Move-in Day and Housing over the Summer

Move-in day was both exciting and scary! It was an early start of 6am for myself, my Dad and my boyfriend. We drove the 3 hours to Southampton, packed everything from my room in halls into the car before the move-out time of 10am and then set off to the new house, which was only a five minute journey away.

When we arrived, one of my housemates was already there moving in, so it was exciting to see her! It was a case of get everything out of the car and into my room and we'd sort it from there - organised chaos! I was very lucky to have my two guys to haul things up and down stairs for me! My plan was if I get stuff in, I can easily come up another time to organise it all the way I want it, or it will be something to look forward to in September.

Once the hectic move-in was done, I left the boys unpacking a few things in my room and started sorting in the kitchen. We were hoping to be able to set up all the bills on the day, but our student account was not up and running by that point so I had to leave that in the hands of my housemate who is staying in the house for the majority of the summer. (That is, apparently, easy enough to set up. They set up a direct debit over the phone and just need details and a meter reading - luckily we'd been shown by the previous tenants where the meter was!)

We also had the chance to meet the people living in the house that is joined to ours. We are an annexe, and so share the bills with the other house. Therefore it was good to meet them and get to know them a little on the first day so that we weren't strangers in September - plus we need their internet! They seemed very welcoming and nice, and many people on the road are students so I feel we have picked a good area to live in!

Over the past couple of weeks since we moved in, my housemate, who is still at university, has decorated the house with bunting, fairy lights and cushions! She's been baking lots and working out how everything in the house works. It's such a girly house, and I am excited to move in properly after the summer!

...

We were able to move into our student house on 1st July and, like most student houses, the contract is a year long. This means we have to pay rent over the summer. Sounds okay, until you realise that the summer is about three months long - and that's a lot of money!

I made sure that I worked out exactly how much I would need to pay, both for bills and rent, and put this aside so that I didn't spend it. However, this left me with rather a small amount of money to last me the summer, as Student Finance does not account for this period of time, and, having been told that I only had one shift at my summer job, I was left a bit stuck!

Again, my budgeting notebook had to come out, and I had to work out how much I could spend per week and still have some money left over as a safety net at the end of the summer. On top of this, I began doing cleaning jobs for my parents at home and at work, just to earn a little bit of money. Luckily, I was able to pick up a few more shifts at work and things worked out okay - but this was the first time in my life I'd been worried about the possibility that'd spent too much! I'm always very careful with my money, so not having quite enough was a bit of a shock to the system.

Obviously this isn't me complaining that I have no money, because I am very fortunate to have what I have, and the opportunity to even go to university! This is just my way of saying keep an eye on your money, check what you're spending and what you need to save for essentials, and budget sensibly.

Looking back on halls

In a few days, I am leaving my halls of residence after nine months, and I thought I'd reflect a bit on my experiences here.

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

Finding a student house

This is something that everyone seems to struggle with, especially in first year! It's a new concept and you don't really know where to start.

My advice, though, is to find out what your university offers in terms of support. My uni had a specific website for searching for student housing, where you could put in a location, how many rooms you wanted and other criteria and then it would give you the best matches. Also, the Student Union put on housing events that helped you find what you were looking for, and gave you information about paying bills and how to go about choosing the right house for you. They compiled a list of agencies which were not so good for students - and I'd recommend paying close attention to that list! So the uni can be of great help in the housing search.

I also found that through societies and clubs, you get to know people in different years, and they will be happy to give you advice on areas to look in, agencies or landlords to go with, or even just how to get started. The current tenants of our house got in touch with us, as they were looking to sell some of their furniture to us. We went to look at the furniture, and ended up chatting for a long period of time and we really benefitted from the information they could give us, as they'd already done what we will be doing in a month's time!

Another important thing to look out for is the agency/landlord. Many agencies charge you a fee for using them in order to find a house, so often it is better to go straight through the landlord, something the Student Union or a simple walk around the area looking at the 'For Rent' signs can help you with. You must make sure that the landlord from whom you are renting will come and fix things if they go wrong. If at all possible, try and find people who have rented a house from them before, or try and meet them in person before you sign the contract. Our landlord showed us around the house, and was very open with us. We felt comfortable around him, and he owns many other properties in the area so we thought he must be okay!

In terms of finding house mates, by the time I was looking for a house I had some great friends who I was sure I wanted to live with. However it can be a really tough decision - you're having to make this decision based on a friendship of possibly only a few months! Therefore I really would advise making sure you know the people you're thinking of living with, and making the decision based on what is best for you. Often, though, the university can help you find people who do not yet have a house/housemates, and social medias such as Facebook groups are a good way of getting in contact with other people in your situation.

So don't worry! The university will have lots on offer to help you, and there's no rush! There will be enough housing for everyone, and make sure you are happy with who you are living with and where you are living - don't make rash decisions.

Thanks for reading!

Laura

Introduction, Halls and Housing

Hello!

I am just finishing my first year at university which has gone very quickly and it's now coming to the scary moving out of halls into an actual house part. I've been finding it both daunting and exciting at the same time! I thought I'd keep a blog of my experiences for the same reasons as I have started my Year Abroad blog (linked below)...to have a communal way of telling my friends and family about my experiences and hopefully helping other people with similar situations.

I found halls quite difficult, being a fairly shy, nervous person. I didn't gel as quickly as I'd hoped with people and so often felt quite lonely at home. During first term this was very tough, combined with homesickness and trying to settle in a new city, make friends and do well at university. I am not a 'going out drinking' kind of person, which was another thing that separated me from my peers.

However, it wasn't all bad! Having come to uni terrified and unsure as to whether I would last, I now, looking back on it, have actually really enjoyed first year. I've made some wonderful friends, two of which I am living with next year, got good grades and have joined clubs and societies which have made my free time very enjoyable.

So, housing...halls was pretty easy, in terms of all the bills are included, and all you have to do is buy your food, cook it and keep stuff clean (although some people didn't stick to that last one at times!) Next year will be very different, and like most students, it's something I haven't done before.

We found our house back in January, after searching later than most for a three-bed house, of which there aren't very many. Finally, we found a lovely house that is an annexe on the back of another student house. It is fairly small and cosy, and us three girls are excited to move in and start making it look homely!

So with the contract all signed, we all focussed on our work and exams. However now, the move in date is only a month away and we're starting to realise how much needs to be done before we can move in! We need a bank account, we need to set up bills and we need to learn all about finances! We are getting there slowly, and I will keep you updated on my progress, plus any difficulties along the way.

Thanks for reading!

Laura :)

Year Abroad Blog: http://lauraruthhooper1995.blogspot.co.uk/