Listen to our podcast series to hear current undergraduate and postgraduate students share their experiences of studying at Bath.

Episode 4: Support at Bath

Rob: Hello and welcome to this episode of A Place for Possible podcast. I'm Rob Heyes, the Wellbeing Promotion and Induction Team Leader in our Student Support team, and I'm joined by three of our undergraduate and postgraduate students who are going to share some of their experiences of Bath today.

And today's episode is all about Student Support and Wellbeing. Now, when students come to Bath, we understand they're often leaving behind friends, family, who are their support network and in some cases, if they're international students, they could be moving thousands of miles away.

At the University, you'll have plenty of opportunities to meet new people and build new networks, but we're also here to support you if you need it. Our staff are all fully trained to deal with all sorts of situations, including wellbeing, mental health and financial issues, and everything is strictly confidential.

There'll be plenty of opportunities for students to take part in across campus to support your own wellbeing, and support is available from both Student Support and more widely across the University. In fact, our support is available 24 hours a day. This is in person during working hours, and at the end of the phone for out-of-hours support through our Be Well App and Be Well, Talk Now, our phone support line.

You'll quickly realise from the first time you step on campus that Bath has a really supportive community.

So let's get started. Today's guests, Daniela, Yadavi, and Adam are going to talk about their experiences of getting some support and the services they've engaged with here at Bath.

Let's begin with some short introductions. Starting with Yadavi.

Yadavi: Hi, my name is Yadavi and I'm from India. I'm doing my master’s in Clinical Psychology.

Daniela: Hi, I'm Daniela. I'm from Spain and I'm in my second year of studying Psychology. Not a master's yet!

Adam: Hi. I'm Adam. I'm from Greece. I'm doing Politics and Economics, and I'm in the second year of my undergrad.

Rob: Great. So, I think probably the best place for us to start is you leaving home and coming to university. And for all three of you particularly as you're all international students, so that perhaps is even more challenging. Do you want to talk a little bit about how it felt leaving home and coming to university in Bath?

Adam: I think I can answer that one. Firstly, I've never actually been to the UK before; it was my first time going to university, so, it was a bit scary at first, but I knew I wanted to step out of my comfort zone. Although I didn't know anyone here, I had assumed, from before, that there would be support networks and I could find some societies to get into and to find friends here at university.

So, I was definitely nervous but one thing that I think really helped me when I first got here, was finding the Greek society. There were about 100 other Greek students. It really, really helped with homesickness in the first couple of months, just before the Christmas break in the first year, being able to speak my own mother tongue. Being able to relate to them, and obviously the nights out were really fun, too. I think it took me a while to really get into the flow of things, but I lost all my nerves, and I forgot about the homesickness within the first couple of weeks after finding the right groups.

Rob: There's definitely something comforting, isn't there, about finding your group of people here as well and it’s good you were able to do that. Daniela, how about you?

Daniela: I had a similar experience. I had been to the UK before but I had not been to Bath though. I had been to London I think twice and obviously London and Bath are quite different. I'd say I had a similar experience in the sense that societies really helped me find my people, and they also just really helped me feel a bit more at home again. I remember doing Freshers' Week. I went to a Latin American Society event. I'm Spanish, but my parents are from Venezuela, so I still felt a bit at home there. I only really went that one time and I didn't really speak to many people. However, just being there, being able to speak Spanish again, and meeting other international students who were maybe like as terrified as I was, was really comforting in a way.

Yadavi: I think I agree with both of your experiences as well. It was very intimidating for me to move halfway across the globe, it's like an eight-hour, nine-hour flight from India. I think, the moment I landed here, my first plan of action was getting in touch with my relatives.

I just remember this one instant where I had to change my emergency contact from my dad to my aunt here, here, and I'm not very close to her, but that kind of transition really, solidified the belief that yes, I’m here, you know, finally in Bath doing my master’s. It was intimidating, but at the same time, I was looking forward to it.

Rob: You all sound like you quickly found a support network here. Was it reassuring to be able to do that, that quickly?

Daniela: For sure it was reassuring. I will say, I definitely didn't find it immediately. I did find it really quickly, maybe like a week or two in but there was a few days without knowing anyone when I had just gotten here. Those days were really scary for sure, but I think something really great about Bath is that it really facilitates finding other people, especially people who share your interests, who share your cultural background, and that you just have stuff in common with.

