Here’s some advice on how to navigate Freshers at Lincoln as a student with mental or physical health issues, from someone who’s been there!
Know your Limits: You don’t have to do what everyone else is doing!
With chronic mental and physical health issues, we are all subject to the dreaded FOMO, but I can assure you that spending time on something you hate just to keep up appearances isn’t worth the toll on your health. Anyway, you can have just as much fun chilling at home!
The stereotypical student experience involves partying hard, but I promise that nobody will mind (or notice) if you’re not interested! I barely went out during my first year of uni because partying isn’t my scene (I’m more of a gigs gal and the Lincolnshire punk scene is distinctly lacking) and nobody batted an eyelid (and if someone does, they probably aren’t worth your time anyway – your health comes first). And if you do want to go out, you don’t have to drink or get up to crazy antics- there’s nothing wrong with chilling with friends! Most of my favourite memories of first year just involved having a laugh with friends over a cup of coffee!
Freshers Fayres:
Freshers Fayre: Monday 4th October 10-16:00 @ the Engine Shed – 9am early bird hour
Societies Fayre: Tuesday 5th October 10-16:00 @ the Engine Shed – 9am early bird hour
Sports Fayre: Wednesday 6th October 10-16:00 @ the Engine Shed – 9am early bird hour
The Wellbeing Centre offers a Freshers Fayre early bird hour for students with mental or physical health issues, and I found this to be incredibly helpful as the stalls are quiet at this time. I’d definitely recommend emailing Wellbeing at studentsupport@lincoln.ac.uk to ask to book in, or you can visit the Wellbeing Centre drop-in on Mon – Fri 2pm – 2pm or Thurs (term-time) 5pm – 7pm.
Attending WOW:
I definitely recommend signing up for WOW if you’re a prospective student for 2022. This is where I met all of my closest friends, including my current housemate, course-mate and all-around excellent human, Jem. WOW is essentially a short dummy-run of Freshers life and allows you to meet similar people in person, which really helped to ease my nerves when I finally moved into halls. It also allows you to explore the campus and city, which massively helped me as someone who struggles in new situations.
The Wellbeing Orientation Welcome or WOW Summer school is an award-winning transitional Summer school for students with a diagnosis of autism, Asperger’s or a condition that may make the transition from further education to university more challenging.
WOW is a free, 3 day, 2 night stay on campus and it provides students with the opportunity to learn more about the University, what to expect and what is expected of them whilst studying at Higher Education level. Its aim is to ease any anxieties students may have, about the transition into University life.
Students are provided a room on campus, within the University Halls of Residence and will live with other students for the time of the residential. This will give them the opportunity to engage socially with their peers and; as evident from previous students who attended WOW, build strong friendships that will last through to enrolment and beyond. A comprehensive programme of workshops, teaching sessions and social events gives prospective students a flavour of what lies ahead.
WOW is available to students who hold an offer to the University of Lincoln, alongside a diagnosis or who may have concerns about the changes that lie ahead. Please be aware that spaces for WOW fill up fast, so to confirm your eligibility, please email transitionalteam@lincoln.ac.uk and our team will be happy to assist further and answer any questions you may have.
The Power of social media:
Social media is an important tool in meeting new people at uni, and I can’t recommend joining group chats for your accommodation, course, or prospective societies enough. Freshers fayres will allow you to access society groups, and accommodation and course groups should be readily available on Facebook.
There will be Facebook groups for each academic year, as well as messenger groups to be added to for each course and hall of residence. This is a useful tool for communicating with flatmates and meeting new people.
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