The Student Room Group

Not drinking or clubbing at uni

Hi, I'm starting at Queen's Uni Belfast in September and it seems that most of the freshers activities are centred around drinking and clubbing, which is something I don't enjoy at all and I don't drink alcohol. I'm worried that me not going clubbing will make it harder for me to make friends as it seems that's what most people do :/ I was wondering if anybody has any advice on how to make friends if I don't drink, and if there's anyone else going to QUB in a similar position?
Reply 1
Original post by Anonymous
Hi, I'm starting at Queen's Uni Belfast in September and it seems that most of the freshers activities are centred around drinking and clubbing, which is something I don't enjoy at all and I don't drink alcohol. I'm worried that me not going clubbing will make it harder for me to make friends as it seems that's what most people do :/ I was wondering if anybody has any advice on how to make friends if I don't drink, and if there's anyone else going to QUB in a similar position?

Hi

You don't have to go to university and drink 🍻 🍻 and go clubbing okay.

You can always find something else to do with yourself and also make friends..... As you may find other people in similar circumstances as yourself who doesn't drink or go clubbing but have other interests they can do.

You can go to the cinema, tenpin bowling, snooker/pool and lots of other stuff

Sorry I'm not a qub student

I went to a university in Scotland and qualified as a midwife and I had people in my cohort similar to you.
(edited 2 months ago)
Hi! I'm a current student at Queen's (starting my second year this September) and I'm the same way! I don't drink, and I'm not a fan of clubbing or going out at night in general, so I was worried about freshers as well last year. It is definitely a big thing for a lot of people, but not going definitely doesn't mean you miss out on making friends - there are events during the day for those who don't want to go to the clubbing ones, organised by the uni, societies and your accommodation. Not sure where you'll be living but if you're in Elms BT1/BT2/BT9 then they do a bunch of weekly events for people to meet others, and I'd say most of those are not drinking-related, and I'd also recommend joining a couple of societies related to things you're interested in (you can find info about those on the Queen's Student Union website, and freshers' fair is a great place to learn more about them). There's also people on your course that you'll meet over time, so there are always opportunities to meet new people/potential friends! A lot of people focus on the drinking side of socialising, but from experience it's not super hard to find people who don't, as long as you put yourself out there a little.

Hope that helps, and good luck on starting your first year :smile:
Reply 3
Original post by Anonymous
Hi! I'm a current student at Queen's (starting my second year this September) and I'm the same way! I don't drink, and I'm not a fan of clubbing or going out at night in general, so I was worried about freshers as well last year. It is definitely a big thing for a lot of people, but not going definitely doesn't mean you miss out on making friends - there are events during the day for those who don't want to go to the clubbing ones, organised by the uni, societies and your accommodation. Not sure where you'll be living but if you're in Elms BT1/BT2/BT9 then they do a bunch of weekly events for people to meet others, and I'd say most of those are not drinking-related, and I'd also recommend joining a couple of societies related to things you're interested in (you can find info about those on the Queen's Student Union website, and freshers' fair is a great place to learn more about them). There's also people on your course that you'll meet over time, so there are always opportunities to meet new people/potential friends! A lot of people focus on the drinking side of socialising, but from experience it's not super hard to find people who don't, as long as you put yourself out there a little.
Hope that helps, and good luck on starting your first year :smile:

thank you this is really helpful :smile:
Reply 4
Original post by Tracey_W
Hi
You don't have to go to university and drink 🍻 🍻 and go clubbing okay.
You can always find something else to do with yourself and also make friends..... As you may find other people in similar circumstances as yourself who doesn't drink or go clubbing but have other interests they can do.
You can go to the cinema, tenpin bowling, snooker/pool and lots of other stuff
Sorry I'm not a qub student
I went to a university in Scotland and qualified as a midwife and I had people in my cohort similar to you.

thank you :smile:
Reply 5
Original post by Anonymous
thank you :smile:

You are welcome and hope you will enjoy your time at university and have fun with whatever you do outside of drinking and clubbing. 🤗🤗
Don’t worry I’m in the same boat! I can’t drink due to having epilepsy and I was worried about that but I’d like to be hopeful that there won’t be events centred around drinking 🙂 There are probably lots of people who can’t drink due to medical or religious reasons and that’s totally okay. I’m sure you’ll find other people who don’t want to drink🥰
Original post by Anonymous
Hi, I'm starting at Queen's Uni Belfast in September and it seems that most of the freshers activities are centred around drinking and clubbing, which is something I don't enjoy at all and I don't drink alcohol. I'm worried that me not going clubbing will make it harder for me to make friends as it seems that's what most people do :/ I was wondering if anybody has any advice on how to make friends if I don't drink, and if there's anyone else going to QUB in a similar position?


Hey! I’m starting qub freshers this week and I actually do drink but I’ve decided not to do any nights out, maybe one , just because I’ve already done freshers at a previous uni I’ve dropped out of and honestly I never made any of my past uni friends from those nights out so we will be all good 🫶🫶

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