By Erin McQueenie

The adjustment from living at home with parents and siblings to living in residence surrounded by hundreds of teenagers was not a smooth transition for me. Many of my peers struggled with the transition as well. I lived in Delaware Hall at Western University two years ago. In addition to moving away from home, adapting to new learning styles and a heavier course load, I had to adjust to living on campus. Near the end of the summer, I became increasingly anxious about moving into residence. I had soooo many questions. Is the caf food good? Where will I go if I hate my floor? What if I don’t like my roommate(s)? Is there laundry on site? What amenities and services does residence offer? Who can mentor me? It is for these reasons that I complied some tips about things I wish I knew before moving into residence in September and throughout my first year.

1. Meet as many new people as possible

Thankfully, Orientation Week (O-Week) begins right after you move in. It is the perfect opportunity to meet the new people who you will be living with for the next eight months. Coming from Toronto, I knew quite a few people in my rez, but was not super close friends with them at the beginning of the school year. Despite the temptation to just stick with the people I knew, my friends in upper years had encouraged me to branch out and make new friends. That was one of the most helpful pieces of advice I received and one that I frequently share with people younger than me. During the first week and even the first few months of school, everyone is trying to meet people. No one will think you are weird for starting a random conversation with them, or asking if they want to walk to class with you. Some of my best friends in university were the ones I met in first year. Talk to people in the elevators of stairways, introduce yourself to someone sitting alone in the cafeteria, smile at people in the hallway and talk to people sitting beside you in class.

2. Introduce yourself to your floormates and to people in other floors

Do not fret if you end up like me and are put on a floor with peers you do not click with immediately. Talk to your neighbours if you are in a single room. If you have a roommate, that is an instant friend right away. You can meet people on your floor and on other floors together. If you are heading down to the cafeteria, ask your neighbours if they are hungry. Share your class schedules and you can walk to class together. In each residence, there are residence “sophs” who are students in their second or third year that live on your floor. Sophs are great mentors and great people to be friends with. The soph team is a close-knit group so you will meet many other sophs from different floors, too. It is nice to see familiar faces while walking the halls of residence and if you do not click with your floormates it is great to have friends on other floors to hang out with!

3. Don’t forget to actually leave residence once in a while

Having study spots, a cafeteria, a gym and bedrooms under one roof makes it tempting to stay indoors for days. However, it is important to leave the building and explore the campus; that’s how I found some of the best study spots, through exploring the world outside of residence. Going for a walk on campus can be a super productive study break and it never hurts to get some fresh air.

4. Know who your residence manager is

Each residence has a residence manager who is a full-time staff member and has an office inside the residence. You can reach out to your residence manager by asking your sophs or residence advisor for their contact information. As well, posters are hung up around the residence with their name and email address. Residence managers are really kind, emphatic and knowledgeable about all things Western. They are a great point of contact to access other resources on campus. Another great resource is needtotalk@uwo.ca which can also put you in touch with your residence manager or counsellors. Need to Talk provides counselling for first-year students struggling to adjust to residence, or just need someone to talk to.

5. Do your laundry!

This may seem like a simple concept, but just wait for the inevitable week when you are behind in schoolwork, exhausted and sleep deprived, and you discover you also have no clean clothes. It is times like those when you will be grateful you did your laundry early. In residence you will get a laundry card that you can load money onto. Each wash and dry has a pre-determined cost. In Delaware Hall Residence, each floor has four wings (North, South, East and West) and a laundry room that two wings will share. The laundry rooms in residence can be hectic especially on weekends. It seems like everyone is trying to do laundry at the same time. Therefore, try to do your laundry every two weeks and during the week instead of waiting until the weekend.

6. Everyone is going through the same transition as you … reach out!

Residence was totally different from anything I had ever experienced and although many of my questions were answered during O-Week, I found myself wondering if other people shared my concerns and struggles throughout the remainder of the year. It is important to remember that although sometimes you may feel alone, you certainly are not. There are more than 500 first-year students in my residence, along with a large soph team, residence advisors and staff members. Everyone is there to help each other. If you have a question do not be afraid to ask people on your floor, your sophs, residence advisors or anyone else in the building because chances are, someone knows the answer because they have wondered the same thing! To conclude, I hope these tips prove useful for you and I know it is easier said than done, but try not to worry. Get excited and enjoy it while it lasts, residence is a once in a lifetime opportunity!