It’s now September and soon there will be lots of new students joining us at NTU by the end of the month! If you’re about to join us, then this is the blog post for you!
We’ve got a quick run down on things to do or think about to help you get ready for NTU and transition as smoothly as possible into uni life. For all information about the 2019 Welcome Week visit our welcome site.
Over the coming weeks, we will also be sharing posts from NTU Alumni as well as current students to share their lived experience of transitioning and settling in at uni too!
Familiarise yourself with Nottingham & NTU. Spend some time getting to know your campus and the city in the first few days. Being familiar with your surroundings can really help you feel settled so making time to do this can help to speed up the settling in process.
Join the NTU welcome groups and pages. Even if you aren’t staying in halls there’s a group for you to try and meet new people. In your first few weeks making an effort to get to know as many people as possible will really help to settle in and find who you click with. It might feel overwhelming but making that extra effort can really help you settle in faster. All of the groups and NTU’s social media channels can be found at the bottom of this webpage
Take a look at the Student Minds guides. Student Minds have some great guides on what to know before you start and for settling into university. They are really good for covering all the worries you may have during this transitional period.
Prepare for Welcome week. There’s plenty of ways to make friends during welcome week that aren’t just on your course or in your accommodation. Joining a society, getting involved with welcome week events or finding out what sports teams are available are all great ways to meet like-minded people or even try something completely new to you! A lot of the societies will also have their own welcome week events so be sure to check those out too.
Remember to take some time for yourself. Moving to university can be an overwhelming time, it’s one of the biggest transitional periods that you will go through in life so it’s completely normal to feel like everything is getting a bit much. Remember that you need time to adjust and get used to things so don’t be too hard on yourself if you’re not making friends as quickly as you’d like or you’re feeling homesick. Taking time for a bit of TLC is important throughout this time. Remember to keep doing the things that keep you feeling ‘you’ and don’t forget that if you are really struggling despite trying to take time out, talking to friends or looking at online support, then there is support available through the Student Support Services both online and in the form of face to face support.
Know that everyone’s in the same boat. If you’re nervous about starting university know that everyone else around you will be feeling the same. Feeling overwhelmed or panicking if university life is for you it completely normal. Perhaps talking to your home friends who are also going to university about how you’re feeling might help you make sense of everything and know you are not as alone.
Bring things to decorate your room. Packing things to put on your walls in your new accommodation will really help to make your new accommodation feel like your home away from home. Things like posters and photos of friends and family or some fairy lights can really help make your room feel cosy!
Familiarise yourself with the support NTU offers. Look up NTU Student Support Services and Information and advice centre in the NTSU. You never know what support you might need in your time studying at NTU or at what time your going to need it so getting to know what’s out there could be really helpful to you. NTU offers all kinds of support from Mental Health through to housing issues.
Make sure you register with a GP during enrolment. For the same reasons as familiarising yourself with the Student Support Services you never know when you might need a doctor and it’s better to be registered and never need to go to the doctors than be struggling when you are in need of a GP. There will be an opportunity to sign up for a Nottingham based GP when you go through enrolment so be sure to take some time to do this when the time comes!
Remember the practical stuff! To make sure you’ve done all you need to do before coming to NTU such as online enrolment, check out this webpage, and for everything you might need to bring with you go to this helpful checklist.
For help and advice whilst studying at NTU, take a look at the following for sources of support.
Personal Pastoral Support at NTU (general worries and anxiety, homesickness, loneliness, a relationship breakup, or a bereavement)
Support from NTU
Silvercloud: SilverCloud is our online system designed to help with a range of mental health issues.
Depression advice
Counselling
Wellness in Mind: Advice and support for anyone in Nottingham experiencing issues with their mental wellbeing
Struggling at Uni? Go to Student Minds
10 Keys to happiness
Healthy NTU 