Advice for new-comers to Swansea

Hello everyone,

I hope you are all well and apologies for not posting for a couple of weeks, it has been a crazily busy couple of weeks.

However, for this post I wanted to focus on some advice for the new students who will be joining the Swansea University community in the next coming weeks. This can be an exciting event but there are a few things to keep in mind when moving to a new place or beginning your university career. So listed below are a few bits of advice to make the transition a bit easier and a bit safer.

1.       Look out for each other.

This seems like a bit of an odd one but it is really important. Quite often the people and friends you make in the first few weeks of university will see you through your course and beyond. So it is important to stick together in the first few weeks while you are getting your bearings. Make sure you exchange numbers of Facebook details with some of your roommates and when you are out and about make sure you check in on each other to keep each other safe. For instance if you go out on a night out and some people want to leave early, make sure they walk with someone else or get a taxi and ensure they let you know that they got back okay. Looking out for each other particularly important; make sure you look out and take care of one another.

2.       Enjoy yourself but don’t go overboard.

Part of beginning your university career does tend to lend itself to a bit of drinking and partying with your friends. However, it is important to not overdo it. Try not to pressure others to drink and make sure you pace yourself. Have fun but look out for others and once you feel you have had enough it might be good to switch to water or soft drinks.

3.       Make sure you eat and drink.

I know this sounds a bit weird. However, fresher flu is common in the first few weeks of university. A good way to off-set this is to make sure you eat and drink a varied and balanced diet as much as you can, in order to try and keep healthy.

4.       Make sure you register at a doctor’s surgery.

This sounds boring, but this is important. Make sure you register at a doctor’s surgery because you want to make sure that if you ever need to see a GP, you are not delayed because you are not on their books. Swansea has doctors on the singleton campus, but it may also be worth having a Google to see if the is one closer to where you are staying. Hopefully, you will not need to use it but at least you won’t have a delay if you do need to see a GP.

5.       Attend all inductions and early lessons

First and foremost, you are at university to learn and develop, therefore make sure you make the most of your time and attend all of your lectures/ workshops etc.

6.       Make the most of all opportunities

While at university a number of different opportunities can be made available to you, therefore it is important to make the most of every opportunity that comes your way, you never know where it might lead!

Anyway, I shall leave it there. Thanks for reading, have fun and take care.