Niamh Griffin discusses the importance of taking your time and moving at your own pace when starting in UCD

By Niamh Griffin | Sep 10 2026

There are no two ways around it – going into college can (and probably will) be pretty daunting. You may already be feeling a huge rush of emotions after making it to UCD. Now you also have to figure out how to get around, manage your classwork, and all while making the most of your new start.

But there’s really no need to panic.

While UCD may feel huge and busy, there is a spot for absolutely everyone. Firstly, UCD has a huge range of societies, clubs and organisations which are all there to improve your experience. It doesn’t matter what your interests are, your course is, or how you want to spend your time here. Whether you’re into darts, chemistry or Harry Potter, there’s a community to be found for every student.

What if I don’t find my people straight away?

While there are opportunities everywhere, what happens if you join a society and don’t find a friendship with anyone there? What if you don’t form a friend group with the first people you talk to? What if you don’t have things in common with the people in your course? The thing is, this is a pretty common feeling and experience for people coming into UCD.

Ella, a third-year Bio-Med student in UCD, remembers her first week well. She went from lecture to lecture, hearing people swap socials and make groupchats. People were already planning nights out while she was trying to figure out how to get from Sutherland to the Ag Science building.

Freshers Week is a huge moment in the UCD calendar, but that’s all it is, one moment. Just one single week that is absolutely jam-packed with opportunities to meet new people and explore the campus, but that doesn’t mean it’s your only chance to make friends. Whether you’re in UCD for one semester, one year, or many years, you’ll meet new people every single time you step onto campus.

We really are all in this together

Every new student in UCD is in the same boat. Chances are, any fresher you spot walking around is feeling just as nervous. They are also trying to find their groove and make new friends.

Making friends in a new place can be a process. Don’t be afraid to lean into the awkwardness of it all! It can no doubt feel weird to approach someone and make conversation. However, you’ll probably end up patting yourself on the back for exchanging names with someone new.

Even if it doesn’t turn into a life-long friendship, a familiar face is nothing to take for granted. Say hello to the person sitting next to you in lectures. Lean into the icebreakers you’ll have to do in orientation. You never know how a friendship can spring up.

Give yourself some time

While speaking to final year students about being a Fresher in UCD, one opinion stood out. Making friends in college is a process, and it can happen gradually.

“Talk to anyone. Everyone’s waiting to meet friends, if you see someone who looks approachable, just go for it,” says Zoë, a final year student in Classics, English, and History.

You could end up meeting the best friends who will stay with you throughout life in your last year of college, or it could happen on your third week, everybody’s different.

If you see a friend from home who seems to have found their groove instantly, don’t worry. You'll find your own groove too before you know it.

First year is designed to be an introductory period. You mightn’t feel completely at home right away, it might even take you until second year to feel settled. Eventually, you’ll realise time has passed and you’ve made friendships, you know your way around, and you feel like you belong in UCD.

Don’t compare your Freshers’ Week to someone else’s

Feeling the pressure of seeing others around you settling in can be intense, especially with the frenzy of Instagram posting.

It can be hard to scroll through the feeds of your friends from home as you focus on navigating new places on your own. You see new connections being made, and might feel like  you’re being left behind. Maybe you’ll also start comparing your Freshers Week to theirs.

But it’s important to remember that these posts don’t always show the whole story. Just because someone is smiling with friends in a photo, doesn’t mean they feel any more settled in than you.

People drift apart from first-week friends, and connections are constantly changing.

Your course doesn’t have to be your ‘found family’. You might make friends through a part-time job, or through elective modules, or even become mates with the same person you always see on your bus route.

Finding “Your people” doesn’t always look perfect

UCD is a big place. Sometimes, even with hundreds of Fresher students around you, it can feel like you don’t have a soul to talk to or wave at. Even if you have a familiar face to sit with and say hi to, you mightn’t feel secure in these friendships. Loneliness can be a hard thing to deal with when you’re coming into a new college.

It’s okay to leave campus after a long day and want to phone someone from home, or have some time by yourself. It doesn’t mean this is your whole college experience, it’s just one part of coming into your independence and figuring out a new environment.

Finding ‘your people’ in college doesn’t always have to mean a picture-perfect friend group. It can be the person you always sit with in one module,  that person you see once in a while for coffee in between classes, or the partner in a group project you stayed friends with. UCD’s size can be daunting, but it can also mean there are opportunities to find community everywhere.

You have years to find your way

Friendship in college takes time. Freshers Week is one week; you have years to find your way. If you don’t find your people right away, it  doesn’t mean that you’ve ‘failed’. Feel free to take it slow. Say hi to the person sitting beside you, join a society or two, or even go to a coffee morning by yourself. We promise you, everybody is too wrapped up in their own feelings of nervousness and uncertainty to even notice anything “off” about you.

After a while you’ll understand that all these small moments are really what make up your college experience. In your final year, you’ll look back and be proud of how far you’ve come!