Finding Your People: A Fresher’s Guide to Making Friends at Uni

You have finally lugged your suitcases up the halls staircase and your parent’s car is disappearing around the corner. Suddenly the constant hum of move-in day fades and you realise you are surrounded by total strangers. It feels huge, but take a breath. Every fresher on campus is in the same boat and most of them want to meet you just as much as you want to meet them.

Why Friendships Matter in First Year

Friends are the secret sauce that turns a university from a place where you sit exams into a place that feels like home. Strong social ties:

• Reduce homesickness and stress.
• Help you discover study tricks and module tips.
• Open doors to societies, part-time jobs and flat swaps.
• Give you someone to look back on that night out with a sheepish grin 🙂.

Start with Your Flat or Corridor

Leave Your Door Ajar

On the first afternoon prop your room door open for an hour or two. It is a simple signal that you are happy to chat while you unpack. Keep a packet of biscuits visible; snacks break the ice faster than small talk.

Suggest a Supply Run

Most halls sit a short walk from a supermarket. Round up your new neighbours for a joint trip. Comparing who forgot toilet roll is an instant bonding moment. Split bulk items like washing powder to save money and start a tiny tradition of helping each other out.

Cook a Communal Meal

It does not need to be gourmet. Pasta, stir-fry or a baked potato bar does the job. Choose something cheap and foolproof, shop together and eat around the kitchen table rather than scattering to rooms. Background music and mismatched plates make it fun, not formal.

Treat Welcome Week Like a Tasting Menu

Freshers’ week is a social buffet. You do not have to love every event. Think of it as sampling options:

• Society fairs – sign your name even if you are only 30 % interested; first sessions are usually free.
• Course mixers – show up early and help set out crisps; organisers remember friendly faces.
• Wobblier nights out – pace your drinks, look after mates and know you can head home whenever you like.

Join at Least One Niche Society

Everyone flocks to football and drama, which is great, but the real friendship gold often hides in the oddly specific clubs. Think “Beginner Skateboarding”, “Bad Movie Appreciation” or “Dungeons & Dragons One-Shots”. A small group meeting every Wednesday gives you guaranteed weekly contact and loads of inside jokes.

Talk to People in Lectures (Even at 9 a.m.)

Arrive a Few Minutes Early

Sitting quietly until the lights dim kills conversation. Instead ask the person next to you:

• “Have you found the reading list yet?”
• “Did the timetable change confuse you too?”
• “Do you know any good coffee spots near here?”

These tiny questions signal friendliness without forcing a deep chat while everyone is half-awake.

Form a Micro Study Group

After week two, invite classmates to swap lecture notes in the library for 30 minutes. Keep it short and regular. Shared academic struggles turn into late-night meme exchanges surprisingly fast.

Use Social Media as a Door, Not a House

Course WhatsApp chats and Instagram story replies help keep in touch, but do not let them replace face-to-face time. Instead:

• DM someone after a fun seminar and suggest coffee.
• Create a private story for your flat to dump funny kitchen moments.
• Avoid oversharing in giant group chats – inside jokes land better in smaller circles.

Volunteer or Get a Campus Job

Working behind the student-union bar, mentoring local pupils or handing out flyers at open days pays in more than wages or CV lines. Shared shifts create natural conversation starters and you meet people outside your course bubble.

Keep Saying “Yes” but Learn When to Say “No”

Accept spontaneous invites – a late-night takeaway run, an impromptu pub quiz, a society taster even if you cannot juggle. Early enthusiasm helps friendships stick. Equally, respect your own limits. Turning up exhausted to everything helps no one. Real friends will be fine with a rain check.

Maintain Old Friendships Without Getting Stuck There

Regular calls to school friends keep homesickness down, but do not spend every weekend travelling back. Schedule one or two return visits during term and invite old friends to your city so they can see your new life instead of dragging you out of it.

Deal with Loneliness Honestly

Some evenings will feel flat. Flatmates disperse, the library is closed and you are alone with bad canteen leftovers. It is normal. Do something gentle:

• Take a brisk walk around campus and notice lit windows – proof other people exist.
• Open your door and play music quietly; someone might wander in.
• Join a drop-in session run by student welfare. Nobody judges.

Give Friendships Time to Breathe

Great stories often open with awkward, cardboard-cutout characters that only develop depth when the writer digs in. Human friendships work the same way. The person you chatted to about kettles on day one might become your future best friend, or maybe a kind acquaintance you wave at in semester two. Both are fine. Show up, listen well and let connections grow at their own pace.

Conclusion

Making friends at university is not a dramatic rom-com montage. It is a series of small, friendly nudges: shared pasta, half-whispered lecture jokes, walks home in the rain. Some attempts fizzle, some spark. Keep experimenting, stay open and you will collect a group of people who laugh at your worst jokes, proofread your essays and drag you out of bed for the 8 a.m. lab. That is when campus starts feeling less like a maze of corridors and more like your neighbourhood. Good luck – and remember every stranger on the first day is simply a friend you have not spoken to yet.