By TOG TEAM
This week you are starting at the TOP university IN THE WORLD! 🌎You should be so very proud and here @thatoxfordgirl we are absolute buzzing for you! We hope the next few years will be a unique experience which will stay with you for life 💙.
Discovering the magic of Oxford is so exciting but we know it can also be overwhelming and very nerve wracking.
So here are some of our @thatoxfordgirl tips for the next few weeks:
• EVERYONE is in the same boat, however confident other students may seem, everyone is nervous and everyone wants to make friends.
• Freshers Week - there are loads of activities put on at Oxford freshers by your college and the uni, meaning you’ll be super busy and probably exhausted by the end of the week. Being busy is a distraction for any worries about homesickness. It also helps you prep for full-on terms where students work hard but also have lots of chances to play hard too. It’s a juggling act that will get easier over time.
• Be open! - each of the fresher organised activities is a chance to meet new people and experience new things. At an activity that may not usually be your vibe, you could find your new best friend, so be open to all the opportunities!
• Friends - the college environment means you’ll start to see a lot of the same people again and again at dinner, events, sessions etc., which is great for bonding.
• Don’t panic if you don’t find your people day one. There are lots of students to meet in and out of college and so many opportunities to meet them e.g dinner, college events, college clubs & societies, uni clubs & societies. You’ll find your people but it may take a little time💙.
• Tutorials - yep, the first one is terrifying, of course it is! You’re sitting in front of a world expert and discussing your subject. The tutors know it is scary, they aren’t trying to catch you out, they want to work with you!
• Imposter Syndrome - so common we have a name for it at Oxford Uni. However confident qny student may appear, we are yet to chat to any student who didn’t feel a sense that Oxford had made some kind of a mistake. Remember, you have gone through the toughest application process to be here and you were chosen! Believe in yourself because the tutors have already shown they believe you. You GOT IN!
• Welfare - looking after yourself is important. Don’t feel you have to attend everything on offer and then burn out. Take a nap, don’t feel you need to go out every night, conserve your energy for the things you really want to do. There are also college welfare officers, as well as peer support from students in older years. Sometimes talking about stresses with people who are familiar with the uni and get what you are going through can be really helpful.
• Tell someone - if you have moments of feeling imposter syndrome, feeling homesick, feeling lonely or feeling stressed and pressured, the chances are your classmates and new friends are feeling the same. Bonding happens at its best when you open up! We can bet you, your friends will be relieved they no longer have to keep up the facade that everything’s ok and you’ll ALL start talking about the reality and feel better for it. Celebrate the good bits together and be there to talk openly about the days when it all feels too much,
We hope you have a brilliant week but if you don’t that is also ok, it’s not a reflection on the next 3/4 years. Freshers is an intense bubble but later in term. things will settle into more of a routine and we hope with that you will too.
You’ve got this!
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