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Introduction
Keeping in touch with friends is one of the biggest challenges that students are faced with when moving away and one that can sometimes add to the pressures of being a modern student. Homesickness and missing friends you saw every day when at high school can contribute to the stress of exams and coursework and can test even the most hardened academic’s student discipline.
In the latest article from Collegiate, we take a look at some of the best ways you can stay in touch with your friends back at home whilst at the same time, ensuring your studies don’t suffer.
Visit the UK’s university cities
Although it may sound somewhat obvious, the best way to ensure your friendships with your oldest friends don’t stagnate when you’re at university is to put the effort in and go to see them. This may sound like a huge amount of effort and a potential waste of your spare time, but if you value these friendships it is well worth considering as your friends are likely to reciprocate.
The added bonus of this is that throughout your three years at university, you will see some of the very best parts of the UK. This country’s university cities are probably the most vibrant and historic that you will find and going to see your mates at their respective university will not just allow you to catch up, but also sample some parts of the UK you may not have visited otherwise.
Your friends will then be able to return the gesture by visiting you in your new home city, making it a win-win!
Organise some breaks away
The best way to get all your friends from home in the same place at the same time is to organise some trips away and they could even meet your new university friends in the process.
You could opt for a big summer holiday away somewhere exotic or perhaps a few city break dotted around the academic year, it doesn’t really matter. But this is a great way of keeping in touch with friends from home without having to be that person who goes back home from university every weekend.
The good thing about this option is also that as students, you are all likely to have similar times of the year that suit you all in terms of when to go away. This helps a great deal when it comes to organising the trip and any of your friends from home who haven’t gone away to university should still be able to attend if you give them ample notice.
Start a group on social media
We’re sure you don’t need us to explain to you the merits of social media and actually, we usually talk about Facebook and Twitter as distractions at Collegiate, but this is an instance where it can actually be very effective. A WhatsApp or Facebook Messenger group between you and your mates from back home can be a great way for you to keep up the chat and banter even when you are hundreds or even thousands of miles away from each other.
Whether you are busy planning the aforementioned trip or just chewing the fat about your studies or your new life away from home, these groups are perfect and will give you lots to talk about when you finally get to see each other in person.
It goes without saying that you should try to keep off social media platforms as much as possible when you are in periods of important study and revision, but when it comes to keeping in touch with friends it is pretty much perfect.
Pick some dates to meet every term
Finally, you could just show some serious organisation and student discipline and choose a date each semester or term to meet and stick to it. You could book tickets in advance or find some events that take place at a certain time and ensure that, as a group, you stick to this throughout your studies.
This will require a leader of the group taking the bull by the horns and not only organising this, but also ensuring that it is adhered to every term, but it will be well worth it if it means you stay in touch with your friends throughout your time at university. There will be events you can start planning for right now, so why not take the initiative and get organising right away?
We hope that these tips help you to stay in touch with your home friends when away at university but only you will know the best way to get your group of friends together. The key is definitely organisation and putting the hard work in, so your friends have no choice but to return the favour. If not, there is always Christmas and the summer holidays!
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