This is some advice that I wish I had which would have helped me not to worry so much.

Before arriving at university

If you want to get a head start on meeting new people before arriving at university, there are plenty of different ways. Using social media, you’ll be able to find different Kingston University London groups such as the official Discord group run by the University. Pages like these promote events the University is hosting, give you an idea of what to expect when you join and what the surrounding areas are like. You’ll also be able to find an official group for other Kingston University freshers and for the sports and society teams that you might be interested in joining.

If you’re living in one of the halls of residence, there are group chats filled with people just like you and looking to meet new people before arriving. Using these group chats you can arrange to go to an event, for coffee or ask questions to people who might know a little bit more about the local area.

Freshers’ and Welcome Week

During your first week, you’ll have plenty of opportunities to meet new people at lots of fun events that take place throughout the week. One great place to visit is the Freshers’ Fair which allows societies and sports clubs to chat with new students who might be interested in joining. It’s also a great place to score freebies from companies that set up stalls to promote their business.

Some subjects even have their own societies which are great to join as you’ll get to interact with people in your classes as well as students in their second or third year.

Sports clubs and societies

Another great way to make new friends is to try out for a sports club or to join a society that interests you.

I know that in my first year, when I was struggling to meet people because I was quite shy, joining a sports club helped me. The friends I made in that first year of being on a team have turned into friendships that have really lasted.

Finding that common ground can be a great icebreaker in conversations with people and allows you to then expand on other similarities you might have.

Sports teams normally go out on a Wednesday night, giving you time to socialise outside the club training sessions and get to know each other even better.

Once you’ve settled into uni life

Once the first couple of weeks have passed and you’re getting settled into a routine, it's important to maintain a healthy balance between your social life and academic life.

One thing that really helped me in this area is creating a shared calendar between my friends, with all the information about work shifts or lectures on there so that we can see when we have availability to do something.

Whether that’s going for walks along the river and stopping for a coffee somewhere, having a picnic and exploring the beautiful sights in Richmond Park or even venturing into central London to go shopping or to an event.

Scheduling little trips each week helps to solidify friendships that you’ve built and is a nice break from daily uni life.

Challenges that you may face

There may be some challenges that happen as time goes on and these are a few solutions I've found.

I’m starting to feel homesick

 

Lots of people experience this feeling whether they have been away from home by themselves before or if this is the first time. I still get feelings of homesickness occasionally, and ways I’ve found to combat that feeling are:

• Keeping myself occupied with plans with friends and family, whether that’s something happening that week or a visit planned for the near future.
• Finding different ways of communicating besides texting. My friends and I from home still regularly talk especially by playing video games together online. It’s a nice change of pace from only texting and it’s a nice way of being able to do something fun together.

I commute to university, and I’m worried about not getting the same experience as other students

 

It can be a worry you’re going to be able to make friends if you commute. Here are a couple of suggestions:

• Between lectures, try to get to know your course mates better. You’ve all chosen to do the same degree and that means that you have some things in common already. There are lots of locations within the University and nearby that you can go to chat and get to know each other.
• Attend events hosted by the University or the student union, signing up to the social media pages is a good way of keeping up to date. For example, on Thursdays there are free yoga classes hosted at the Penrhyn Road campus.