Struggling to have an amazing experience at university? Many share your feelings.
One university attendee passed the majority of his freshers' week browsing through social media, reading posts about other students' fun nights out.
"I was just in bed," Robert explains, characterizing that period as the most isolated period of his life.
The people he lived with seldom socialized, and his program didn't seem very sociable.
Even though he made efforts by going to taster sessions for different clubs, he couldn't find people he connected with.
"I started to lose my self-esteem," he says. "I felt like individuals didn't desire to form friendships with me, or they didn't appreciate me."
Social Media Comparisons
Originally, Robert didn't plan of attending college and was offered positions for post-secondary education.
But then he observed his peers having great fun as college students online.
"When you've got to get up for your job during the week at nine in the morning and you observe peers partied on midweek, you do start thinking the grass is greener," Robert says.
Higher Education Assumptions
Media content and social media can glorify the idea of university living.
Many individuals begin university with great anticipations for what they believe could be the best years of their lives.
Certain attendees arrive at college with "optimistic perspectives," notes a counselling manager.
Research Results
- Through surveys of freshers in their first week, the primary worry was belonging and feeling included
- Additional research through polling organizations, nearly one-fifth of attendees said they were without companions at university
- Over one-third reported they worried daily or weekly about building relationships
Personal Experiences
Alisha Miah's social media content was full of videos of girls having fun while living together in student houses.
Yet when she transferred from her hometown to university to learn reporting, she found freshers' week "intense" because of how much alcohol it involved.
She avoids drinking and had not experienced nightlife before.
"I utilized a lot of freshers' week inside my accommodation," she says. "I just felt slightly disconnected."
Psychological Aspects
In a 2025 survey of over ten thousand university attendees, 29% said they contemplated leaving university.
The most common reason was emotional state, succeeded by monetary worries.
"Worry regarding all of these different things is massively common, and typical," notes a mental health professional.
Discovering Answers
Eventually, all three individuals eventually adapted and developed friendships.
She built connections via her studies and through TikTok, while another student became more content when she could to move in with friends.
Helpful Recommendations
For Robert, currently in his mid-twenties and in his final year, it was participating in theater activities and working occasionally that supported social connection.
His recommendation to new attendees experiencing connection challenges is to venture outside your living space and attend organization sample activities.
"Following several weeks of regular attendance, people recognise your face," Robert says, "you become familiar with them, and friendships begin forming."
