Before starting her course, Emily reached out to fellow freshers also starting undergraduate degrees at King’s College this September, and they formed a support bubble. When she first arrived, Emily was the only person living in her flat in student halls, which has space for seven. At the time of writing,
After transferring everything into a pile on my bed, I decided to join my social bubble for drinks at one of the girls’ flats. The four of us drank enough Echo Falls to sink a ship, but it didn’t prepare us for the flat party my friend and I were dreading. When we got there, everyone was dressed in the staple look of a vintage sweatshirt and blue jeans. Some were wearing masks, but not everyone.
I’m so grateful to already have a solid group of friends, as I would feel utterly alone otherwise. We’re missing out on the obvious freshers’ week experiences — going to nightclubs and making decisions we’d regret on the Tube the next morning — but I feel like it’s not as alien an experience as people might think. We are still going to the pub, exploring the city, and complaining to maintenance that our accommodation is falling apart.