Starting university is a whole new exciting experience — you’re finally starting the transition into a new phase of life! 

As you step into this phase of adulthood, you can be sure of a lot of new changes and responsibilities coming your way. From selecting the university you’d like to go to and choosing your programme and majors to finding a new home for yourself, you’ll be faced with a lot of decisions that could leave you overwhelmed. On top of that, being a new student in a new environment adds another level of uneasiness. Why? 

There’ll be A LOT of socialising which requires you to step out of your comfort zone, something many of us aren’t particularly used to. 

My first day of university wasn’t a typical one. I wasn’t physically present on campus due to the global pandemic. Hence, my experience of the first day was quite different. I was already edgy because I was going to be stepping into an entirely new territory and, on top of that, all my classes were held online so there was no way of properly communicating with my peers for advice.

As an international student, I was quite nervous about the fact that I might not be able to interact properly with everyone from different backgrounds and cultures. I feared not being able to get along with them easily. However, I didn’t want to hold myself back from socialising because I knew that that would have prevented me from having the full university experience. So, I decided to join a few clubs and extracurricular activities to get out of my comfort zone! 

Here’s how I’ve benefited from the different clubs as a new student.