First Time Away From Home? Here’s How to Settle in at College!

The day is finally here! After all of the exams, course choices and preparation – you’re finally arriving at college! It’s a super exciting time but it can also be a bit nerve-wracking too! To help you navigate the next few days and weeks, we’ve put together a little checklist to help you settle into your new surroundings.

Read Everything You Receive!

It’s all about the fine print, people! Whether it’s at your new accommodation or the college campus, you will likely find yourself swimming in leaflets and documents within the first few days of arriving. It can be easy to disregard a lot of these, but make sure you read everything! You may pick up on some golden nugget info that can help you out early on. At Point Campus, for example, all of our students receive their very own ‘Welcome Pack’ about what they can expect and some information on the local area.

Get Cooking Before Settling Into College

Okay so this one requires a bit of prep on your part – no pun intended! You don’t need to arrive to college as a masterchef, but we think having a few solid recipes up your sleeve can go a long way. Whether it’s having a nice homely comfort food or something quick you can whip up instead of spending on a takeaway. Some student accommodations like Point Campus will have everything you need to cook – we’ve even put together a quick recipe guide as part of our Student Living 101 series!

Personalise Your Room

To get settled, you need to make your new house a home! While we appreciate you probably don’t want to bring your entire room away to college with you, bringing a few pictures and little knick knacks can make a big difference. Some of your favourite items dotted around your spaces or on your desk can really make you feel connected to home.

Call Family and Friends

For when trinkets and knick knacks just don’t cut it, you can always give those a back home a quick call. The initial stages at college when you are only just getting to grips with everything can feel very alien, so it’s important to call back for a bit of familiarity whenever you feel like it.

Get to know your Roommates

Central to your student experience will be the other students you are sharing it with! It can be daunting at first but make sure you put in the effort to get to know the people you’re staying with! If you’re in a shared room, make a group chat for things like shopping and before you know it everyone will be chatting away. 

Get Stuck Into Freshers Week

While it might just seem like an excuse to hit up the local pubs, Freshers Week is an amazing time to meet people both in your new college and your new student accommodation. When you get to college you should get a bit of a timeline to understand when everything is happening. Your college’s student union should be able to give you all the info you need, too!

Join Clubs and Societies

Without a doubt, one of the best ways to get settled is by meeting like-minded people. Where better than clubs and societies? You will probably be seeing posters everywhere in the first few weeks for a variety of activities, so just make a note of any that sound interesting. If you get to know some of your classmates early on, you could even convince them to join with you!

Explore Your New Home

Above all else, get to know your new home and your new city! While it can definitely be intimidating, it’s an amazing and exciting opportunity to really immerse yourself in somewhere new. For Dublin, we have plenty of information on getting around from Point Campus. Enjoy yourself in these first few weeks as you learn your new neighbourhood.

For everything about settling in, living in Ireland or booking a staying at Point Campus, you can always follow us over on Facebook or Instagram to stay up with the latest in Dublin city. If you ever have any questions, just shoot us a message and our team will try and help out however we can!