‘I grew and learned a lot’: Alice on living with flatmates

At the age of 19, I definitely was not ready to rent a ‘proper adult flat’. My university did not have their own halls of residence, so I decided to live with Unite Students in my first year. I chose a room in a shared flat with nine other students who were all from different universities and in different years of study.

I actually quite liked this as it immediately took the pressure off - I knew I wouldn’t be in the typical ‘first year flat’, which was a relief. Instead, I could focus on why I came to university in the first place: to study and live by myself for the first time.