RMIT Orientation Carnivale

RMIT Orientation Carnivale - Making Friends

If you are lucky you will have arrived at RMIT with a few people from your old school but perhaps you are totally ON YOUR OWN! Remember that other people are just as keen to meet new people as you are. You will probably make friendships you will keep all your life. Don't panic! You will make friends.

You might feel worried particularly if you are from the overseas, interstate or from the country. Mature age students, people with disabilities and Koori's may be feeling specially isolated too.

How to meet people and make friends

Meeting people is not so hard if you have plenty of interests and are open to new people. You can:

attend lots of Orientation week events - everyone is there to have fun and meet people.
ask a fellow student out for coffee in a break between lectures
start a conversation with anyone - you can decide whether you like them or not later - mix it up!
be active in your course's student association
join a club - you will have lots in common with other members if you join a sporting, recreational, political or religious club.
get involved in an issue - there is a wide range of activism on campus
get involved with the Union Arts with other people who love art, music and theatre
if none of this works see getting support

If you are from overseas you are not alone. There are about 6000 international students at RMIT. You have several extra options for making friends including:

talking to the locals - they're mostly friendly
International Student Orientation events
RMIT Association of International Students - being active- you are automatically a member
cultural clubs are always looking for new members eg: Singapore Students' Association
Centre for International Students and Scholars - drop in and they might be able to put you in touch with other people from the same country

If you are a mature age student, don't worry:

approximately 50% of new students are not coming straight from VCE
if you are a post graduate student you could meet people by joining the Post Graduate Student's Association rpa@rmit.edu.au

If you are from a rural area in Victoria or another state

about 20% of students come from the country, so you are not alone
you might find the Rural Students' Association helpful - they meet each Thursday at 2.00pm in the Chaplaincy Lounge, building 11, city campus
one day though, you'll have bite the bullet and talk to a city slicker

If you are a Koori:

you might be interested in the Koori Education Unit who provide services and networking for Koori students
there are many students who are open to all people and have no prejudice

If you have a disability:

the RMIT Disability Liaison Unit centre provides a safe haven where you can meet people who understand your problems
there are lots of students who are open to all people and are not prejudiced

If you are lonely or need help and you don't know what to do see getting support.

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Orientation is brought to you by the RMIT Union and the RMIT Student Union. Don't know the difference? All can be explained.