Hey York student – you’ve made it! You’ve done your uni shop, packed your stuff, travelled many miles, hopefully met your flatmates, and now you’re here.
The next step is to take advantage of your time during your first year, to get involved with your college. After I got my contextual offer and arrived at York, I was assigned to Halifax College (the best one by the way) and I was welcomed with all sorts of activities. Despite the Covid restrictions happening, I had access to baking competitions, Netflix watch parties, bingo, language exchanges, yoga, gaming discord, a doggy picnic, and more. Now with restrictions easing up, college activities will probably be even bigger and better – so be sure to take part! I’m going to cover a few ways you can do so.
College Freshers’ Events
During Freshers’ Week, your college (as well as the uni) will have many activities and events lined up. This is a great way to meet other people in your college and you can also find people doing the same course as you too.
My Freshers’ activities included department mixers, evenings at the uni’s social spaces (The Forest and The Courtyard), cooking tutorials, raffles, tours, a Zoo themed flat party, games night and others.
Taking part in activities like these means you can quickly make your college somewhere you can belong to. Talking about what college you’re from is also a great conversation starter when meeting fellow Freshers’!
College Sports Teams
Throughout the year there will be chances to join a sports team. As well as student societies, why not join your college sports team! There are competitions between colleges and you can represent your college while making lasting memories. Not only is this a fantastic way to make lifelong friends, but the teamwork and leadership skills this can develop is great for your CV. College sports can include football, rugby, tennis, squash, badminton, etc.
College Student Support
There may be a time where you encounter trouble. This could be financial, mental or academic. When I had financial difficulties, my college was very prompt in their email replies and helped me successfully move to a cheaper room despite the restrictions at the time.
Your college can also offer you support through your college tutors, they acted as a closer point of contact for me if I had any issues. And they are usually students themselves so can understand what you may be struggling with. Your college will just act as a general point of contact within a large student body, for any issues you may have, and you can be accurately directed to where you can get further help if necessary. There are also university support services on top of that.
Weekly Newsletters
This is probably one of my favourite aspects of my college. I don’t know about other college newsletters but mine is jam-packed with stuff like student job opportunities, movie screenings/Netflix watch parties, The Faxy Bake Off, rounders kit and board games to borrow, walking buddies, yoga, art workshops, language exchanges, competitions and prizes, sports awards, free food and goodie bags, University news, and much more! These newsletters keep you in the loop with what’s happening at your college and uni… but they can get a bit long (because there is so much to talk about!) 🙂
Although that was a bit of an info dump, I hope it gave you an idea of how much support, activities and opportunity to create lasting memories that your college can provide you – as long as you get involved.
Have fun!
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