🔗 Share this article

Robert Medhurst spent most of his freshers' week browsing through social media, seeing content about other students' fun nights out.

"I remained in my room," Robert explains, describing the week as the most solitary phase of his life.

The people he lived with seldom socialized, and his course didn't feel very sociable.

Although he tried by going to taster sessions for multiple organizations, he couldn't find his people.

"I gradually lost my self-esteem," he says. "I believed others weren't interested to form friendships with me, or they didn't like me."

Social Media Comparisons

Originally, Robert didn't plan of attending college and was offered positions for post-secondary education.

However he saw his friends living it up as students on Instagram.

"When you've got to get up for employment on weekdays at the morning hour and you observe peers partied on the previous evening, you start feeling others have it better," Robert mentions.

Higher Education Assumptions

Media content and digital networks can glorify the idea of college existence.

Many individuals come to university with great anticipations for what they believe could be the most wonderful time of their lives.

Various learners come to university with "optimistic perspectives," says a mental health professional.

Study Outcomes

• In a poll of first-year attendees early on, students' biggest concern was finding their place and finding acceptance
• Additional research through polling organizations, a significant minority said they were without companions at university
• Over one-third reported they experienced concern frequently about building relationships

Personal Journeys

A different attendee's social media content was filled with content of peers socializing while sharing accommodation in university housing.

Yet when she relocated from London to Sheffield to learn reporting, she found orientation period "daunting" because of the drinking culture it involved.

She abstains from alcohol and had not experienced nightlife before.

"I actually passed considerable time initially inside my accommodation," she says. "I simply experienced a bit alienated."

Emotional Wellbeing Factors

In a 2025 survey of numerous university attendees, 29% said they had considered withdrawing from studies.

The primary factor was psychological wellbeing, accompanied by economic considerations.

"Anxiety about these various aspects is extremely prevalent, and expected," adds a counselling expert.

Identifying Resolutions

Eventually, all three individuals all found their feet and developed friendships.

She built connections via her studies and via social media, while Christina felt happier once she was able to move in with friends.

Useful Suggestions

For Robert, presently older and in his last year, it was joining his university's drama society and working occasionally that supported social connection.

Robert's advice to new attendees experiencing connection challenges is to just "get out of your room" and go to club and society taster events.

"Subsequent to periods of continuous participation, individuals become familiar with you," Robert says, "you recognise theirs, and friendships begin forming."