Moving into uni and knowing that you need to meet the people you’re going to be living with for a whole year can be seriously scary. Rather than letting the nerves take over and bolting your door shut for 3 weeks, remember that everyone is in the same boat. The more relaxed you are, the easier it is to become friends with your flatmates so here’s our 13 foolproof ways to make friends with your flatmates during fresher’s week. Plus, by communicating you might discover your flatmate is a HQ gal too!
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Use Social Media
Between enrolling at uni and moving in, you’re guaranteed to find Facebook pages for your university. By chatting to a few people there, you’ll be increasing your chances of seeing a familiar face upon arrival.
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Leave Your Door Open
Leaving your door wide open whilst unpacking will leave people seeing you as a friendly and approachable gal. It’s also worth doing this for a few hours a day for the rest of fresher’s week too. To make people feel invited, think about leaving a treat for people to take…
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Offer Flatmates Baked Goods
Bake some fresh cookies, brownies or cake and either introduce yourself by offering it out or leave a plate with a ‘help yourself’ sign in plain view whilst unpacking. At least one of your flatmates won’t be able to resist temptation and BOOM, friendship made.
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Talk to People
This one really goes without saying, but if you just hide away, people are likely to assume that you want to be left alone. Simply asking someone’s name or how they are can make a huge difference. Even if you need to have a drink for courage, make sure you start conversations! Don’t forget to take a look at our tips for dealing with nerves during fresher’s week too!
How To Deal With Nerves During Freshers' Week
Worried about fresher's week? Here at HQhair us gals are sharing our tips and tricks to deal with nerves so you can make the most out of your first week at uni!
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Share
As you’re all going to be on a budget which probably won’t last the first term (you didn’t mean to blow it all on alcohol, right?) Offering to share your sugar, milk or even washing powder will have your flatmates looking up to you like royalty.
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Don’t Blast Tunes on Repeat
Whether your flatmates have the same music taste as you or not, blasting the same song out of speakers for 8 hours on end is going to get you hated. Keep your music quiet or use headphones to not disturb anyone and if you want to play loud music, make sure it’s turned off post-10pm.
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Pay Rent on Time
Being that one flatmate who never pays their rent on time is not going to help you make or keep friends. Always pay your share when needed and no problems will occur. It’s also worth checking your contract to make sure that you aren’t liable to pay for your roommates if they don’t pay up.
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Offer to Make Drinks
After dealing with nerves and meeting new people, everyone is going to want to relax with a drink at some point before going out partying. Boiling the kettle and asking if anybody wants a drink will break the ice immediately and you can all bond by sitting down and enjoying a cuppa together.
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Play Drinking Games
During fresher’s week, it’s likely that you’re going to want a few drinks to celebrate this huge milestone in your life. Before going on a night out, why not have some pre-drinks and play drinking games with your flatmates to get to know them? You’ll have a good laugh, plus it’s hard to be nervous when you’re laughing at someone carrying out an unfortunate dare! If you’re feeling a little worse for wear the next morning, we’ve got the perfect hangover cures so you’ll make it to the fresher’s fair without feeling sorry for yourself…
HOW TO HELP A HANGOVER: BEAUTY ESSENTIALS FOR A HANGOVER CURE
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Don’t be the Liability
There is always the member of the group who gets so drunk they can’t remember their own name whose friends have to carry home. Eventually, people won’t ask them to go out purely to avoid the responsibility so drink enough to have a good time but don’t go overboard. Your roommates do not want to become your part-time unpaid babysitter.
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Shop Together
Girls who shop together, stay together! Invite the girls in your flat to a little shopping trip. Not only will you get to bond by learning about each other’s style and taste, you’ll also get to pick up some cute clothes and get to know the area outside of campus!
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Cook or Eat Together
If you aren’t completely incompetent when it comes to the kitchen, offering to cook tea with one of your flatmates for the entire flat will give you some serious brownie points. Otherwise, find a good takeaway deal and order food in, everyone will appreciate it and you can all get to know each other over pizza or Chinese food!
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Pull Your Weight with Chores
Nobody likes doing chores and even though you can get away with never washing a cup or plate in your life at home, nobody is going to be your personal maid. Organise a rota and stick to it, this way the flat will stay tidy and nobody will get mad.
Once you’ve moved in and made some friends, it’s party time! Just make sure to make the most of fresher’s week!
