Let’s talk about community | iQ Feel Good Series

We know that moving to a new country, a new city or just out of your home can be a big move. Being in a new place away from your friends and family can make it easy to feel lonely.  

This Uni Mental Health Day, we’re reminding ourselves and our residents that that doesn’t have to be the case. On Tuesday 12th March, we gathered wellbeing champions - from residents to the iQ team - at iQ Collingwood for our Feel Good Series. This time, we had one thing on our minds – community.  

Our iQ Feel Good Series was led by a panel of experts, influencers and entrepreneurs who each spoke about their personal experiences and understanding of why community is so important for students.  

We were joined by student and social media influencer Nat Roberts, who shared her experience with mental health struggles and discussed the roadblocks that students face. Nat shared some practical tips on overcoming these challenges, including joining online communities if you’re shy. 

Chloe Pierre discussed how individuals can take initiative to build communities around their interests by connecting with others and organising events. Chloe is the influencer behind thy.self, a diverse community of over 12,000+ womxn worldwide who connect through positive self-care initiatives, discussions and communal learning. 

Joy Grenver, Head of Student Life at Northumbria University, who spoke about the benefits of having a community in university life on reducing feelings of loneliness and making the uni experience more enjoyable. 

We also welcomed Julian Issa, Cofounder and CEO of fethr, the friend finding app and masterminds behind our SpeedFriending events at iQ who acknowledged there’s no “right” way to find your community – sometimes it’s down to trying new things. 

Each of our panellists had something different to bring to the table and reminded us that when dealing with wellbeing, being open minded is really important – no two people are the same, but we can try our best to create environments where we don’t feel alone and know that support is on hand when we need it. What's in agreement, though is that finding a community requires a little bit of effort. Joy emphasised that "you have to be present and you have to attend classes, not just because of your studies. But you have to go to the extra things they put on. Really put yourself out there...It isn't going to happen by magic, students have to go out there and find a community, really."

We’ll be hosting two more Feel Good panel events later in the year, so stay tuned on our eventbrite for our next discussion where we’ll share more about how to get the most out of your uni experience and take care of your wellbeing while studying and living with iQ.