2.1 Your first few days at Exeter

It’s great to know you’ll be joining us on campus or virtually very soon, and we’re really hoping to meet as many of you as possible over the next few weeks. We’ll also be here online to guide you through what’s going on, to answer any of your questions, and to encourage you to form supportive peer groups and friendships that will help you to feel at home.

Don’t worry if you feel a bit overwhelmed and homesick during your first few days and weeks on campus - it’s completely normal and I can assure you that even the most confident people around you are having to overcome a few nerves! Together with all of the other support services, academic staff, the Students’ Guild, and our amazing students, we’re going to do all we can to help you to settle in to life as an Exeter student as quickly as possible. As soon as you have access to ELE, you might want to explore our Wellbeing Toolkit. This aims to support you to identify and develop the skills that can improve your resilience, so you’re better prepared to cope with challenges. Building your resilience can support you to maintain a healthy sense of wellbeing at University and beyond.

If you’re not sure about anything, and you can’t find the answer anywhere in this course or elsewhere online, please don’t hesitate to ask, either here, by contacting your academic (personal) tutor or, if it’s programme-related, at info.stlukes@exeter.ac.uk. As the phrase goes, there are no stupid questions!

If you see someone looking a bit lost, go up and say hello. And if you’re feeling a bit lost yourself, try starting up a conversation with someone nearby (asking for directions to somewhere is always a good starter) - you never know, it could lead to a life-long friendship. At the academic induction events you’ll get to meet the other students on your programme, but there are thousands of other students across our Faculties. Even if it sometimes doesn’t feel like it during the hectic first few days, your future best friends are somewhere out there. It’s now your job to find each other! So explore, try new things, talk to everyone, learn to say hello in some of the many languages our students speak, and begin what we hope will be some of the best months and years of your life.