You won’t necessarily make friends in the first week. Freshers’ Fair is a great opportunity to get a taste of what societies are available and meet like-minded people. Look out for events and activities (on and off-campus) throughout the year, too; taking part and being social will help you feel less isolated.
If you've moved away from home to study at Middlesex and find yourself missing your family and friends, make the time to catch up with them outside of uni. Skype calls can be a huge comfort when your loved ones are a long distance away. If you are commuting into Uni, make the most of your support network by meeting and catching up as frequently as possible.
If you’re struggling with friendships, pressures of work, or missing home, Middlesex has a team of wellbeing advisers who can help you. Additionally, as a student at MDX you also have access to a free online self-help service, Silvercloud, which offers a variety of programmes tailored towards supporting you in setting yourself goals and building up your life skills.
If you are feeling overwhelmed by the workload, or find yourself struggling in your studies, you don’t need to cope by yourself. Middlesex has specialist disability and dyslexia teams that will be able to help you with practical things like arranging extensions for coursework and library loans, ensuring that your teaching areas are accessible to you, and much more. You can book an appointment in advance, or use the drop-in service available each day between 1pm and 2pm in Sunny Hill House.
Talk to other people about how you’re feeling, including friends and personal tutors – don’t bottle it all up. Ask your friends, too, how they’re feeling. A culture of openness about mental health is important.
This is vitally important, and makes a huge difference to your mood and perspective. Make sure you’re getting enough sleep and eating proper meals (takeaways do not count!) – and don’t drink too much alcohol.
Regular exercise will help your mental health as well as physical health. The Fitness Pod does fantastic membership deals for students, and also does free taster activities.
If you have any health condition that may affect your learning, disclose it before you start uni (or as soon as is possible), so that the disability team can prepare to offer you the support you need. You may also qualify for the Disabled Students’ Allowance through Student Finance. If you think you have a serious mental health problem, go to your GP as soon as you can – don’t hope it will just go away.
