For those of you who may not know what halls are, or haven't experienced them first-hand, I'll give a quick explanation. You are put into a flat of between five and possibly up to thirty people for a year. Everyone has their own room, although sometimes to begin with two people are put in a single room together due to a lack of accommodation. However, this is not very common. You may have an ensuite bathroom, but mostly you share the bathroom and kitchen. 
Nobody knows anyone, and you may not have anything in common - for me, that was daunting. I'm fairly shy and I don't like going to clubs, I much prefer a quiet pub where I can chat, so Freshers week scared me. I spent weeks before leaving for university panicking and worrying about Freshers week, as the whole week has now become focussed on going out, getting drunk and that's how people bond. When I arrived in halls, unpacked and my family had left, I was confronted with the question of whether I would go out or stay in - and I stayed in. For some people this may seem strange, and going out is completely normal. But I just don't enjoy it, and I struggle with big crowds of people, so clubs aren't my favourite place!Freshers isn't all bad, though. The focus is often on alcohol, however the universities run so many other activities that are so brilliant to get involved in, and there is always something for everyone. All the societies put on events to encourage you to join, we have a uni cinema who had films all week, there are markets and stalls everywhere and there is such a buzz on campus! The aim is to help you meet new people and begin to settle at university, and though friendships are still in the early stages and you have yet to start your course, you do start to feel a bit better about the scary new adventure of university.
I definitely don't want to scare anyone about halls. So many of my friends have made wonderful friends in their flats, and the people in my flat were welcoming and friendly. I think the key is being confident (or at least acting it!) when you get there, and then it doesn't matter if you don't want to go out, you still make friends! At uni, everyone is in the same boat. Nobody knows each other and everyone is trying to make friends. The friendship groups that form in Freshers can easily change, and for me it was a little later on that I found my true friends. And trust me, those friends are the ones that will stick around and last a very long time!
I found that living in halls you get into what I call a 'student bubble'. You live near to campus, you go to lectures, you do your shopping close by...and actually you don't really have much need to go beyond your bubble. But I made this effort, especially when people came to visit, to explore the city I'll be living in for the next however many years. I wanted to get to know my area and feel at home here...and it did me the world of good! I think this exploration really helped me settle, because I could start doing the things I used to do at home, like go swimming, play badminton, go to Church, go on walks...and if I'd just stuck to my routine, I would never have discovered so many things!
The hardest part of halls is the first few weeks, that settling in period, where everyone is finding their feet. Before I went to university, my A Level French teacher gave me this piece of advice:
"Go back after Christmas. You may not want to, but it will be the best decision you ever make, and you will love university from that point onwards."
And as always, she was right!
I had a wonderful Christmas break at home with my family, but when the time came to go back to university, I found I didn't want to. But I made my family, my friends, my boyfriend - everyone - promise to make me go back. And I did. And it got so much better. Of course at first you have to settle back in, and it can be quite lonely, having been back in your family home and having to adjust to being back in halls, but I found that just putting the radio on in the background helped me to feel less alone.
So although at times I really didn't enjoy halls and I felt quite lonely, I have made some wonderful friends at university, and I made the effort to go out and do things to create a life for myself there. It is definitely a character builder, and a chance for a fresh start and many new friends. Having said that, I am very much looking forward to moving into my new house with two of my closest friends at university - a new adventure!
Thanks for reading!
Laura
