For those of you who may not have read my last uni based post, I’m currently studying Marketing in Birmingham and I’m living in student accommodation. Now halls has its upsides and its downsides. Halls for most people, and in my case, provides the first opportunity to move out away from your family home to your new ‘home’. With this comes freedom, lots of freedom.  What you do is up to you and you’re unlikely to be questioned on it . I feel that I have learnt a lot since moving in 6 months ago so I thought that I would share a few things that living in halls has taught me since then…  

Not everyone you live with will want to be your friend
I live in a flat of 5 people and am close friends with one. The other three, however, no matter how hard I try, will not engage in conversation with me. Despite trying to make an effort during freshers week, it is apparent that sometimes people will do anything to avoid conversation. For example, walking out of the kitchen when someone else walks through the door or waiting until 1am to cook their meals to avoid having to be in the same room at the same time. 

Having cleaners is an absolute God-send

This is something that I really appreciate about living in student accommodation. Although their cleaning only stretches as far as the kitchen, and once a fortnight, since coming to uni I’ve realised that I am the compulsive clean freak of the flat, so much so that having a messy or unclean kitchen will turn me slightly psycho, so its always a blessing in disguise when Steve or Lisa call round on a Tuesday morning. 

Some people have strange living habits

For some reason, there’s always someone that keeps food wayyyyy past their sell by, or that put tins in the fridge. There’s also always someone who is awake in the middle of the night playing loud music or cooking, yet you’ll never stumble across them during the day. People have strange living habits, and its only when you put together a group of five students that you realise this. 

Living with your friends is so convenient

Living with your friends is awesome. Need butter? Need cheese? Your friend’s gonna have your back. It is likely that your friends will steal your food and you will more than likely steal theirs, but when theres a mutual agreement that you will ‘share’ each others food essentials, the tension is resolved. Food aside, if you need someone to talk to, your best friend lives next door so you can easily just gatecrash their room. With this however, when your friends do go home, they are incredibly missed and you are counting down for their return, 

It’ll soon be called ‘home’

It doesn’t take long for you to feel comfortable, and within the first few days you find yourself subconsciously calling your student flat ‘home’ and your family home ‘home home’. Your mum will likely hate you for it, but it’s great that you’re settled in so easily.

You’ll meet some awesome people

I’ve made some wonderful friends that I really wouldn't have crossed paths with had we not been thrown into the same university accommodation together. You’ll find yourself stumbling across people for other accommodation blocks and before you know it, you’ve put down a house deposit to live in a student house together for second year.  Before arriving at university I had wished the halls system was different and was ‘less random’. It had stressed me out that I wouldn’t know if we’d have anything in common, but I’ve realised now that it gets you out of your comfort zone and forces you to find common points of interest and opens your eyes to different upbringings and backgrounds.

So those were just a few things that living in halls has taught me. What has living in halls taught you?

Let me know below!

Beth xx