My university halls experience was varied to say the least, but I wouldn’t have had it any other way. There’s nothing quite like coming in from a night out or a long day at the library (mostly eating meal deals from Tesco and doing a questionable amount work) to your own home-away-from-home. Here are some things I’ll really miss about my first-year accommodation, and a few that I’ll be glad to be rid of…

What I’ll Miss:

1. The first night – The first night of uni was basically a failed attempt at finding a clubto go to (when none of us in group were from Manchester, nor did we know anything about the clubs here) so it was a bit of a mess. We ended up having pizza at 3am and heading back after hours of exploring (getting lost) in Manchester. I’ll miss that feeling i had when we got back to our halls and all flaked out on the sofas, chatting about nonsense. That was the great thing about first year accommodation, I associate it with those irreplaceable memories of the first few weeks of uni, some of the most exciting days of my life so far.

2. Location – the location of the Halls I was in was so convenient for both getting to uni, and walking to town for some window shopping in Arndale.

I lived in Liberty Central, which is just opposite the Student Union. This meant that it’s only a 5 minute walk from most of the university buildings (meaning I could get a lie in).

3. Friends – Uni Halls are ideal to make loads of new friends, especially in the first few weeks of uni. It’s a great place to meet new people, from all sorts of backgrounds, and it’s a great way to discover things about new parts of the country you’ve never ever heard of before.

What I Won’t Miss:

1. Walking Up Four Flights of Stairs Everyday – This is just because I’m lazy.

   I chose a top floor flat. I don’t know what I expected.

2. Clashing Personalities – Being randomly thrown into a block of flats with 16 people in them was always going to cause some personality clashes. Luckily for me, our flat managed to keep the arguing to a minimum, meaning that we could all get on and do our own thing. However, there are always going to be different types of people who just don’t get on, and the drama this can cause is one thing I won’t miss next year, where I’m living with people I know I can get on with before sharing a tiny kitchen space with them.
3. Noise – Personally, this was only a minor inconvenience for me, as I’m not hugely fussy about people making noise in other flats when I’m trying to sleep – I’m pretty chill about it (it is the first year of uni, I don’t think you can expect everyone to be in bed by 10pm every night). However, it was a bit annoying if you were feeling under the weather, ill, or had exams coming up. This isn’t a huge issue though, my flat was quite a quiet flat anyway. Ah, now I remember the reason I chose a top floor flat!

All things considered, I feel that going into uni halls was the best choice for someone looking to have new experiences and meet loads of new – and interesting – people. However, I wouldn’t like to go back into halls, as I feel that I have grown out of the ‘school residential trip’  feel that halls has, and I am ready to have my own little house with 4 friends next year (all of whom I met in my student halls, so I guess it wasn’t all bad).