It’s a strange feeling when you are left in your halls for the first time. With the car unpacked and your boxes and suitcases moved in, it’s time for independence, and how you spend your time is up to you.
I remember waving my mum off as she dropped me at uni. A strange feeling of ‘what next?’ hit hard as I realised that I didn’t know anyone yet. Until I remembered the message I’d received through Student Linkup a few weeks prior.
“We’re having a bunch of students over for food on your move in weekend. You’re welcome to join in and get to know people if you’d like?”
I’d only signed up to Student Linkup because my youth worker advised me to, but as it turns out, the messages I’d received from Student Workers were the things that helped me to feel a little more at home, even when everything around me was new.
So that Sunday night, a couple of hours after moving into my halls, I google-mapped my way to a Student Workers house, where I would be greeted by new faces, new spaces and good food. In the moments after the ‘what next?’, it was the local church that welcomed me onto campus.
Shortly after my first evening spent in a new friend’s living room, I chose to make this community the place I’d call home for the next 3 years, and it was here that I thrived in my faith and helped make disciples. It is here that I baptised friends, saw healings and made friends for life.
"The messages I’d received from Student Workers were the things that helped me to feel a little more at home, even when everything around me was new."
It wasn’t the large-scale events or polished Sunday services that helped me to feel at home, but instead, it was the invitation to a new friend’s living room, with good food and good people.
To those welcoming students to your city in a few weeks: be the welcoming face they need. Use Student Linkup to invite and connect with students.
To those starting university: explore churches on the Student Linkup app. You never know what your ‘what next?’ moment might lead to.
