Checking in with yourself: Managing your mental health as a first year

Need to battle the newfound stresses and challenges of your first term? Try these tips


Now a few weeks into your first term at the University of Lincoln, you’re perhaps feeling the full effect of encountering such unfamiliar surroundings as a young person. For many of you, this will be the first time you’ve left home and thrust yourself into a world of back-to-back lectures and rushed deadlines. Wishing you could text your family pet to tell them how much you miss them? Resisting the urge to repack your room in the middle of the night and catch the first train home?

Many students encounter – and struggle with – the active maintenance of mental health during their first year.  The pressure to be having fun and to be making memories can sometimes only magnify the discomfort of wishing you were back in more comfortable surroundings. Although it is satisfying to repeatedly abuse the snooze button, a productive university experience cannot function without the ability to manage your time, and your mental health is a huge factor in ensuring that this can work. Here are some top tips for maintaining your stress levels and productivity during your time at Lincoln, to ensure you get the most out of your years here.

Go for autumn walks, either alone or with others

Lincoln is a beautiful place to explore and discover more about when you desperately need to get out of your four walls. With autumn amongst us, there is arguably not a better time of year to experience Lincoln. Grab your coat, slip on your gloves, and take a walk into the city. This can be something you do with a friend, that may be encountering the same struggles as yourself during these initial weeks at uni.

Equally, this is also beneficial to do alone – grab your headphones and Hot Girl Walk your way to West Common. Being outside for even small amounts of time can help to gain perspective on your surroundings. More often than not, the things we worry about most are minuscule in the grand scheme of things.

Keep a diary of some form

Perhaps not an idea that everybody will initially be on board with, but it is a rather versatile suggestion. When you’re overwhelmed with the grievances of daily life, and struggle to understand how people are adjusting so well to this newfound student identity, discussing your worries with yourself can be an excellent way to organise your thoughts.

For those of you that can imagine nothing worse than sitting with a pen and paper to discuss your feelings, technology could be your best friend. Video diaries are an alternative recommendation, and can be done either on your phone or even your laptop – speaking your feelings allows thoughts of stress and worry that are cramped up inside your head to be released, providing you with the space to breathe.

Looking back on times of stress can potentially put things into perspective for you – troubles come and go, but you always remain. The key to this suggestion is finding outlets that work for you to rationalise your feelings so that you can tackle them. Diaries allow you to reflect on memories you won’t even remember in the years to come, and are a great way to retain the moments you’ll never want to forget – even the ones provoked by the inevitable stress of exam season.

Invest in a planner

A planner is an almost underrated solution to mental overwhelms as a student. No longer will you be faced with the embarrassment of being asked for the prep work you didn’t remember to complete, or accidentally becoming an outcast after missing an important society initiation session. Cath Kidston, Moleskine and Papier are ‘high-end’ options for those wanting intricate and detailed planners to help them manage their lives. For more affordable options, take a trip to Lincoln’s Wilkos and get yourself an inexpensive notepad and make your own planner.

Likewise, for the paperless crowd, websites like Notion are a free alternative to paper planners and are almost entirely customisable. An entire page dedicated to your reading goals for Autumn? A photo collage of your Freshers’ memories right next to the list of your impending deadlines? Sites like this can be excellent for organising your university experience into manageable chunks. After all, how scary are deadlines when they’re written in a pretty font?

Call/Facetime loved ones back home

Although not as personal and comforting as actually being with those you love, modern technology has thankfully enabled us to talk to our families whilst being countless miles apart. Talking to those back home is an important way to battle the mental struggles that homesickness can provoke, and allows you to catch up on everything that you’re missing whilst on your own journey here in Lincoln.

Being away from home does not have to be a source of distress, and can instead be considered an opportunity to grow and develop as an individual – yes, this may involve finally learning to cook for yourself instead of relying on parental love to feed you through life.

Confide in Others

University is an optimal place to build friendships for life, whether they’re made in your very first week or later down the line. It is guaranteed that you’re not the only person feeling lonely or uncomfortable, although it certainly feels that way sometimes. The unfamiliarity of a university setting and the new expectations that are placed on you can be one of the most intimidating elements of the first University term. This can leave many students feeling unsure about their decision to embark on such a journey.

One of the best ways to combat this, and to gain some comfort despite the unfamiliarity of it all, is to remind yourself that everyone you’re meeting is almost in the exact same boat as you. Almost everybody will have never attended a lecture, or lived with multitudes of strangers that are so different to what you’re accustomed to back home. Take comfort in the unanimous confusion, and trust that you will find your footing, both as a student and as an individual.

Embrace the Loneliness

University can be an excellent place to learn to love your own company. Spending nights watching Netflix and doing seminar readings can be some of the best spent time during your degree. Missing your mum’s home cooking and not wanting to cook? Order yourself something that, although won’t compare, will remind you how thankful you are for the invention of JustEat.

Amongst the mental chaos and stress of becoming accustomed to being away from home, overexerting yourself in order to socialise can be surprisingly damaging. Take the time to yourself when you know that you need it, and embrace wallowing in the confusion and discomfort. When you look back on your time at University, these times of mental relaxation and grounding yourself can serve as excellent reminders for maintaining your mental health.

Over everything else, the ability to provide yourself with the time to be a human being, as well as a university student, will ensure that you enjoy your time at the University of Lincoln to the max.

University mental health services:

Student Support Centre: [email protected] or 01522 837080

Student Wellbeing Centre: [email protected] or 01522 886400

Further student support information can be found on this website.

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