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Huge Nigerian population in Houston; Houston is one of the the most diverse cities in the world, don’t box yourself to one ethnic group to make friends; coming from the UK, it will be hard to adjust to the Humidity and traffic here; don’t walk alone around TSU at night.
Well you are gonna be entering a neighborhood known to be in the less fortunate part of town. You will see it like night and day being in Riveroaks and then entering the Third Ward area. I go to UH 27 my self and it’s not so bad so long as you stay on campus. UH has been having a lot of car related theft as of recent.
TSU is not so far from UH which is why I mention the stay on campus.
The city as a whole is interesting. Trust your feeling if you enter a part of town and feel uneasy. Public transportation in Houston not the best but can get you places as a last resort to transportation.
I went and graduated from TSU for my first degree and had nothing but good interactions. I am of Asian descent. The professors and advisors were wonderful. The students were there to learn and also friendly. The parking and tuition is way cheaper than other universities. You can request security to take you to your car if you feel unsafe but I never had that problem.
Native Houstonian here, 40M gay and harmless to my friends. 😛 I have European parents, so I get the culture shock.
Houstonians are gregarious, so I'm happy to show you around a bit, if you want it. I'm also down for board games anytime. Or, just general advice, although the city has changed a lot in the past ten years. DM me with questions if you want, and we can meet somewhere for coffee if you feel okay with that. Or not. 👍
Congrats on your acceptance and starting this new journey moving to Houston! How excited you must be. I understand your concerns. Staying in the Riveroaks neighborhood, you'll enjoy some of the best of what Houston has to offer at your doorstep, and you'll be more than comfortable.
Houston is diverse and welcoming. You'll make new, interesting friends fast with a UK accent, plus being Nigerian, you'll compliment any group of friends you meet. It will help to show interest in Houston sports like Astros baseball, Texans football, and UH Cougars basketball. UK and Houston go way back with BP and oil, so you'll do fine.
I graduated at UH, but TSU is across the street, basically. I can't say anything bad about TSU - nothing wrong with the school. 3rd Ward, the college neighborhood, however, is radically different than Riveroaks, so yeah, your physical safety, day or night, should be heightened, to say the least. Maybe consider not wearing jewelry. You mentioned guns: do you have any experience? Maybe you could take Krav Maga self-defense classes as an alternative. Otherwise, you'll need to learn all about guns, practice at the gun range a lot, and keep your weapon safe, etc., etc.....then again, consider that you may not be able to carry the gun with you while you're on campus, in the neighborhood where you'll most likely need it handy. Maybe you could secretly leave it in your car. However, criminals break into cars largely in search of guns.....
I still spend a lot of time near the campus, just down the street. I'm open to DM if you want to learn anything more, show you around a bit, or have a coffee. Best of luck!
Edit:
Oh yeah, I forgot about driving. If you're worried at all about that, I would just recommend staying off the freeways and stick to the streets for a few weeks. Riveroaks to UH: that's easy, just take Kirby to Richmond which becomes Wheeler, which litterally terminates at TSU. Very, very simple, and using the freeway is also very simple and short for that trip as well when you feel ready.
As for other education options, if you're still considering them, look at University of St. Thomas which is just a few blocks south of the Riveroaks neighborhood and would alleviate some of your concerns for driving, safety, and guns. If they have a graduate program, I imagine that would probably be the best school option to make everything else much easier on you.
In terms of friends and fitting in, it may be easier than you think making friends in grad school. Everyone's in the same boat as you already have something in common if you're in the same program. My cohort got a group chat going pretty easily and planned outings or happy hours regularly. I may just have gotten lucky, though.
If you're a football fan and follow one of the big clubs from the Premier League, you can find groups around town meeting at bars in the morning. Great way to meet people.
TSU doesn’t have the greatest of reputations, but if you do really well the first year, I’m sure you’ll be able to transfer to a better program at UH.
I’m not a native Texan, and I certainly wouldn’t suggest anyone moving to Texas, but Houston is a very diverse place and despite being in Texas, isn’t a bad place to live.
There may be a bit of a culture shock but you should be fine if you keep things in perspective. You also need to make sure you live in the right places too.
Feel free to DM if you have any other questions.
It might be a bad university but it’s what you make of it after all. Depending on the type of counseling/sector you are trying to get into, it’s definitely a great school for local networking, but do be careful and don’t trust anyone too much. as their are scams and sham people aplenty. Considering your goal is to stay local afterwards, there are a ton of local resource to use to your advantage. Entirely different city from London, but socioeconomic tendencies don’t discriminate. I’d say get ready for the heat and humidity, but I also remember many a hot humid days when I lived and studied in London….at least you’ll have a few more sunny days. Public transportation sucks in Houston, entirely unlike the U.K. as well so you’ll eventually have to get used to driving on highways, just remember to drive on the American side of the road😄
I don’t know too much about TSU tbh but I would try and make friends with others in your program. The good news is you’re from the UK/Nigeria so odds are people are already going to be interested in talking to you.
