From my time at university I’ve had a very mixed living experience. Moving up in my first year I was excited to meet new people and make new friends…
From my time at university I’ve had a very mixed living experience. Moving up in my first year I was excited to meet new people and make new friends… but after being put into a flat of 10 people life took a different turn.
There were 6 boys in the flat versus 4 girls, so you should already guess how messy it was. Pots everywhere, you couldn’t even get into the sink to wash up…and we had 2 sinks!! They were all ‘going out’ people too. They would pre drink in the kitchen (which was next to my room) EVERY night, meaning I couldn’t sleep or work in peace. It was really frustrating and I couldn’t wait to leave university halls.
Now I’m in my third year and I’ve got to know people and make more friends at university, you’d think that finding people to live with would be easy. I made the decision this time last year to live with four other people who were really good friends and I thought things couldn’t get any better. I was actually excited about my third and final year (although it was mostly the graduating part).
It turns out that living with friends really wasn’t the best idea in the world. Too much falling out with being in such close proximity and there is no escape from them (in the nicest possible way). Two friends I became close to last year have started to become joined at the hip, doing everything together and sharing secrets – secrets it’s clear that I’m never going to be in the loop about. There’s a sense of loneliness in the house, and even though I’m invited out on odd occasions I don’t have the money that they do (just having to buy a new car has drained what funds I had!).
I feel that living with good friends may have seemed like a brilliant idea at the time, it’s had a detrimental effect on my friendship with them. They are lovely people and we had some amazing times last year, but now I’m struggling to cope with having them around all the time. Arguments about heating, cleaning the house and me having a boyfriend seems to have dominated what was once a close knit friendship into feeling like I live with my parents again. And I came to university to avoid having to deal with parental arguments.
So as I pack my clothes up to go home for Christmas I begin to wonder whether I made the right decision last year. There’s many a time I would like to respond to some of the comments they make, but after all I have to live in this house until next July. It’s pointless making it more difficult than it already is.
Also girls, where’s Christmas dinner this year?!
