In Australian faculties of education, retention and progression issues are paramount within the current neo-liberal climate which emphasises student degree completions. This is particularly the case in regional universities, where many students--often the first in their families to attend university--are from rural, regional and low socio-economic communities. This paper draws on data generated during a project that provided support for first year teacher education students in a regional university. Using critical discourse analysis, it describes and analyses the metaphors used by a small group of pre-service teachers as they talked in interviews about their transition into university and the strategies they used to "survive" their first attempts at study in a tertiary institution. The metaphors provide insights into the pre-service teachers' perceived need for social support alongside traditionally-offered academic support. The data suggest that a rethinking of support offerings might be necessary to ensure that teacher education caters for pre-service teachers who feel dislocated from their home and community roots.