Leaving home to go and live in student halls can be an exciting yet terrifying experience; you’re going to have to learn how to look after yourself whilst living with a load of new people, which can be daunting to say the least. However, living in halls can also be one of the highlights of your university experience, so it’s important to make the most of it. So to help you out, check out our list of how to enjoy student halls:
Be open minded
Moving into a building of total strangers can be frightening, particularly if you’re shy. However, it’s important to remember that everyone’s in the same boat, so try to get to know people as soon as possible. Of course, when you get there during freshers’ there will be loads going on, so make sure you get out of your room, get involved and be sociable. Halls can be a bit of a lottery in regards to who you end up living with, and you may find yourself sharing your place of residence with a diverse range of people. It’s important to remember that university is a time to have fun and do new things, and is a great opportunity to meet new people that you probably wouldn’t back home. So make sure you join in the fun, be open minded about meeting new people and doing new things and you’ll find yourself settling in in no time.
Be considerate
It’s important to remember that whilst you’re going to spend a considerable amount of your time spent in halls going out, getting drunk and just generally having fun, this is also where you and your hall mates are going to be living for the next year, so it’s important to be considerate. Sharing halls can be tricky, because every person will have their own routines and expectations of others, so you need to try and compromise with your hall mates to avoid any frosty atmospheres and passive aggressive notes. You may find yourself having to take a quick shower in the morning so that the next person can get in after, and you may have to keep the volume down if your neighbours have an early start. But most importantly, make sure you clean up after yourself, especially when cooking, and whatever you do, don’t steal anyone else’s food!
Negotiate
Following on from the last point, whilst it’s important that you are considerate to your hall mates, you also need to make sure that they are considerate to you. After all, there’s nothing worse than listening to your neighbour blare music all night when you’ve got a 9 am lecture, or having someone constantly use your things without asking. Many students can feel awkward asking their hall mates to keep it down or clean up after themselves, but you need to brave enough to do this. Remember, you’re going to be living there for a year, so you need to be comfortable and happy. Generally, students are understanding about these things and happy to negotiate to make sure everyone’s happy, so just be open about things and you should avoid any awkward situations.
