Hannah's top tips on moving to uni
For many students, university is the first time you’ll experience living away from home - which can be daunting! Whether you’re in halls or a house, living in student accommodation is one way to embrace university life. Children and Integrated Professional Care student Hannah shares her experience and advice on living in halls.
University is said to be the best time of your life and I strongly advise you to enjoy every second of it living in accommodation if you have the chance.
Living in student accommodation is the best way to gain independence, make friends that will last a lifetime and be skint! You will experience some ups and downs during your time in student accommodation but it’s all part of life. As a first year student myself, so far I have experienced many highs and lows (mostly highs) but deciding to move away from home was a choice that I’m happy I made.
As the eldest child in my family, I had no clue what I had to bring or what to expect. If you have any older siblings who are at or went to uni then you’re lucky, as you’ll have an idea of what’s ahead!
From my personal experience, this is the best advice I can give.
1. Learn how to care for yourself before you arrive
Try and learn how to clean, cook and do your own washing. Ask your family members to give you some cooking lessons or buy yourself some cookery books (I’m no Gordon Ramsey but I still like to think I can cook). You can buy student cookbooks or even search for simple recipes online.
2. Look for any vacancies before Welcome Week
Research the area you’re going to live in and see if you can find any local jobs. Once everyone settles into university life and realise how skint they will be, they start to look for jobs. So by searching and applying for jobs in the summer you’ll be first in line.
3. You will never be alone
Everyone who is living in student accommodation is in the same situation as you. Some may have more experience in living away from home than others, but that’s how you make new friends! Show a friendly smile, ask questions and help each other out because that’s how you make friends and you may need the favour returning one day.
4. Budget your money
I cannot express this enough! With having limited amount of money you need to budget so you have enough to buy food, stationery, books and other essentials. Have a book and write down what you buy each month in order to prevent yourself from going over your budget.
5. Do make friends with people outside of your flat
There will be times where you may feel you need to distance yourself from your flat mates (after-all, you are living with them 24/7!). It’s nice to be able to have a wide variety of friends so try and make other friends in the societies you join, on your course and those who are also in accommodation.
I cannot tell you how much I have loved being here. Martha, Ben, Waqas, Naomi and Izzy (all studying primary education) are brilliant flat mates. They now feel like my family who I will remain in contact with during the summer and the rest of the years I will spend here at uni.
I can imagine that half of the people reading this are probably frightened of moving away, whereas the other half might be glad to be moving out. But I promise you all, you will love living in student accommodation. The staff here are so helpful, you gain independence and more life knowledge and to top it off you have Welcome Week to look forward to!
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