Moving away from home is one of the scariest and hardest things you can do – and it was definitely true for me. I’ve moved around schools for GCSEs and A-Levels and even moved countries from South Africa to the UK with my family six years ago, but the feeling of watching my parents drive away was a particularly terrifying one. I now had to survive on my own.
Well, not for long at least.
Throughout the first few weeks of Freshers', there was a lot of events organised by the University – some were school-wide and others Campus Halls-specific. I went down that evening, bringing along one of my flatmates I had met in our communal kitchen that day, and one games night later, my first year at university was changed forever.
I met two of my closest friends that night, and gained so much confidence in going out and talking to new people at the same time. In between moving in and starting classes I went to more and more of these events, and met so many new friends, some around for a short time who are now just a friendly face to wave to in the corridors, and others who have become an essential and close-knit part of my community, and who have truly helped me thrive in my new home.
It’s helpful to remember that everyone is in the same boat – everyone is searching for connection. It’s also very helpful to carry a pack of cards around and bring all the board games you can think of. A board game night is one of the surefire ways of having an easy icebreaker, and a simple way to invite people over to get to know them better, and it's how I met so many people who I now couldn’t imagine myself without.
Living with flatmates is also so much easier than you might expect. Two of my flatmates are actually my closest friends who I am continuing to live with next year. Sharing a communal space is something you get used to, but everyone does (usually) make an effort to respect others' stuff and help out with cleaning up the space. Living with others was one of my biggest worries, as there are always horror stories going around online, but it was so much simpler and so much more fun than I expected!
Now, I may be biased in saying this, but having visited other accommodations, I felt very lucky to be living in Campus Halls – the kitchens are beautiful, and the massive floor-to-ceiling windows make the space feel so much bigger and let in amazing natural light. It's great for having people over for movie or board game social nights! The rooms are perfectly big enough, I didn’t have any trouble fitting in all my clothes (of which there was a lot – this is a creative arts university after all) and the en-suite was also perfectly fine, with a nice shower size. The maintenance people were so quick with responding to any requests, and fixed any issues almost the next day most times.
Another big pro of Campus Halls was being so close to lessons, which particularly comes in handy when you have an early start. As a BA (Hons) Acting student, I was in from 09.00 almost every day sometimes, and very, very much appreciated the close proximity.
I personally found the journey to town to be perfectly fine – on weekdays the bus is very frequent and on weekends it’s about every 30 minutes to an hour, which is perfectly doable. It ended up saving money, not having to pay for the bus every single day for university, only occasionally, and plus it’s cheaper to travel on weekends if you get a student day rider, and the bus is £1 after 19.00, so all your sightseeing and explorations never feel stifled!
In terms of transport late at night, luckily there is a night bus that runs every hour to take you back to campus, so getting home from bars and clubs even in the small hours of the morning is fairly easy and safe – just remember to always travel in a big group to make sure. I did find that Campus Halls was a little further from some shops – besides the beloved Premier corner store right next to the Halls the closest shop is 15 minutes' walk away, and so I would usually shop at the ASDA, which has a bus basically door to door – it is the closest big (cheap) shop.
Overall, choosing Campus Halls has really been one of the best decisions of my life. It has led me to friendships that have helped me grow and thrive in a scary and tumultuous period of change, moving to living independently. From cooking meals and potlucks together, surprising friends who are down or upset with their favourite snacks, being an art model for friends, watching bad movies with eight people squished onto a couch and all the lights off, throwing themed murder mystery parties with everyone dressed up and in character – the fun hasn’t stopped this past year.
When prompted to share a favourite moment from the year I don’t think I could. From the start of the year where I was worried I wouldn’t make any friends (a perfectly natural but completely unfounded fear) to now not being able to imagine life without them, university life was really been everything I could dream of. Being at an arts university is also lucky, as the people surrounding you more than likely have common goals and passions and beliefs – you really can find your people.
It was sad to say goodbye to my beloved Campus Halls at the end of the school year, but I am excited to see other Freshers' truly living their best lives and discovering their place in the world.
