I found it hard at first to settle into university life (and sometimes still do). Moving from a small town in the middle of nowhere to a big city away from my home comforts was a big culture shock. You may feel like this if you’re about to move to university or haven’t quite found that ‘home feeling’ yet but there are plenty of ways to tackle this.
Keep your home comforts on hand
Decorating your room to be more like your bedroom at home can help ground you and be a good way to remind you of home. My bedroom at home was already vaguely empty so I didn’t have much to decorate, but this could be as simple as bedding or stuffed toys or as big as a poster or tapestry.
Likewise, if there are certain things that you did at home as part of your routine, say watching a certain TV programme or cooking a certain comfort food, incorporating these into your university routine may help to settle nerves. I personally love watching reality TV so doing this helped to calm myself when I was having an off day.
Try something new
That being said, starting university is the perfect time to start a new tradition. This doesn’t have to be a massive event and can be as simple as a weekly walk with your friends or flatmates, or a weekly pizza night. I personally love dressing up (especially for Halloween), and many of my friends do this on a weekly basis for societies and sports clubs, which are also a great way to meet new people.
Keep yourself occupied
Starting university is a great chance to explore a new city. Salford itself has so much to get up to, with lots of great food, drink and activities right on your doorstep. One of my personal favourites is Kargo MKT near our MediaCity campus, a great food hall with lots of options.
Manchester city centre isn’t too far away either. If you’re walking from our Peel Park campus, it’s a 20-minute walk. If you want to use public transport, there are various buses, trains, and trams that run from Salford to Manchester all night.
Lastly, don’t panic. Chances are you won’t be the only person feeling this way so if you are, talk to someone. That could be your friends, family, lecturers, or our wellbeing team. Information on the wellbeing support the University offers can be found on our website.