Leading up to the new school year, we are excited to feature Zoë Crego of Her Campus as a guest contributor. Zoë is a Communications major at the University of Ottawa and serves as co-Editor-in-Chief of the uOttawa chapter of Her Campus. Stay tuned for the remainder of this six-part series about what every first-year student needs to know.
Social Life
Let’s talk about your social life for a second. University and college are great places to find new friends since you have a pool of thousands of potential people to pick from. Branching out into campus on your own may seem daunting, but I promise you’ll find people who are interested in the same things as you. Check out these foolproof tips on making friends:
Residence
Are you living in rez? Perfect! Go knock on your neighbours’ doors and introduce yourself –it’s that simple. You already have one thing in common: you’re new to the city. Invite your new neighbours to take a stroll through the neighbourhood with you, or ask them to do a Walmart run with you.
Clubs
Are you passionate about recycling? Love to dance? Miss your running partners from home? At college/university they have clubs for everything – and I mean everything. Open up another tab on your browser and pay a visit to your best friend, Google. Start typing in “student clubs at uOttawa” (or whatever school you’re attending) and get ready to be flooded with hundreds of options. Joining a club is a great way to meet like-minded people, get involved in the community, and beef up your resume.
Sports
You don’t have to be pro to play sports in college/university. Intramurals are an excellent way exercise and meet new people. Leagues can least either one semester or a full school year (depending on the sport) and games occur every week so you’re bound to befriend some of your teammates. This is also an excellent way to meet students outside of your program as players can be from any program or faculty.
