When starting university most students feel some level of anxiety or concern about meeting new people and making new friends.
We asked some third year undergraduate students whether they had any advice for other blind and partially sighted students starting university for the first time.
Mark from Birmingham - studying Environmental Science
Seeking out opportunities to socialise is the best piece of advice. It sounds common sense but you can't make friends if you aren't in situations where there are people! I can't use eye contact, walk up to people, or easily position myself where groups of people are in a room, so a lot of it is about waiting for people to approach me.
Although this isn't ideal it has made me more determined to use opportunities when I do talk to people to find out about them. I have had great conversations in shopping queues, at the bus stop and when ordering meals and have even made a couple of good friends that way.
I also started up short conversations with the students who sat in front and next to me in lectures.By doing that I started being invited to things when lectures were over, and even had plenty of opportunities to turn down invites too! In the end if you can share ideas and opinions, you will make friends with people like you and they will warm to you.
But don't feel bad when you don't hit it off with everyone you meet, not everyone is going to get on with one another - that is a fact of life and isn't anything to do with you or having a sight problem!
James from Hertfordshire - studying Spanish
When I arrived at university I was living in halls, everyone seemed to be making friends more quickly than I was. I had known my friends at school from the age of 12 and I had taken their presence in my life for granted. I realised that my parents had been a bit overprotective of me and didn't encourage me to get involved with after school activities. I hadn't had a weekend job and transport always was a problem, so I had little independence or the chance to socialise.
That is why I was so excited when I did well enough to go to university because I couldn't wait to make new friends, however, it was a bit of a shock to suddenly not know anyone.
To begin with, I always went back to my room after lectures, which didn't help me meet people. I let the fact I am blind get in the way - I felt shy asking to be guided to the common room. This wasn't helping myself to get some mates.
However scary it seems at first, speak up and say "anyone want to show me where the bar is" - someone will volunteer! This took me a while but eventually I came to the conclusion that the only person who could help me make friends was "me". It was no use waiting for other people to make an effort.
I had thought that because nobody was taking an interest in me that I would never make friends with anyone. I then realised that I wasn't really taking an interest in others either! It was because I was shy, but other people may have thought I just wasn't very friendly.
Looking back to my first few months at university, my advice is be cheerful and friendly with people you meet which is something I didn't do at first because I was shy. However, once I made myself known, spoke up and joined a few clubs that interested me, I started to develop more meaningful friendships. I soon discovered that I was no different to anyone else and made some good mates.
Jane from Glasgow - studying Psychology
I think there is a lot of luck involved in who you meet in the first weeks of college. Some people are lucky and "gel" with the first people they meet, for others, like me, it can take a bit longer to find like-minded people, for me it took until Easter to really feel comfortable with a group of friends, but it did happen!
If you feel lonely because you have left your friends behind, the best advice I can give is to remember that you are not the only person feeling like this. I know this is hard because it can seem like everybody else has made new friends and are involved in groups. It helped me to think about the friends I had made in the past and the group which I had been a part of at school. At first I didn't know anyone there either but eventually I did. It was the same at uni!
I think as a blind student you have to be a bit more extrovert to be noticed for the right reasons. Some people are afraid of disability and I think its because they are scared of things such as saying the wrong thing, tripping over your cane or mucking up when guiding you. I always try harder to put people at ease, which may seem like a pain but the effort pays off.
Around new people I have found that people are less afraid of approaching me when I act like I feel comfortable around them and independent, I know it gets easier with practice because it did for me.
Carrie from Northampton - studying English Literature
For the first few months of college I was making myself upset and lonely because I missed my friends back home - I bottled up all my feelings and pretended that there was nothing wrong but I was feeling very alone and homesick. It wasn't until I talked about what was on my mind, that I felt better and more able to face up to people and be sociable.
My advice to anyone feeling lonely or upset is to try and talk your feelings over with someone you can confide in. A relative, friend back home or one of the university counsellors. It really helped me to talk through my feelings and to be reassured that what I was going through was not unusual.
I could then concentrate on enjoying uni and now I have a couple of good friends and live among a lively group of house mates. Good luck!