Resources and tips to help you survive first year

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Wi-Fi 🛜: One of the FIRST things I had to figure out when moving into halls, and something I helped all my flat mates and friends with (setting up their Wi-Fi for them was a great way to break the ice and start on a good impression 😂). All the campuses and halls of residence use Eduroam, and when you set it up once on that device, it will connect automatically wherever you go. The Uni has a guide for how to set up eduroam on your device, save it now!

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Timetable 📅: Most people know you can access your timetable at https://timetable.soton.ac.uk/, some people know you can access your timetable on the My Southampton App (it isn't the best app currently but its being remade), but did you know you can have your timetable on Google Calendar / Apple Calendar / Outlook Calendar? It is BY FAR the best way to see your timetable, and that way you can plan your other events in your calendar whilst seeing your classes too. No need to look on a website or sign in to another app and go through the whole Microsoft Authenticator process again and again. To add your timetable to your calendar, you need to access your timetable's iCal feed, where you will then see instructions for Google, IOS, and more.

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Emails ✉️: You will get A LOT of emails to your student email address, o staying on top of them is crucial. What helped me was creating several subfolders so I could group my emails how I wanted to, and then I used 'rules' to automatically put them in those folders. This way my main inbox stays manageable and I don't get swamped with emails!

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Maps 🗺️: an absolute MUST HAVE when you're trying to navigate the campus when you start studying (even 3rd years use it too..). The uni has a map of the campus with all the buildings and a search button too at https://maps.southampton.ac.uk/, save it so you can find your way around!

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Building codes 🏢: When I first started studying and I looked at "46/3001 (LT/ A)" on my timetable, I was like "What is this?". But actually, all of these room codes follow the same pattern: _BuildingNumber_ / _FloorNumber_RoomNumber_ (_RoomType_ / _RoomName_ ). For example, "46/3001" means: Building 46, floor 3, rooom 1 (it will say 3001 above the door), and "(LT/A)" mean Lecture Theatre 'A'. You can put the building number into the maps website I just mentioned (handy right?), then go to the right floor and look for the room from there. However, very unhelpfully the building's numbers make no sense at all - building 2 is next to building 100 and building 56, not inbetween 1 and 3 like you'd expect.

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Room bookings 📋: Sometimes you might want to book your group a room in the library or elsewhere on campus for a group study session or group coursework meeting. It took me a while to realise there different websites and systems to book different places. Here you can book a library room and see what rooms are free. For the majority of campus, you can use https://roombooking.soton.ac.uk/. However some faculties use Outlook Calendar to book rooms, check there if its not on the main site

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Printing 🖨️: To print at the libraries, you need to go to https://myprint.soton.ac.uk (there is a bit of a pattern of thing_you_want.soton.ac.uk which is quite nice), then add credit to the account, queue the printing, then go to a printer and touch your student card on the printer to start the printing.

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Getting IT help 💻: In the library foyer there is the Tech Hub, where members of iSolutions are there to help you with any tech related problems, or you can access them remotely through the service portal.

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Security 👮: There are security patrols there to help 24/7, either around campus or on the emergency phone number which I'd recommend saving in your phone in case of emergency. SUSU also runs their own free 'Safety Bus' to take you from the campus to your accomodation after some late nights too to help you stay safe.