Stridi

Hey guys! It’s Matt here. How are you all doing? I thought I would try something a little different with this piece. An old uni contact kindly sent me a handout about the lovely (but maybe a bit scary) topic of: Making Friends! So, today I’m going to share some tips with you about how to make some new pals.  The thing is, we all need our alone time. Our quiet time. Our “me time”. Whatever you want to call it, it’s beneficial for your mental health, particularly if you have social anxiety. Whether you use that time to chill out and read a book, watch TV or just sit in your bedroom enjoying the silence. Alone time is good for us and allows us to relax, unwind and reflect in the company of our thoughts.  Photo by Sofia Garza from Pexels   However, too much alone time will start to reduce our social skills and thus make it a little bit harder to meet people and ma...

Hey guys! It’s Matt here.  I’ve been wondering what to write for my latest blog post – we’ve covered fitting into your new house, as well as surviving third year, and we’ve had some awesome people sharing some great stuff about close friendships at uni, being in denial about your anxiety, surviving in the workplace and overcoming social anxiety.  Photo by bruce mars from Pexels So….. what next? Well, I thought I’d tell you a story about my own loneliness during university. I did my BA degree over four years. It was only a three year course, but I ended up repeating second year for various reasons. During second year and fourth year, I had years where I found some genuinely awesome people to live with and I made friends who I’ve stayed in touch with. They were my happiest years.  But in between… it was a different story. So lets head to third year (which...

This article is by Daniel and is called :  I Met My Best Friend at Uni, And It Changed Everything For Me When I decided to write a piece about my experiences at university, I thought I’d start at the beginning, with my first day. Weirdly for me, I don’t remember it that clearly. I have an astonishing memory. And that’s pretty much the only positive thing I’ll say about myself – ever. But, yes, my memory is very good and is my greatest asset. I can remember dates, statistics, anything factual with absolute ease. I can tell you without having to even consider using Wikipedia that Liverpool drew 2-2 with Young Boys in the Europa League group stages on 28 th November 2012, with Jonjo Shelvey and Joe Cole scoring in the 33 rd and 72 nd minutes respectively.  I have no issue in recalling Warrington Wolves’ useless 14-34 loss at home to St Helens on 22 nd September 2018, the same day as Liverpool defeated Southampton 3-0 at Anfield with Joel Matip’s fourt...

5 Quick Tips for a Healthy Fresher's Week! Fresher's week is fast approaching which means the beginning of a HUGE time in your life! Between leaving home, moving in, getting used to the new surroundings and making new friends you then get the excitement of a party week.  Remember : If you don't like drinking don't feel pressured into drinking. So many people think that if you don't go out and drink you'll be an outsider for the next three years but that's not the case. There are plenty of things to do if you don't drink - we'll cover that in a later article.  But if you are excited for Fresher's read these tips! If you take care of your wellbeing you'll have a great week and be able to have fun every night. The last thing you want is to get the dreaded FRESHER'S FLU  and miss out. 1. Budget 2. Healthy Food 3. Sleep 4. Charge! 5. Exercise! Follow us on Twitter...

Hi Everyone! With the new term rapidly approaching, I'm sure the nerves are kicking in - particularly for those of you starting your final year. You've spent the last two years (or maybe more, depending on your course) working hard, making friends and pulling all-nighters in the library. And yet, it will all be over in a few months. Scary, huh? Photo by Nicole Berro from Pexels Looking after your mental health has never been more vital than it will be this year. You're about to enter one of the most significant stages of your life and so, ensuring that you're in a good place, physically and mentally, will go a long way to helping you achieve the best results academically. Exercise and Sports: Yay! I'll take you back to 2015/16 and to my final year at university. I achieved a 2.1 for my BA degree, despite a year where I was plagued by anxiety and depression, partl...

Photo by Juan Pablo Arenas I thought I would to write about how I dealt with my anxiety whilst at Uni, but the truth is that I did not.  In fact, in my four years of University, I spent the first year refusing to acknowledge it as a possibility, and the second and third in denial, and the fourth bouncing back and forth between treatment, denial and frequent panic attacks.    I thought that anxiety was not a thing I was “allowed” to have, that it was seen as either something to be prayed away, or an illness for rich people with nothing else to do and time on their hands. If I went back home saying I have “anxiety”, my family would have assumed it was something I “picked up” like a person picks up a quirky affection to make themselves seem more interesting and complex. And to a certain extent, I believed this too. I thought I was too privileged to have anxiety, too fortunate to be depressed and too African for the two together. So...