After waving goodbye to my parents and crying for about twenty minutes, I realised that this was probably the first time in my life where I had been left completely on my own to live. I decided to leave my door open to say hi to any of my flatmates that passed (NOTE –  Buy a doorstop). Introducing yourself to people who you are living with for a year is a daunting and sometimes awkward experience but you’ve got to realise that everyone is in the same boat.

I introduced myself to everyone in my flat but somehow experienced two awkward situations: 1)  Understanding one of my flat mates accents and 2) Remembering everyone’s names. I’m sure this is common with most students. Trust me, you’ll meet so many people and I can guarantee you will not remember all of their names. This is providing you are sociable and make an effort to mix with everyone.

After meeting my flat mates, I decided to start unpacking some of my belongings. Hanging my clothes up was proving to be a struggle, mainly because I had forgotten to buy hangers (so make sure you buy plenty). Hanging your clothes up = Less ironing.

I managed to set up my printer but failed to realise that the wireless setting did not work on the university internet, Eduroam. I discovered that I had to order a cable from Amazon, which took a few days to come. So just be aware, you might need to do this.

The most difficult dilemma I had to overcome was how I was going to organise my pinboard. Arranging photo’s and any bits and bobs that I wanted to pin-up was tough because it was hard to select a few things. I am that person who tries to make things arty but also organised at the same time. I would also recommend a calendar to write important events down.

After unpacking everything, the whole flat and I attended a welcome talk from the Vice Chancellor. This was a strange experience because I was sitting in a room full of people who I did not know. What the strangest thing of all, was that the Vice Chancellor said that our potential husband or wife was sitting in the room, as the talk was proceeding. That’s when everything started to feel real.

After the talk, we all went back to the flat and made dinner. I think my first dinner was a microwave meal from Morrison’s because I was so tired that I could not be bothered to cook. I realised that I was now living the ultimate student life. Over dinner, the flat decided to have a few casual drinks to get to know each other. It was an odd bonding experience, to put it bluntly. We were all discovering details and information about everyone, some of which were proven to be false during the year. It was quite refreshing to meet so many different people, many of which I would not normally associate with at home because everyone had a different story to tell. This is one of the reasons why I think my whole flat got on. Don’t think that you need to find someone exactly the same as you because if anything, the conversation between the two of you could become quite boring.

Anyway. I decided to call it quits for the night and head to bed (quite a bit tipsy). I was laying in my bed, looking at the wall, thinking what on earth have I done? I think it was the new surroundings and people who made me doubt my decision of going to university. I surprisingly managed to fall asleep pretty quickly and without crying because of homesickness.

Obviously, everyone’s first night in halls will be different. Just remember that it is absolutely fine to miss home and have a good cry. I mean, so many of you will be experiencing complete independence for the first time in your lives and will find it strange not being surrounded by parents or familiar people but once you’ve overcome the first night in halls the whole university experience will feel more natural. TRUST ME, it does get better. Just wait until Fresher’s week starts.

Photo by Min An from Pexelsz