So I moved to a different city to complete my third year and, because I was new to the area, I lived in halls of residence. My halls were several blocks of apartments with 4-6 students per apartment, most of which were first year freshers. I soon befriended many other students including my flatmates and coursemates but particularly bonded with the people from the apartment above me. All was great for about the first month there.
One guy from the apartment above who I was initially friends with started to act arrogant towards me. It was small at first and I took it as banter. He would mock me for the course I was studying, my accent, the music I liked and where I came from. One day at the SU bar he accused me of flirting with somebody he liked, and to avoid confrontation, I left. Later he confronted me and we had a big argument but avoided a physical altercation.
Since then, the people in the apartment above me avoided me. They would no longer talk to me or only talked to me when he wasn't about. He would play loud music late at night and stomp on the floor (he was in the room above me) and he would occasionally send me single word abusive name-calling messages over facebook until I blocked him, then he would do it via other people's accounts. I avoided going to the local SU bar that I knew him and my former friends hung out at. If I was walking to campus from my halls and I saw him, I would change direction or go in a shop. I knew he wasn't going to do anything physically but I couldn't be bothered with any harassment regardless.
I didn't tell the security at my halls as I was embarassed and didn't think they would take an adult bullied man seriously. bullying only happens in school playgrounds right? I have never been bullied before or since my stint at that university.
Luckily I got on very well with my flatmates (who also hated his loud music every night!) and my coursemates (who were also third years and far more mature than the freshers I lived around). During my nights off I would frequently visit my coursemates at their respective homes, partly to bond and partly to avoid my pathetic former friends boozing down the SU every night. I have since graduated and moved away.
I am curious. Does bullying happen at university and was my case bullying or just harassment? Has anyone else also been "bullied" at university?
Put the internet to work for you.
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