Rob: I think that's really important. We get students come to Student Support every year who are only 1 or 2 days in and they feel like they've not found their crowd yet. It’s that message of, it can take a little bit of time.

In two weeks from now, looking back probably feels quite quick, I imagine, but when you're in the moment, you have to trust in the process. The first day or two you might not find your crowd, but it will come and there's lots of opportunities to do that. I think in the moment, it's quite hard to probably realise that, isn’t it?

Yadavi: I think Freshers’ was very intimidating, but at the same time a really exciting week. I made a lot of friends during that time, but as the story of Freshers’ go, they don't really stay. I think, throughout the year, being a part of societies has really helped me build my network.

Rob: And, Yadavi, for you particularly, you're a postgraduate student so you would have done study somewhere else before. Did you find coming somewhere as a postgraduate student any different in terms of like that support network or your wellbeing when you got here?

Yadavi: Yeah, 100%, I think, other than the transition of moving halfway across the globe, it was also the transition of being an undergrad and now being a postgrad. The master’s, is just one year here and the undergrad gave me three years to build a social network, to build my career, to understand what I wanted to do professionally.

But, here it's kind of like a race against time but I'm trying to understand more about myself, about the people around me, while balancing internships and a part-time job. I think the post-grad stress just really seeps into your life, when you know that the career that you're trying to build is pretty close by. I guess that's one of the stresses of being a postgrad.

Rob: Yeah, I guess that time pressure is quite different, isn't it? And you talked quite a bit about the challenge for you felt very career focused coming in as a postgraduate student. Daniela, Adam, for you, was there anything different that was kind of on your mind when you first got here – something you were worried about happening whilst you were at university?

Adam: I wasn't really thinking about my career in the first year I'll be honest. I was thinking more about just getting integrated into my course and with my flatmates.

So, I moved into Westwood Quarry. So, there's 21 of us on the floor, which, in a way, is a good thing because looking back on it now, I had more opportunities to find my group of friends.

I spoke with other people who lived in Quads and smaller accommodations and you're stuck with the same 4 or 5 people and if you don't get along with them, you're just going to have to deal with it for a year.

But, like I said, I was just looking to do all the extra-curriculars to build a good network, and to have a good time. I'm sure it's the same for you as well, Daniela.

Daniela: Well… I did have the added pressure of having to apply for placements from second year onwards so I definitely did try to take advantage of any work development opportunities I had in first year. Or, applying to things that I could start doing in second year and stuff like that, just to ease some of the stress of placement hunting.

But I definitely agree. in the social sense, I was really worried about that before coming to uni, especially because I know the UK's like really big into partying and clubbing, and back home I kind of realised I'm not really into that. I was a bit worried that my flatmates would be all like doing all that stuff and it would be all they wanted to do and that I'm not going to get along with them because I'm not going to go out with them because I'm not comfortable doing that.

But, I'd say Bath definitely gave me a lot of opportunities to make friends who weren't into that scene either, because they organise a big variety of events for Freshers' Week and I really appreciated that. That's how I met most of my friends.

Rob: And, I think what you're saying probably is quite reflective of what most students are like. So, making connections is often one of the biggest fears for undergraduate students. I think there'll be a lot of people that will relate to that who are listening now thinking of university. And, of course, in the postgraduate space, I think equally, what you're saying around being a bit more careers focused is what a lot of people will be thinking, because you've had that opportunity to make those friends and connections before.

At Bath, one of the other big things we're interested in, is how students look after their own wellbeing and the kind of the opportunities to do that for yourself before you come and access some of the support services. Can any of you talk a bit about what you do in your own time to look after your wellbeing and what kind of opportunities you take part in?

Adam: I think building a routine was a big thing for me in, in first year, just to keep on track. Simple things like going to the gym or even, I mean, there's some trivial things, like the Duck Society used to do duck feeding by the lake every Wednesday. I was there every Wednesday, same group of people and it just sort of gave me a little structure.

I knew I had an outlet, to talk to people, to socialise at set times outside of lectures and things like that. Also, another thing I remember was having a calendar sent to our accommodation every month, from the ResLife team with all the events for the following week.

