Getting Started as a Freshman Masters Student IN ABERDEEN

Starting as a freshman Masters student in Aberdeen as an international student is exciting, a little terrifying, and occasionally hilarious if you survive the first week without turning into a frozen statue. Orientation week is not just a week; it is a crash course in survival skills, social instincts, and figuring out how to read a city map that seems designed to confuse you on purpose. You arrive ready to make friends and conquer campus, only to realize that everyone else already seems to know the secret handshake of this city.

First comes accommodation, your initial mini adventure. You show up with a suitcase full of hopes and snacks, and suddenly you are sharing a flat with strangers, debating whose turn it is to take out the trash, and negotiating the thermostat like a tiny UN summit. Some flatmates become instant friends, while others earn silent judgment points for loud shower concerts or mysterious midnight cooking experiments. Somehow, amidst all of this chaos, you start to feel like you might actually belong.

Then there is food, which quickly becomes its own quirky journey. Cooking for one is harder than it looks, supermarket labels feel like cryptic puzzles, and cafés soon turn into sanctuaries. Bonding with classmates over instant noodles at ten PM, swapping snacks, and discovering the best local coffee spots becomes essential survival skill number one.

Next comes the weather. Cold, grey, and typically British, it is both a challenge and a secret companion. Yes, it rains. Yes, the wind has a personal vendetta against your hair. Yes, the sun sometimes plays hide-and-seek for days on end. Yet the drizzle also makes the city cozy in unexpected ways. Grey skies make library corners feel like secret hideouts, misty mornings turn your walks into something cinematic, and when the sun does appear, because it does sometimes, Aberdeen glimmers like a sparkling postcard. Layering up becomes a sport, gloves and scarves are constant companions, and hot drinks quickly turn into lifelines you never knew you needed.

Meanwhile, the first few days are full of tiny challenges. You try to navigate campus maps that look like abstract art, sit in lectures where half the words sound familiar but somehow make no sense, and attend social events where everyone smiles politely, yet you are never sure if they mean it. At the same time, public transport, bank accounts, visa paperwork, and coffee etiquette all become mini side quests in the long, glorious video game called Student Life.

Academics hit differently here. Reading lists are longer, accents are harder to follow, and expectations are higher than anything you have experienced before. Consequently, the library becomes your sanctuary, your escape, and occasionally your anxiety chamber. Exams feel like boss fights, yet somehow pulling all-nighters fueled by coffee and panic works more often than it should. Every assignment comes with a little panic and a little pride, proof that yes, you belong here, even if it does not always feel that way.

Making friends is tricky but essential. Classmates, flatmates, café companions, they all become lifelines. You laugh together about missed buses, confusing instructions, and the cold that seems designed to humble you. Gradually, routines emerge. You discover who actually reads the lecture slides, who is always late, and who brings extra snacks to share, which becomes the unofficial currency of survival.

By the end of the first week, you realize that orientation was never meant to be easy. Rather, it was designed to teach you how to show up, navigate uncertainty, and in your own awkward but determined way, find your place. You now have a roof over your head, food in the fridge, classmates to study with, flatmates to laugh with, buses to catch, and the growing confidence that you can handle this. Aberdeen is cold, rainy, windy, and occasionally dramatic, yet it is also quietly beautiful, cinematic, and full of little victories that make this adventure feel uniquely yours.

And through it all, remember faith matters too. When the city feels overwhelming, exams feel impossible, and the wind threatens to blow you off your feet, whisper a quiet thank you and trust that God has you. Step by step, day by day, you will figure it out. You are not just surviving you are growing, learning, and discovering that with God on your side, you’ve got this.