You’ve secured your place, you’re excited to start Uni and then it dawns on you… you’ve never moved away from home before, how are you going to cope without your parents cooking and wait… how does a washing machine work again?
So, my top 5 tips for when you move out of home are:
1. Take a piece of home with you and keep it in your room to remind yourself of where you came from and where you are going.
2. Join a society or sports team and try something new, challenge yourself to do something you’d never have done before – after all if you can move out of home successfully then you can do anything.
3. Share stories with your flat mates, learn about each other’s culture and background, as it’ll be highly likely that you’ll meet people from all over the world and it’s a great opportunity to not only learn but teach others about your home town and why it’s so special.
4. Remind yourself this: living on your own is a crucial step in life, so embrace it and enjoy the freedom, don’t let yourself fall into the trap of ‘what if’.
5. When you feel more settled, invite your home friends to stay and show off your new town to them, you’ll start to realise how well you’ve settled and why you love your new home away from home.
Moving out can be daunting, I’m not going to lie to you. The days before you move out it’ll be so busy remembering all of the little extra things you need to take with you and even then you’ll probably still forget the coat hangers!! You’ll be busy packing and moving that you’ll forget about the actual move. You’ll be moving away from home and keeping yourself alive by yourself. Wow. It’s especially scary if you’ve decided to move thousands of miles away from your home, your family and friends. But I’m not trying to worry you; I promise you it’s worth it, its 100% worth a few weeks of uncertainty for the experiences you’ll gain and the person you’ll become.
If you’re like me, a family person, then at first it feels odd not seeing them everyday, but it’s also a totally eye opening experience. It makes you realise how much your family and friends do for you and why you should appreciate them more.
At uni you have the freedom to explore life yourself and do whatever you want to do. If you don’t want to cook an elaborate dinner for yourself you don’t have to, if you don’t want to tidy your clothes away then leave them on ‘the chair’ (because we all know everyone has one), if you don’t want to go to bed early before a big test, be my guest. This is a time for you to find yourself, minus all the cliches. But after a couple of weeks of settling in, you will realise that actually if you don’t do the dishes or washing, it’s not going to do itself and you work out in your own way the perfect system for keeping yourself alive. A win, win situation. Not only are you managing to prove that you do know how the washing machine works, but 9/10 you’ll enjoy doing it because you’ve finally found your feet and you feel like an actual adult doing adult things without having to be asked several times beforehand.
When I came to Surrey I had only ever lived in Cornwall, I saw everything from Devon up as ‘The North’ and had never experienced anything remotely similar to ‘city’ life. I spent summer sunbathing on the beach and winter walking along it with wellies. I was a typical country girl with no idea what was in Guildford, let alone how it would change my life. It was a huge culture shock for me when I first moved, I was suddenly in a city, 40 minutes away from London and no beaches in sight. It wasn’t easy to adjust, not that I expected it to be but it also wasn’t all bad, actually it was pretty exciting.
Looking back my first few weeks in Guildford are some of the best weeks of my whole University experience. Everything was new, as if I were doing every thing for the first time again; meeting new people, going out in a completely different place, finding the coolest bars and the nicest coffee shops. In those initial few weeks of settling in and finding my feet I instantly fell in love with Guildford. It’s quaint little streets and how easy it is to get around, it’s vibrant scenery and countless food places and I could walk to the shops, which sounds silly, but when you come from a little village with nothing but a tiny shop and a pub and everything else at least a 15 minutes drive away, these are the things you start to appreciate in your new home away from home.
It didn’t take long for me to settle into Guildford and as everyone else was in the same position, we all helped each other through it. For me, with Guildford being so close to the Surrey Hills I knew I could always find a little piece of home in those stunning views when I needed a pick me up. Now 4 years later, I’m still finding new things to love about the city and I’m even planning on sticking around once I graduate.
And just remember, everyone is in the same boat. If you are really struggling with the move or not adjusting well then speak to someone, as chances are they might be feeling similar.
Happy moving!
B.
