{"id":2202,"date":"2024-05-25T11:16:27","date_gmt":"2024-05-25T10:16:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.kcl.ac.uk\/resilife\/?p=2202"},"modified":"2024-11-28T13:13:17","modified_gmt":"2024-11-28T13:13:17","slug":"012-settling-into-life-at-kings","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.kcl.ac.uk\/resilife\/2024\/05\/25\/012-settling-into-life-at-kings\/","title":{"rendered":"Settling into life at King&#8217;s"},"content":{"rendered":"<h3 style=\"text-align: center\"><b>Are you ready for move-in day?<\/b><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">It\u2019s so close now, you can almost smell it!\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/media.giphy.com\/media\/21GCae4djDWtP5soiY\/giphy.gif\" \/><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">I\u2019m Lukas, a second year Business student at King\u2019s. Last year, I moved into King&#8217;s Residences, which meant moving away from home for the first time, so trust me, I know exactly how excited, nervous and maybe even a little bit apprehensive you\u2019re feeling right now. <\/span><!--more--><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Before you get to King\u2019s and even start thinking about collecting your keys, let me reassure you about some of the things you\u2019re likely to be worrying about to put your mind at ease:<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>Making your new best friends<\/b><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">This is a big one. Think back to when you last had to make new friends &#8211; it was probably years ago so you\u2019re bound to feel out of your comfort zone, but <\/span><b>that\u2019s a good thing.<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> Everyone is in the same boat and looking for someone to talk to and become friends with, so that makes things a little easier. <\/span><b>There were a few things that helped me out:<\/b><\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/media.giphy.com\/media\/xT9IgG50Fb7Mi0prBC\/giphy.gif\" \/><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><b>Being myself. <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">There\u2019s no point pretending to be somebody you\u2019re not because it will be impossible to keep up the act. Instead, be yourself. Embrace your quirks and the things that make you unique, you will find it much easier to make conversation and share personal stories this way! <\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.kclsu.org\/\"><b>Joining clubs and societies<\/b><\/a><b>. <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">By being yourself and joining clubs\/societies suited to YOUR hobbies and interests, you are going to meet like-minded people <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">and <\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">the organisers arrange regular events for you to all go out as a group and really get to know each other. Signing up to these are a great excuse to try something new too.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><b>Getting out of my room. <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">I\u2019d describe myself as a bit of an introvert so when I didn\u2019t know anyone, I was tempted to lock myself away in my room because I was so nervous. I soon realised this was a silly thing to do and instead, I would sit with my flatmates in the kitchen or walk down to the common room and see if anything was going on.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Try not to worry too much about making loads of friends as soon as you arrive at King\u2019s. It\u2019d be great if you were best mates with all your flatmates but if that isn\u2019t the case, that\u2019s cool. Wait until you start your course or once you\u2019ve been to a few different events and really found your feet and some mates.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>Feeling homesick<\/b><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">This is something that 99% of students experience while they\u2019re at King\u2019s &#8211; it\u2019s totally normal. You\u2019re away from home for the first time and don\u2019t really have an idea about what\u2019s going on. I know that I didn\u2019t! Missing home is a difficult one, but <\/span><b>there are things that can help you cope a bit better:<\/b><\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/media.giphy.com\/media\/mkgDhXtJVngLNZgeTh\/giphy.gif\" \/><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><b><b>Stay in touch. <span style=\"font-weight: 400\">You might have moved away but that doesn\u2019t have to stop you from keeping in touch and sharing what you\u2019re up to. Be wary of how much time you\u2019re spending on your phone though; you don\u2019t want to isolate yourself from the people who you\u2019re spending your time with in London.<\/span><\/b><\/b><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>Keep fit and active. <span style=\"font-weight: 400\">When I\u2019m feeling a bit low, there\u2019s nothing that a workout can\u2019t fix. I\u2019m a big fan of the gym on a down day and friends of mine swear by kickboxing and even yoga to really help them improve their wellbeing. You may be lucky enough to have a gym at your residence but if not, you can still <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">get <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.kcl.ac.uk\/sport\/physical-activity\/beactive\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">involved in the Be Active programme in residences<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">. Remember, your body releases endorphins (happy hormones) when you exercise&#8230;<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>Do some cooking. <span style=\"font-weight: 400\">It\u2019s not too late to get some cooking lessons from your friends and family! If you\u2019re already pretty skilled in the kitchen, when you\u2019re missing home, cook food that reminds you of your favourite people. This could be the Spag Bol your mum makes or nachos you used to eat with your friends. For me, this was the traditional French meal, b<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">eef bourguignon just like my dad makes it!\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">If you\u2019re anything like me, it could take you a couple of weeks (or even more) to really feel settled in and \u2018at home\u2019. Try not to rush home as this could make it even more difficult. It might take you a while to really get on with your flatmates too, but give them a chance and see how you get on. If you do that and still don\u2019t think it\u2019s for you, speak to your Accommodation Team about potentially swapping your room &#8211; but do give it a couple of weeks before you do this.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/blogs.kcl.ac.uk\/resilife\/files\/2019\/09\/teamwork.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-2203 alignnone\" src=\"http:\/\/blogs.kcl.ac.uk\/resilife\/files\/2019\/09\/teamwork-300x200.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blogs.kcl.ac.uk\/resilife\/files\/2019\/09\/teamwork-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/blogs.kcl.ac.uk\/resilife\/files\/2019\/09\/teamwork.jpg 612w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><b>Support is always available<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> for you in King\u2019s Residences. Whether you choose to speak to your CF, RA or a member of the ResiLife team you meet at an event, people are always around to help out and give you that all-important helping hand. Everyone is in the same boat when you first arrive at King\u2019s &#8211; use that to your advantage and share your homesickness or anxious thoughts with them because they\u2019re likely feeling that way too.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Realistically, you may not settle into life at King\u2019s\/in your residence for a couple of weeks but don\u2019t worry about this too much. Once you find your feet, you will hopefully have a positive and happy experience. Not forgetting the memories you\u2019ll make!\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Are you ready for move-in day? It\u2019s so close now, you can almost smell it!\u00a0 I\u2019m Lukas, a second year Business student at King\u2019s. Last year, I moved into King&#8217;s Residences, which meant moving away from home for the first time, so trust me, I know exactly how excited, nervous and maybe even a little [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":666,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[53,46,41,77,7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2202","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-residences","category-resilife","category-resilife-events","category-students","category-welcome","post-preview"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.kcl.ac.uk\/resilife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2202","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.kcl.ac.uk\/resilife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.kcl.ac.uk\/resilife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.kcl.ac.uk\/resilife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/666"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.kcl.ac.uk\/resilife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2202"}],"version-history":[{"count":13,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.kcl.ac.uk\/resilife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2202\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2808,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.kcl.ac.uk\/resilife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2202\/revisions\/2808"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.kcl.ac.uk\/resilife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2202"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.kcl.ac.uk\/resilife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2202"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.kcl.ac.uk\/resilife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2202"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}