I used to go with a group of friends and we would pick out things that looked interesting and try them. Dog walking was my favourite. It was just really good to get away from the stress of it all.

Daniela: I agree, I think the biggest thing for me was also building a routine outside of all the academic stuff. I think it's easy to get really absorbed in it and just make notes all day or pressure yourself to do all the recommended readings. Well, that might be a me problem – I don’t know – but I think definitely the biggest thing was forcing myself to have free time and taking advantage of all the opportunities the University gave me for that.

You said dog walking. I like the gardening club. I went to that every Wednesday, it's so fun. I've gone to dog walking as well though, and I also used to go to Duck Society, I'm surprised I never saw you there. I wish I still went this year to be honest.

I think having free time, doing things I like, going to events organised by the University – that’s the biggest thing I do to take care of my wellbeing.

Yadavi: I think for me, the Be Well App has been jolly useful. Like you guys said, the dog walking, the gardening club, those are pretty great initiatives and the one that I most likely go to is the cooking classes. What I really like about that is that, they always talk about like student-friendly alternatives.

The recommendations that they give for budget-friendly meals is pretty useful as a postgrad who struggles to make her own meals or batch prep. That's been pretty useful for me. Other than that, there's this pamphlet on the First Bus site, which is called Strut. It's for when you're walking back home late at night and you just feel like you want somebody on the phone with you.

Because my part-time job used to end around midnight, any time that I was feeling a little unsafe, I used to call that number and I think that really helped me stay a little more peaceful at least and for my parents to stay a little more at ease.

Rob: Yeah, definitely. There's such a vast array of things that you can get involved in, and we've touched on things like the societies, like the Greek Society, and there's obviously hundreds of societies people can be involved in, but also there's wellbeing activities, you've mentioned, that cover lots of aspects of health and wellbeing.

But I think what's really important to mention for those as well is, things like the dog walking, the benefits of that. The amount of students that come up and say, I feel a bit homesick and I was missing my dog, but I've done dog walking and that's really helped today. So little things like that, you can introduce into your time, I think students will find it really beneficial.

We've touched on a few here, but there's just so many to take part in. And, obviously as a support service, there's that kind of formal support that we've got available where you can come and talk to Wellbeing Advisor in Student Support or Money Advisor. But I'd like to touch on some of the other support that's around the University as well. You talked a bit about Reslife, and they'll probably be some support available to you within your department for your academic studies. Can any of you talk to us about what you've used across the University?

Adam: Yeah. I think, support from the University, the main thing I was relying on in first year was my Peer Mentor, great guy. He taught me the ropes. He told me how to tackle assignments, what lectures I could go to and how to make the most use of my Personal Tutor to help me get through my year.

He just he gave me a lot of advice, and I think it was just really comforting and reassuring knowing I had someone on my exact course who'd done what I'd done the year prior. And he knew his way around, and he could help me out with any questions I had and any time I had any problems, I knew I could go to him. And, sometimes it's also a little easier to reach out to another student who's a similar age to you for support rather than a lecturer because that can be kind of daunting at times. I'd say the Peer Mentor was one of the big ones for me in first year in terms of support.

Rob: Great.

Daniela: For me, the biggest one was probably the Student Support Advisors. Sometimes I was just having a bad day or something really hacked me off and I just went in and asked to speak to someone. They gave me someone almost immediately, every time and I got to talk about my emotions or rant for a bit.

It's surprisingly helpful because, sometimes, it's just things you don't want to talk about with your friends or your family. Sometimes you just need someone to rant to or maybe to tell someone I'm upset and I want to talk about it. I think the Student Support Advisors are great for that.

Yadavi: For me, the International Student Support Group, which is led by Anne every Thursday, was really helpful. It's basically like one, one and half hours of just craft and activity and, being in UK for the first time, she really helped me understand more about the culture and I made a lot of friends there as well. That's one of the groups that I definitely recommend for international students.

Rob: All right. I think it's interesting how you've all picked out such different things. Daniela, your point about going to the right person for how you're feeling. You know you have those student-based support networks like your Peer Mentor and your societies, which is great for that kind of lived-in experience, but then you've also got the professionals that you can turn to when it's perhaps something you don't want to talk about to your friends. Having all those options available is a really helpful thing. It sounds like you've all accessed various bits whilst you've been here. How do you think that's kind of contributed and supported your overall wellbeing and mental health since you've been here?

