How I used Discord to find friends and housemates at Brighton

“If you’ve got an offer, I recommend you join the Discord community.  It made everything easier.” – Elodie, First Year Music Business Student 

My name is Elodie. I am 20 years old and a first-year student studying music business and media at the University of Brighton. Despite coming from a small town only a short train ride away from Brighton, I chose to stay in student accommodation rather than commuting to push myself out of my comfort zone and fully immerse myself in the University experience!  

How did you first hear about the Discord server and what made you join? 

Once I had accepted my offer to study at Brighton, I received an email from the University inviting me to join the official discord server. I was excited to try and find other students who I would be living and studying with in September so I accepted the invite and joined the server in the hope of finding these new friends.  

Did you feel nervous about joining? How quickly did you feel comfortable? 

I was a somewhat Discord newbie before joining the server! I’d used the app briefly to keep up to date with some of my favourite music artists but never been an active participant. The idea of talking to new people online has always been a bit daunting to me and I often find group chats quite overwhelming. However, I found the Brighton Uni discord was easy to navigate with lots of channels for all kinds of students. This made it so easy to know exactly where to look for everything I needed and then chat in smaller groups. 

How did you use Discord to meet your housemates before you arrived?  

In the weeks leading up to my accommodation move in, I looked through the ‘housing and halls’ channel every few days as people were sharing their flat numbers in the hope of finding flat mates. I left a comment with mine as well and ended up finding two of my flat mates in a week. I messaged them both privately and added them to a group chat on Instagram along with a couple of my other flat mates who I was lucky to have found through TikTok comments. I searched for Brighton uni and looked on the TikTok videos to find other people posting and commenting that were studying that I could connect with. This and Discord together helped me find a range of people. 

What are your top three reasons you’d recommend offer holders join Discord?

I would recommend offer holders join the discord server as it can help to clear up any questions or concerns you have about starting university. It’s also a great way to get talking to other students from your course or who are similar to you, for example, there’s a channel for mature students, neurodiverse students and one for commuters! And of course, it’s a great way to find your flatmates and get to know them before you move in if you’re staying in accommodation. 

What was the most helpful thing about Discord when preparing for uni?

The most helpful thing I found about the University Discord was the amount of questions it helped me answer about University life. Even though I felt nervous to ask questions myself on the server, so many other people did. Everyone is super friendly and the enquiries team are always on hand to provide answers and give their own advice about all aspects of uni.  

I found the tips about student finance to be particularly useful as it was an area I wasn’t super knowledgeable on. The ‘student finance and job hunting’ channel really helped me to feel more confident in how it all works. On this channel, the enquiries team also provided a lot of advice about looking for part time work in Brighton which was incredibly helpful and something which is often less spoken about and can be quite overwhelming to navigate. 

What would you say to someone who has never used Discord before? 

If you haven’t used Discord before, I would say do not worry. It’s super easy to learn to use and the Brighton server is very well organised so you can easily find what you’re looking for. It’s such a great way to get chatting to people and get your questions answered and I can guarantee it will make your university journey a little bit easier. 

How did being part of the Discord make your first month at Brighton easier?

Being a part of the Discord made my first month at Brighton easier as it allowed me to meet the people I am now living with. When we all moved in it was a lot less awkward as it kind of felt like we already knew each other! It also helped me to feel part of the Brighton community from the start, making the transition into University a lot smoother and helped me settle in quickly. 

I hope this helped you to understand more about the Brighton discord server and how beneficial it can be when starting your university journey. If you’re still a bit nervous about this next big chapter, that is totally normal and just remember that everyone is in it together and having similar worries. Joining the discord certainly helped me feel more confident and calmed the pre-uni nerves. So, If you’ve got an offer, I recommend you join the Discord community.  It made everything easier. I would highly recommend it. Good luck with your Brighton journey and see you soon! 

You can watch Elodie’s video about her experience using Discord as a first year student below, or read more about how our Discord server works and join the Brighton online community on our website.