Top tips for students living at home while at university
15:15:00
Most people
want to go to university not only for their degree but to also move out of home
and experience some freedom. However I was different. I have been an only child
all my live which has made me quite a home bird and I knew that I would have
hated moving away from home. Don’t get me wrong I know most people love the
idea of moving away but after looking at student halls and accommodation I was
not prepared to give up my comfy double bed and clean house! It was also a
bonus that I actually really liked my university in my city and it was also a
good university to go to for my course.
I am now going
into my third year of my four-year course and I can honestly say that for me
personally I made the best decision by choosing to live at home. I have
recently become a course ambassador and I was shocked at how many people that I
have spoken to that actually want to live at home, which made me think I cant
be the only one who genuinely wanted to live at home while at uni. So I thought
today that I would share my top tips of how to still enjoy university while
living at home.
Tip 1: It is so
important to make friends on your course
I can’t stress
this tip enough (hence why it is number 1). Being a student who lives at home
you don’t have the advantage of having flat mates who most likely are from your
course. On my first day I remember seeing lots of people on my course turning
up with others that they had already met from their halls. As an outsider you
have to chat and meet new people, otherwise you will be sat on your own
everyday. Luckily for me I happened to get talking to a group of girls on my
course that also all lived at home so we stuck together and are still close
friends now.
Tip 2: Ignore
rumours that because you live at home you can’t go on nights out
This is not
true at all. Obviously if you don’t want to go on nights out nobody is forcing
you to but don’t think that by living at home it stops you doing this – it
doesn’t! People always invite me to nights out from my course and I have been
invited regularly to stay at their flats after nights out if I can’t get home.
You will soon realise that people on your course aren’t bothered that you live
at home and try to include you as much as possible. I regularly meet up with my
friends who live at home and we go for meals and out for the day outside term
time which is really nice.
Tip 3: Be
organised!
The benefit of
living at home is that you have plenty of space to work and keep all of your
folders and assignments, however the disadvantage of this is that you are not 5
minutes away from your flat or house which means you can’t pop home quickly if
you forget something or to grab lunch. This means that if you have an
assignment due make sure you DOUBLE CHECK when you leave in the morning that
you have everything as it’s not simple to pop home if you have forgot it! The
last thing you want is to miss the deadline.
As well as this, always make sure you take lunch or have money to buy it. There’s nothing worse than having a two-hour lunch break and forgetting your lunch!
Tip 4: Always
have some work with you to do
I can’t count
how many times in my first year that a lecture got cancelled, moved or finished
early and I was left with 2, 3 or even 4 hour gaps until my next one with
nothing to do. I learnt quickly to always have something to do. Don’t get me
wrong it is lovely to have an hour or so catching up with friends but 3 hours
is a LONG time to talk and you soon get bored trust me. Also it’s a bonus as by
getting ahead during breaks you have less to do when you get home.
Tip 5: Get
other friends and course mates to read your assignments
The downside to
living at home is that when it comes to assignment writing you don’t have
anyone at home who is doing the same assignment and can help. If course mates
live in the same flat they often help each other by reading assignments and
giving advice of what to change, but at home you don’t have this. You can read
assignments to family members like I do, but the problem is they aren’t
studying your degree and can’t really help with adding knowledge. Therefore
when you’re at uni get your course mates to read it if you want them to and it
will really help when you’re sat in your room all alone attempting to reach the
word count or even motivating yourself to carry on.
Tip 6: Before
starting university make sure your transport is arranged
One con of
living at home is that you have to be up early to get to uni for those 9am
lectures, whereas those in halls can wake up 10 minutes before and manage to
stroll in on time. This means that you may get caught in traffic or be running late,
which can cause problems. Make sure if you are taking your car that you check
beforehand if you can park (I know my uni won’t let anyone who lives in the
city itself to park on campus) or check for areas around the campus where you
might be able to park (for example some areas around my campus are for
residents only and you can get clamped for parking there). Similarly if you are
getting the bus or tram etc check times before the day and where you need to
get on or off. If it helps you could try it before you start one day to test
how long roughly it takes with rush hour traffic to make sure you’re not late.
That’s the last thing you want on the first day is to stroll into a lecture
late with EVERYONE staring at you! It also doesn’t create a great impression of
you to your lecturers from the start.
These are only
a few top tips but I hope it has helped if any of you are ready to start uni
and are worried about living at home. For me and my friends we all agree it is
the best decision we made as we are a lot happier - plus if you need to you
still get your washing, ironing and cooking done and it is SO MUCH CHEAPER!!
You also don’t have the stress of finding somewhere else to live each year,
which from what I have heard is extremely stressful!
Feel free to
comment or contact me if you have any questions. I will try my best to help. Thanks
for reading.
D x
2 comments
These are some really good tips! I would do anything to have my mum still do my cooking, washing and making sure foods in 😂.
ReplyDeletehttp://midnightandlace.blogspot.co.uk/
Thank you! I know I have to say it is quite nice! x
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