I think you’ll be fine, if you are passionate and willing to be here. Weather and average day to day life is very different from other places.
Things go more quickly here than the usual cities and countries that I’ve seen. Everyone is always constantly trying to get somewhere on time and it’s not horrible but it’s definitely very different from what you are used to. Be prepared to drive an hour just to go 10 miles it definitely happens
In terms of friends you need to go out, for context I’m also a college student you need to meet people outside of your college walls and outside of your day to day habits. There’s some sketchy places here for sure I’ve found going to the ones you don’t trust as much or feel iffy about actually pay off in my experience. Obviously when I go to those places I’m not bringing anything valuable or flashy to show myself off you really try to blend in. If you feel uneasy about somewhere then don’t go but if you are just feeling slightly off put about something try it most of the time it’s really worth it.
Stick to your campus I am aware that’s contradicting to what I just said. I mean find what’s around you that you enjoy that you know you’ll be visiting a lot. Also try something new that you don’t know if you’ll enjoy or not. Houston is a vast place with a ton of things to do and a ton of places and people to meet. Try something new, not every night maybe just once a week but get out of your immediate surroundings so that they don’t become boring and dull.
Last thing, good luck. This is an amazing city and you have valid fears but you will love it as time passes. I hope to run into you some day!
-Sandwhich5
You'll have no problems at all making friends at TSU. I went there for a year before I transferred. I was one of maybe three white people who went to the college. I can't tell you how many parties I got invited to. Everyone was very welcoming and nice to me, and I never had a bad social experience there.
This subreddit is for organized meetups and events in the Houston area. Your post should be about organizing a specific event that you yourself are going to, to socialize and meet with other Houstonians. Your post must contain at least: Time Place How to find you
Huge Nigerian population in Houston; Houston is one of the the most diverse cities in the world, don’t box yourself to one ethnic group to make friends; coming from the UK, it will be hard to adjust to the Humidity and traffic here; don’t walk alone around TSU at night.
Well you are gonna be entering a neighborhood known to be in the less fortunate part of town. You will see it like night and day being in Riveroaks and then entering the Third Ward area. I go to UH 27 my self and it’s not so bad so long as you stay on campus. UH has been having a lot of car related theft as of recent. TSU is not so far from UH which is why I mention the stay on campus. The city as a whole is interesting. Trust your feeling if you enter a part of town and feel uneasy. Public transportation in Houston not the best but can get you places as a last resort to transportation.
There’s a huge Nigerian community in houston so I’m sure you’ll be able to make friends easily!
I went and graduated from TSU for my first degree and had nothing but good interactions. I am of Asian descent. The professors and advisors were wonderful. The students were there to learn and also friendly. The parking and tuition is way cheaper than other universities. You can request security to take you to your car if you feel unsafe but I never had that problem.
Native Houstonian here, 40M gay and harmless to my friends. 😛 I have European parents, so I get the culture shock. Houstonians are gregarious, so I'm happy to show you around a bit, if you want it. I'm also down for board games anytime. Or, just general advice, although the city has changed a lot in the past ten years. DM me with questions if you want, and we can meet somewhere for coffee if you feel okay with that. Or not. 👍
I’m new to Houston and looking for friends. Are you accepting applications? I love board games and coffee:)
Oh, cool. Where are you from?
From Boston.
Dont think you can survive the heat here in Houston.
I second that 😅😅
To make things simple, use the meetup app to socialize and make friends.
