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Scared to not find any friends at uni after my experience in London

Hi everyone,
here's my story: two years ago I decided to move to London from Italy (I was 18 basically) as my purpose in Italy was uncertain, didn't know what to do with uni there, family issues and suffered from deeply sadness over the fact I had no clue on what to do with myself.
I decided to buy a one way ticket and go away till summer time, ended up staying in England after two years of sacrifices to get into uni! Right now I can say I'm happy and satisfied cus I settled my new goals and I feel like I got a purpose in my life! :smile:

BUT I'm genuinely scared, in two years here in London I met many amazing ppl, colleagues, random ppl from the street, in pub, kinda everywhere, but I can't say I have a single TRUE friend I can rely on. at first this thing never bothered me, but after I came back from my two months holydays in Italy (due to the covid situation) where I spent literally the whole day with so many friends of mine, having fun and feeling beautiful fulfilled after I've been so sad and anxious in London...made me realize how I do enjoy to have some good friends next to me.
In about a month I have to move to Bournemouth in order to start my Art Uni and everyone keep saying it's so easy to make friends there as you share interests, but still I'm scared to find ppl London like where no one cares about you and no one wants to hang out. I'm usually quite friendly with people and very caring to the ppl I love...do you think in Bournemouth ppl are very likely the ones in London? is it really hard to find new friends even at Uni?

Reply 1

blursi

I visited the Arts uni in Bournemouth for an interview at the beginning of this year, although very sad to say that I've chosen to go to another uni, there's no way that you couldn't make friends there. Bournemouth obviously won't be as big and bustling as the city, but that doesn't stop it from having a lovely community!

I was only there for a few hours for my interview but I talked to several students around the uni and those doing my chosen course, they were all so unique. Each person had their own individual quirks and qualities, it was a very diverse place, like London, and you'll be able to meet people from various parts of the world, even Italy! One girl I met came from Spain and another from Singapore.
I'd definitely say that the people at Arts universities, will always be different (in a good way). It's a very generalised viewpoint, but I can guarantee a lot of other people will agree haha.

They're all very welcoming, edgy as hell and probably the best kind of people to be surrounded by, especially during uni, when you're at first very shy and need to break out of your shell a bit.
I'm not saying all of this just to convince you, it's all true and only from a few hours of experience, think about how many more amazing people you'd meet over the next few years, and how many long-lasting friendships you'd make!

If you ever miss the city life, London's only a, less than 2 hours, train ride away. But I think you'll be just fine :smile:

Reply 2

Satenkari

that's so nice to hear :smile:

I don't think I'll actually miss city life as I choose Bournemouth over London itself because of this reason (and many others, like the crowd, expenses, travel etc) I hope I'll be as lucky as you were, I'm faithful!

Reply 3

nutristudentbu

Hi, I go to Bournemouth Uni so next door to AUB... Bournemouth as a town is much smaller and much more chilled than London, although people here are generally still quite busy and very much driven like Londoners! I recommend looking at the clubs and societies both at AUB and also here at BU so you can meet even more people. Bournemouth is quite multi-cultural and is the second most popular choice for language students outside of London and I know so many people from all across the World here, plus you are only two hours away from the friends you made in London and I'm sure they'd love to come and visit you here. I'm sure you'll love it here but if you have any questions please let me know.