What was my first week living in student accommodation really like?

I spent a lot of the first few days with my flatmates. There was just three of us to start with, so we spent a lot of time getting to know each other. We had a few evenings out in the first week just to help break the ice - we went bowling and for a game of crazy golf!

Leeds city centre has a lot to offer, which meant we weren’t bored because we could hop from place to place to keep things fresh. A lot of places had freshers events on as well, which was a great opportunity to both mingle with my flatmates and meet other new students who had just moved to the city.

These kind of evenings allowed us to get to know each other better. We’d chat about our family and friends from home, as well as how excited we were about being in a new place. One of my flatmates was in second year, which was great because he already knew the city and the hangouts really well.

One of the very first things we did together as a flat was head to the supermarket to buy a few essentials that we knew we’d be sharing - cleaning supplies, coffee, tea, milk, that kind of thing. This helped us get over that initial awkwardness and establish a routine, even if it was just a rough one, for shared living. Sharing a living space with complete strangers can be a bit of a weird situation, but if you chat through it and set boundaries it actually can be totally fine!

It’s also likely that during your first week at university there’ll be several nights out planned as freshers’ week is such a popular thing. This worked great for me as it allowed me to mix with lots of people from my course who I hadn’t really met properly yet. I really enjoyed these first few nights out; the new city and the new people made it quite exciting.

The main thing to expect from your first week living in student accommodation, with brand new people, is a mixed bag of emotions. One day I was loving it, and the next day I was feeling anxious. But that is totally normal and okay, and everybody is in a similar situation.

I found talking to people about how I was feeling really helped, because almost everybody said they were feeling exactly the same. It’s new and it can be daunting but it is also really exciting, and that first week can actually end up being a lot of fun.