Daniela: It's probably contributed a lot. I remember in Freshers' Week, I was struggling during the first few days just with the whole loneliness aspect, like, ‘oh I haven't found my people yet, what if I never will?’ And, just the fact that the University gives you so many opportunities to have people to talk to is great, and it helps a surprising amount, honestly.

Yadavi: I think it's just really good to fall back on something, like Daniela said, so you might not really need it immediately, but you know, throughout the year, that there's this particular group that hang out every day, for example. And, the social events definitely help. And I think my mental health has definitely improved since I've been here.

The first month was really bad especially during the wintertime. I think the winter at Bath event that was running at the University was pretty helpful because a lot of people had gone back home and a lot of people– like me – had stayed here, so it was really good to have something to do during that time.

Adam: I think for me personally, going back to the Peer Mentor, from an academic perspective, I think it helped alleviate a lot of stress. For undergrads it's our first time in university and it's a big jump from whatever we were doing before from A-levels or IB (International Baccalaureate). On my course, Politics and Economics, it's very writing focused, and heavy on academic writing which I'd never done before, things like referencing and bibliographies. I think having another student who's just gone through those modules, who's done that and is there to help you out, to guide you to the resources and tools you need to take advantage of, to get your work done, I think was just so helpful in terms of getting a big load of stress off of me.

Rob: And, we've talked about so much stuff here, I wonder, for people listening, if you just want to comment a little bit about how you remember finding out about all these things because it seems like there's so much happening. Do you remember how you discovered them and found out what was happening?

Adam: Yeah, I think a big part for me was social media actually, especially Instagram, so many pages, the SU page and Res Life as well. I think they post almost daily from a variety of sources and I think from there you can really find out more about events and networks. And I think if you look and you ask around, you definitely will find it. Because there's just so much support in the University.

Yadavi: Yeah.

Rob: Great. And I think what would be a really nice way to finish is if you reflect back about all the things you've talked about today, and you're speaking to a student thinking of joining Bath, what do you think is the one piece of advice you would give to somebody starting at Bath? They're perhaps leaving home and leaving behind their support network. What would be that one piece of advice you would give to them about coming to Bath to, to improve their wellbeing and build new networks?

Yadavi: The piece of advice I’d give is – I'd say – is take it easy. Take it one day at a time. It's very easy to be hard on yourself and pressurise yourself into enjoying university life. So, even if you're living at home with your parents or if you're, like me, halfway across the world, it's still a big change and it can be really daunting.

I think you can find solace, to some extent, knowing that Bath and its people are lovely, and you will be fine, I promise.

Daniela: Yeah, I agree so much. I would give the same advice. I would also say, don't compare your progress with other people's progress. It can also be daunting if you see someone who has an entire friend group, who knows so many people and who has literally met their best friends on the first day of university, and you're just there kind of lonely. Don't compare yourself to others. It won't help. And you will find your people. Just take it easy.

Adam: For me personally, I'd say, my main piece of advice to first years is do everything, do all the extra-curriculars, make time and just go for it. I mean, especially like me with the Greek society, you can fall into a trap where you're very comfortable, it's your people and speaking the language, but then you don't really branch out and find other events going on at the uni.

So, I'd say do all the things. Don't get too comfortable. Always step out your comfort zone. Go for everything. I mean, there's so many societies, there's a wine and cheese society, there's a gin society. I'd never even heard of half of them till I looked to the SU page. And, I've met so many great people from all of these various sources. And, I think that's the main piece of advice. All the extra-curriculars and everything.

Rob: I think that's some really sound advice there, you know, be easy on yourself when you first get here. Give it some time and get involved in as many things as you can as possible to kind of make those new networks and put yourself out there and don't be afraid to do that.

Thank you all for your time and your advice. We hope you all enjoyed hearing about how Bath supports its students. If you've got any questions, please feel free to contact us. Look at Student Support on the University of Bath website or as Adam suggests, start looking at our social media channels, which is a great place to pick up some of the things we do here. We look forward to welcoming you in the next episode and in the meantime, good luck with your studies.