Moving out for Uni

[Lynz778]

I'm moving out to go to Uni in two days - I'll be moving states, from Sydney to Canberra. I'm a little scared at the moment! I was just wondering who lived on residences at uni or college and what it was like moving out of home. Your stories may calm me down (just don't say it was awful!). I'm really looking forward to my course I'm just daunted by the whole prospect of living on my own with a group of 18 year olds.

 

[LJT]

It can be a lot of fun and a lot of annoyance all at once

Uni residences are probably the best way to make a lot of new friends really fast, after my freshers week I basically new about 100 people I could hang out with at anytime.

The annoyance comes a few months later when you may realise you have some differences with the people you are living with. But I found it a great and generally brilliant experience.

 

[Laura M]

All the people I knew who lived in halls in first year absolutely loved it and had a much better social life than people like me who stayed at home and had to travel to class every day. Everyone is in the same situation as you too so don't be too worried.

For my course they made us move abroad for a year. It's very different being away from your family and for the first three months I found it a bit difficult, it was more because the culture was so different to the one here but after Christmas I was happy to be going back to my own place again because I was used to being able to do my own thing and living in a big city. It was my best year yet and most days I really wish I could go back and do it all over again.

You're going to have a great time. I'm getting a bit sad my course will be over in less than 3 months. 4 years have just flown by.

 

[Liesje]

At my school, we were required to live in dorms for two years. It was annoying, but good. Good because I was really, really, REALLY sick of being at home, sharing a little room and the same bed as my sister who is 5 years younger than me. It was annoying because most of the other girls were really into community building and dorm activities and gave me shit because I had better things to do (study, working constantly, etc). I don't mind being away from my family and we tend to get along better that way. After the dorms, I moved into a house near school for the summer, rather than move home, and stayed there until I got married.

You will definitely meet way more people and have a much more active social life than if you lived with your parents or alone and commuted it. Sometimes it's almost TOO much, people constantly asking you to come out and do this or that, but you will make a lot of friends fast and then have time to build more strong friendships.

Like Lara said, if you ever have to go abroad for school, this is a good way to get used to living away from home first. Our school has a CCE (cross-cultural engagement) requirement so pretty much everyone has to live in another country for at least one semester or one month, depending on if the program you choose fits with a major or minor.

There was nothing really awful about living in the dorms or traveling to another country for school.

 

[redhotswami]

I actually lived in the residence halls my entire undergraduate career. At the time, contrary to popular opinion, it was much cheaper than living off-campus. I'm not for sure if that is the case anymore, since both room&board AND apartment rental prices have gone up since then.

Anyway, my advice to moving in, if it is convenient for you, I suggest moving in at night. During the day, EVERYBODY else is moving in. Parking is scarce, and on our campus you can only park in one spot for 2 hours to move in, then you had to go. However, at night, there was no time limit, more spaces were free, and elevators & staircases were all to myself!

It is going to be awkward at first, because it is a new experience. But you will probably have a Resident Advisor living in your hall. I suggest going to meet him/her and chat for a bit, perhaps even go out for a meal or something. That person is there for you, and trust me (especially if you're a little troublemaker like I am) it is good to develop a positive relationship with your RA ahead of time. It will save you in the long run

 

[Liesje]

Anyway, my advice to moving in, if it is convenient for you, I suggest moving in at night. During the day, EVERYBODY else is moving in. Parking is scarce, and on our campus you can only park in one spot for 2 hours to move in, then you had to go. However, at night, there was no time limit, more spaces were free, and elevators & staircases were all to myself!

Along these lines, one time I moved in a day early, before everyone else got there. I drove the minivan on the paths right up to the dorm, backed it right up to the ramp, and was in in no time at all. Usually though, our school does We Haul where all the res-life people come to your car with shopping carts and put everything in your room. We don't have parking by our dorms (two residence lots that are farther away), so leaving people on their own would probably result in mass chaos and death, given the small area, hot temperatures, no parking, and no elevators.

But like others said, you won't be alone, all the other kids probably feel the same as you. Just follow the herd...

 

[ntalwar]

Way back when I moved into a dorm for college a few hundred miles away, there was a bit of an adjustment period. For me, the freedom aspect was nice. Overall, the positives outweighed the negatives by a mile - the social opportunities, taking fun classes, experiencing independence, learning/growing, etc. Plus, you can always go home on weekends.

 

[dazzlingamy]

I lived on campus for two years and had the best time of my life. Get out and chat to people, go to the parties don't hide in your room. I made a lot of great friends, had a few extremely funny drunken nights out, and met my boyfriend there.

The second year i was president of my college, which was a lot of hard work, and not as fun as my first year, but it still was a great comraderie that i still miss to this day. Where else can you live with 20 close friends and hang out all the time. Its great! Enjoy it!

 

[anitram]

The rez I was in was suite-style (thank GOD), so that we had either 2 or 3 bedroom apartments. You had your own room and a common kitchen, living room and either 1 or 2 bathrooms. It was basically an apartment building, but fully furnished. That's a big difference from dorm living where you have to share your personal space, but even so it's an adjustment to share with people you've never met before.

I actually really liked it, but I didn't have major roommate problems. It's a social place, you'll meet lots of people and you won't be bored. There are always people to watch TV with, go to the gym with, go out at night and so on. You'll have periods when you miss home and your family and old friends, you should expect that, it hits everyone and it's perfectly fine. But that passes too in a couple of days and you're okay again. And then you'll go home for the holidays and feel like "home" is really at school. It's a funny feeling to try to explain.

 

[JanuaryStar]

Good luck!! Can't tell you about any experience for I still live at home, but I've heard lots of stories of friends of mine, and they've all been pretty positive Sure, it's a 'getting-used-to' process in the beginning, but you'll feel settled faster than you think!! Again, good luck, you will do fine

 

[MaxFisher]

Dorm life is a lot of fun.

Good luck!

 

[Angela Harlem]

Canberra is a great place. Think of the art gallery!

What are you studying?

 

[annie_vox]

I'm sure you're going to have the time of your life. And you're going to grow up a lot... I did. I'm on my 3th Uni year and I know how much I grew up during these years... It's necessary! A completelly different world but I like it so much. I'm going to miss it when it's over Sure you have to study a lot and sometimes things get complicated (like right now I should be studying) but the positive things are able to hide that...

So... good luck

 

[Lynz778]

Thanks so much for the advise peoples, and sorry I have taken so long to reply! I am doing creative writing and it has been so amazingly good so far you would not believe it. ok ok so you were all right! I serioulsy think this is the best thing i could have done. Though I'm still kind of holding out on my washing till I go home next week. shhh!