Finding people

What was your experience of arriving at York?

Kabeer (BSc Physics): Moving in is surreal. One moment you’re in a car with your parents, the next you’re surrounded by everyone you’re going to spend the next year with. At York, second and third year students help you move in, make sure you don’t get lost, help you make friends, attend events – it really makes you feel welcome.

James (BA International Relations): You usually go for your first trip into the city together, so it’s not as daunting. I’d stress that there were people who didn’t want to do that initially. One of our housemates didn’t come to say hi until about week six. Now they live with us in our second year house. I think, for them, it was nice to have us to talk to if they wanted to.

Katrina (MSci Psychology): I came as an international student, so I arrived a day earlier than everyone else. We had a weekly college meal, so we put time aside especially to go together as a bonding experience. 

On that point, any top tips for food – cooking, shopping?

James: Oh, I can’t cook at all. Starting uni can be overwhelming, so to have some meals cooked for you is really helpful. I remember our first meal, sitting with the whole block. That got me talking to more people than just my flat. If you go for catered accommodation, that’s the benefit. Just don’t get chips every day, like I did.

Katrina: An advantage of being self-catered is getting to see the dishes your flatmates are cooking.

Kabeer: True. You have such a variety of people who you’re living with. I think in our flat, we had like six countries and cuisines. Seeing what people cooked definitely widened my ability.

James: We have an Italian housemate who makes pizza from scratch. It’s fantastic. We made her try a Greggs pizza once, and she hated it. We had a weekend tradition where one person would cook a meal for the flat, so we got to try different food each weekend.

Kabeer: I made my favourite, paneer, which was nice to share. It meant we were fed at weekends, so one less thing to worry about. It allowed us to celebrate the things people were good at. Even James, with his limits.

James: Even me.

Sports and societies: how have they helped you branch out?

Katrina: Shout-out to Floorball. It’s not a well-known sport here, but big in parts of Europe and Asia. I didn’t think I’d get into sports at uni but I got hooked, and now I’m part of that community. Other than that, there are plenty of unexpected societies – Sock Appreciation Society was one I wanted to try, but they stopped this year. That was sad.

James: My favourite is the Hong Kong Society, who’ve been really welcoming. I’ve applied for a summer abroad this year, so I’ll be going there soon. It’s comforting to have had a kickstart of what to expect. I’d say, ‘Do a Kabeer’: Join as many sports and societies as you can. If they’re not your thing, that’s fine, but it’s good to have different areas of interest to explore.

Kabeer: I’ve just finished as president of our College’s tennis club, working with my committee to bring together events. Formals. Parties. Competitions in Durham, and Lancaster for the college varsity. We get to travel the country. 

York’s collegiate system lets us split popular sports into uni- and college-level clubs, so people who aren’t ultra-competitive can play in a more casual setting. It’s really allowed people to grow. 

I’m on the committee for the Circus and Magic Society too. I tried to teach one of my flatmates to unicycle, but that went disastrously.

James: We left them to it.

Katrina: Nothing broke. It’s fine.

Have you found yourself geeking out with those you’ve got to know?

Kabeer: Definitely. It’s a big advantage, being able to talk to academics about their research. I want to do a Masters, possibly a PhD, and talking to them about how I can build on what they’ve done is really what I feed off. 

I’m working for the surface and astrophysical sciences research group trying to confirm how nuclear fusion occurs in superhot stars. It’s made me one of the top 18 experts in this field … in the world! That’s something you can do when you go to uni: specialise in so niche an area that you become the source of authority. You feel you’re making a real difference.