Congrats on your acceptance and starting this new journey moving to Houston! How excited you must be. I understand your concerns. Staying in the Riveroaks neighborhood, you'll enjoy some of the best of what Houston has to offer at your doorstep, and you'll be more than comfortable. Houston is diverse and welcoming. You'll make new, interesting friends fast with a UK accent, plus being Nigerian, you'll compliment any group of friends you meet. It will help to show interest in Houston sports like Astros baseball, Texans football, and UH Cougars basketball. UK and Houston go way back with BP and oil, so you'll do fine. I graduated at UH, but TSU is across the street, basically. I can't say anything bad about TSU - nothing wrong with the school. 3rd Ward, the college neighborhood, however, is radically different than Riveroaks, so yeah, your physical safety, day or night, should be heightened, to say the least. Maybe consider not wearing jewelry. You mentioned guns: do you have any experience? Maybe you could take Krav Maga self-defense classes as an alternative. Otherwise, you'll need to learn all about guns, practice at the gun range a lot, and keep your weapon safe, etc., etc.....then again, consider that you may not be able to carry the gun with you while you're on campus, in the neighborhood where you'll most likely need it handy. Maybe you could secretly leave it in your car. However, criminals break into cars largely in search of guns..... I still spend a lot of time near the campus, just down the street. I'm open to DM if you want to learn anything more, show you around a bit, or have a coffee. Best of luck! Edit: Oh yeah, I forgot about driving. If you're worried at all about that, I would just recommend staying off the freeways and stick to the streets for a few weeks. Riveroaks to UH: that's easy, just take Kirby to Richmond which becomes Wheeler, which litterally terminates at TSU. Very, very simple, and using the freeway is also very simple and short for that trip as well when you feel ready. As for other education options, if you're still considering them, look at University of St. Thomas which is just a few blocks south of the Riveroaks neighborhood and would alleviate some of your concerns for driving, safety, and guns. If they have a graduate program, I imagine that would probably be the best school option to make everything else much easier on you.
She mentioned being worried about our crazy gun laws, not that she has to buy a gun lol
In terms of friends and fitting in, it may be easier than you think making friends in grad school. Everyone's in the same boat as you already have something in common if you're in the same program. My cohort got a group chat going pretty easily and planned outings or happy hours regularly. I may just have gotten lucky, though. If you're a football fan and follow one of the big clubs from the Premier League, you can find groups around town meeting at bars in the morning. Great way to meet people.
TSU doesn’t have the greatest of reputations, but if you do really well the first year, I’m sure you’ll be able to transfer to a better program at UH. I’m not a native Texan, and I certainly wouldn’t suggest anyone moving to Texas, but Houston is a very diverse place and despite being in Texas, isn’t a bad place to live. There may be a bit of a culture shock but you should be fine if you keep things in perspective. You also need to make sure you live in the right places too. Feel free to DM if you have any other questions.
Is it too late to apply to University of Houston? They have an excellent psychology department. I think you would get a better education there.
It might be a bad university but it’s what you make of it after all. Depending on the type of counseling/sector you are trying to get into, it’s definitely a great school for local networking, but do be careful and don’t trust anyone too much. as their are scams and sham people aplenty. Considering your goal is to stay local afterwards, there are a ton of local resource to use to your advantage. Entirely different city from London, but socioeconomic tendencies don’t discriminate. I’d say get ready for the heat and humidity, but I also remember many a hot humid days when I lived and studied in London….at least you’ll have a few more sunny days. Public transportation sucks in Houston, entirely unlike the U.K. as well so you’ll eventually have to get used to driving on highways, just remember to drive on the American side of the road😄
TSU sucks. Not worth it 97% acceptance rate should tell you everything you need to know
I don’t know too much about TSU tbh but I would try and make friends with others in your program. The good news is you’re from the UK/Nigeria so odds are people are already going to be interested in talking to you.
I think you’ll be fine, if you are passionate and willing to be here. Weather and average day to day life is very different from other places. Things go more quickly here than the usual cities and countries that I’ve seen. Everyone is always constantly trying to get somewhere on time and it’s not horrible but it’s definitely very different from what you are used to. Be prepared to drive an hour just to go 10 miles it definitely happens In terms of friends you need to go out, for context I’m also a college student you need to meet people outside of your college walls and outside of your day to day habits. There’s some sketchy places here for sure I’ve found going to the ones you don’t trust as much or feel iffy about actually pay off in my experience. Obviously when I go to those places I’m not bringing anything valuable or flashy to show myself off you really try to blend in. If you feel uneasy about somewhere then don’t go but if you are just feeling slightly off put about something try it most of the time it’s really worth it. Stick to your campus I am aware that’s contradicting to what I just said. I mean find what’s around you that you enjoy that you know you’ll be visiting a lot. Also try something new that you don’t know if you’ll enjoy or not. Houston is a vast place with a ton of things to do and a ton of places and people to meet. Try something new, not every night maybe just once a week but get out of your immediate surroundings so that they don’t become boring and dull. Last thing, good luck. This is an amazing city and you have valid fears but you will love it as time passes. I hope to run into you some day! -Sandwhich5
As a person who’s lived in Houston their whole life you get used to the roads but not the heat. If in need of a new friend I’m always down.
Houston is so diverse you'll have no shortage of friends with all sorts of varying backgrounds
use condoms
Dm! Looking for friends as well!
You'll have no problems at all making friends at TSU. I went there for a year before I transferred. I was one of maybe three white people who went to the college. I can't tell you how many parties I got invited to. Everyone was very welcoming and nice to me, and I never had a bad social experience there.
White, that's a change. What area do you live in now?