So, you’ve moved in, settled, made your little house a home… now it’s time to party!!! Kidding. But you know what it is time for? Getting to know the people you live with. And as it turns out, that Meet & Greet invite in my inbox wasn’t just spam — it actually helped.
I’ll be honest, in my first year of uni, I didn’t go to a single fresher’s event. Not one. And while I don’t exactly regret it, I do regret the opportunities and friendships I probably missed. I spent a lot of time thinking, “I’ll meet people naturally” or “I’ll just make friends in my classes”, but really, I just made it harder for myself. So when I saw an invite to a “Meet and Greet” at CODE my first thought was: does it look like I want to meet and greet people?? But something in that email stood out — the reminder that everyone going was in the same boat. No one knew anyone yet, everyone was a bit clueless, and everyone was secretly just hoping someone would say hi first. And so, I went, I’m glad I did.
The event actually ended up being fun (shocking, I know). Even if you’re not a big social person (me), it’s 100% worth it. It’s free, you get food and drinks, and you might just meet people who make your year a whole lot better. Plus, the music? Way better than expected. I was not prepared for the DJ to be like insanely fire.
And don’t even try the “but I don’t know anyone, it’ll be awkward” excuse. CODE has “buddies” there — people whose whole job was to help if you felt lost, answer questions about the city or accommodation, and basically make sure you weren’t standing in a corner alone. You could literally just stick with them the whole time (guilty), and they wouldn’t mind. By the end of the night, I’d already met a few people I still keep in touch with now, which made settling in feel so much easier and way less scary.
Looking back, I think the best part was realising that sometimes you just have to show up. It’s easy to overthink and miss out on opportunities, but if you give things like this a chance, you never know who you’ll meet or what little memories you’ll make. The Meet & Greet set a great first impression for the year, and now I’m genuinely excited to see what other events CODE has lined up for us.
