Find breathing room before you actually need it

Quiet rooms, Russell Square, calmer event pacing and the version of freshers that does not require hard-launch energy.

The SOAS Welcome Week guide is refreshingly direct: campus can get loud and busy, so there are designated quiet rooms, and Russell Square is nearby if you need green space. That is not a side note. It is part of how you make the week sustainable.

Wellbeing resources

See what’s on, carefully

Students taking a quiet moment on campus

Students taking time out from a busy day

The quiet option is already in the official guide

SOAS says the designated quiet rooms during Welcome Week are S211, S214 and S216 in the Paul Webley Wing, and asks everyone using them not to hold conversations or play music. That is a very real campus resource, not an unofficial hiding place.

The same page points out that Russell Square is nearby if you want fresh air and a green space to recharge, which is useful when your brain needs something less fluorescent than another corridor.

A quieter week is still a real freshers week

Build a smaller timetable

MySOAS lets you choose events by category and date, so you can stop pretending every invitation deserves the same priority.

Use support before a crisis

The wellbeing page explicitly says university life can be great and challenging at the same time, and points students toward counselling and wider support before things escalate.

Talk to people at your pace

Students writing about Welcome Week say to talk to people and get out of your comfort zone, but that does not require doing every event at full volume.

Use the JCR as your familiar base

The SOAS Students’ Union page describes the JCR as a welcoming community space for society meet-ups, study breaks, discussion, sports screenings, music and unwinding. That kind of familiar base can steady the week fast.

Balance is part of the experience

The first-year advice from SOAS students keeps returning to balance, little routines and actually enjoying small moments. Freshers works better when you build in recovery.

Ask for human help early

If life and studies already feel difficult, the wellbeing page says the SU can help you access university support and options outside SOAS too.

Three low-pressure habits that make the week better

Choose fewer things, not every thing

The best use of the Welcome Week timetable is deciding what to skip. Leave space between plans, especially if you know loud rooms or crowded travel drain you quickly.

Give yourself one reset point on campus

That can be a quiet room, Russell Square, Coffee Pod at a non-peak hour, or just a familiar route. The point is having somewhere your nervous system already recognises as easier.

Use support before the backlog forms

If you already know the week is stretching you, jump to Advice or Wellbeing early. Getting support while the issue is small is vastly better than waiting until it is also urgent.

Welcome Week brochure Health and Wellbeing Making the most of Welcome Week What I wish I’d known in first year

You do not have to do freshers loud to do it properly

Go to wellbeing support

Talk to Advice

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