How to stay in touch with loved ones

Staying in touch with your loved ones is arguably one of the most important considerations for any student, especially those who have decided to study abroad as part of their degree qualification. With cutting edge student accommodation across the UK, Spain and Portugal; this is something many of our residents speak to us about here at Collegiate, so we have duly put together this quick guide for the best way to stay in touch with your loved ones.

Key times of the year 

The biggest challenge with studying abroad and getting settled in a new country can often be surviving key times of the year. Significant events such as birthdays, Christmas or anniversaries of various occasions can compound any feelings of loneliness and these are usually the most important times when it comes to general happiness.

The festive season is usually when this can have an adverse impact on your spirit levels and therefore your studies, so our advice is definitely to ensure you stay in touch with your loved ones as much as you can during these times. Of course, you want to enjoy your time away from home but staying in touch usually provides you with a welcome morale boost when studying abroad.

Quick tip 

If you know you are going to be away from home during these periods, why not pop home for a visit or have a good chat before this period arrives? This can prevent the festive period or similar from creeping up on you and creating feelings on isolation and sadness?

Even a long weekend can help you to catch up with your favourite people and head into these key periods feeling happy and refreshed.

Utilise social media

A lot of the time, through our advice, we tend to warn students away from social media as much as possible, especially during term time. However, when it comes to staying in touch with loved ones and maintaining all-important family relationships, social media can be your friend.

As these feelings of loneliness usually occur away from lectures or campus in general, using sites such as Facebook, Instagram or WhatsApp to chat to those you are missing the most, isn’t the worst idea in the world.

Indeed, the ability to video chat, send multimedia messages, chat as a group and send each other messages with ease, makes the experience all the more enriching and can help you to fill those lonely times until you can get home and see your loved ones face to face.

Studying in Portugal with Collegiate

Staying in touch with your loved ones really is so important, as the decision to study in a region such as Portugal is a fantastic one for your academic and personal progression; so maintaining your happiness is crucial. By keeping your family relationships in great shape and staying in touch with your friends, you can ensure you get the very best from the experience and reap the benefits.

You can find out more about student life in Portugal by perusing the rest of the Collegiate PT website, where we have all sorts of guides and resources for students just like you. You can also take a look at our exceptional student residence, Marquês de Pombal, in the heart of Lisbon and discover more about studying in this great student city.