Hey guys, it's Sanjana here and in this video I'll be talking about how I've made friends here
at LSE and how I stay social.
So I started making friends in Freshers week because there
were a lot of events that were organised so you met different people everyday. It was
kind of overwhelming at times and it was really fun because then you got to exchange numbers,
add each other on Facebook, and then in the following weeks you realised that some of
the lectures that you take are in common so it's just easier to connect with people and
then that's kind of how I started off making friends.
So another way I made a lot of friends is just by meeting people in my hall.
So I live at High Holborn. Here I have a lot of friends, regardless of course - some are doing economics,
some are doing government and economics, some are doing social policy, some are doing management,
some are doing economics and economic history like myself so it's been really great to
meet people of different courses because you generally would not meet them because we wouldn't
take the same lectures. We have a really great common room downstairs and it's just a great
space to hang out with your friends because everyone gravitates towards the common room
because it is the social room of the hall. And that's one of the easiest ways I made
friends here at High Holborn was just to go down to the common room because other people
who are looking to make friends, especially in the first few weeks of university, they
would come down to the common room as well. So I've realised that not all of my friends are
first years, they're also second years, third years and postgraduate students. Also I think
it's credited to two things: one is my hall because High Holborn is a hall for first years,
second years, third years and postgraduates and also because of societies, you meet a
lot of different people in the societies that you join. So this year I've signed up for
four societies, I'm in boxing, trading, economic history and the Singapore society. For boxing
for example, I've never done boxing before but I really do enjoy keeping fit because
I was in competitive football earlier. Boxing was a completely new territory for me but
I realised that it would be a great way to relieve some stress and also get a great workout
in the process. I'm also in the committee for the economic history society. I'm the
director of digital affairs this year so it's a new role and I'm quite excited and the people
that I do work with, they have become some of my closest friends. I'm also in the trading
society which has been really fun because they have a lot of networking events which
have been very useful. They've also had a lot of workshops where they have simulations
so that's been interesting. Another society that I'm a part of is the Singapore society.
So before coming to LSE the Singapore society organised a lot of events in Singapore to
meet people going from Singapore to LSE so that by the time we're here, we're not lost,
we have people that we know here. Some of my closest friends are Singaporeans that I
have met at these networking events back home and it's really fun because sometimes whenever
you're missing home or feeling a little bit homesick, you can always ask someone and we'll
all go to Chinatown and eat chicken rice. Societies are a really great way to meet people
because you initially meet them because you have the same interests and societies are
also great because they distract you from the workload which at times can get quite
intense. However, you also have to take time out to study and to get your work done and
I've noticed that a really great way to get your work done fast and more efficiently is
to do it in a group of friends. So at High Holborn I have a lot of friends and we do
our homework together, it's much faster as well and if you don't understand something
they can help you and vice versa. So now I'm with my roommate Jeannette. Hi I'm Jeannette
and I'm doing law and I'm from Singapore. Have you found socialising at LSE easy? I
think yes and no, yes because everyone I've met at LSE so far is really friendly, really
easy to talk to but I think what's difficult for me is making time to go socialise every
night because law is so busy, we have so many readings and so many essays to do but I think
what really helps is, for me, I like to find my friends to have lunch in between classes,
that really helps. And I think the law department knows we're busy so they organise a lot of
socials and events for us to meet our coursemates. So when it comes to socialising, I think one
of my tops tips would be just to put yourself out there and to be welcoming and to be open
to meeting new people. I think if you do that you'll have a very easy time making friends
here at LSE. So I've hope I've given you guys some good tips on how to be social during
university and I will see you soon. Bye!