There were definitely some things I didn’t expect when I moved into university halls. I had been to visit one of the many halls of residence Southampton university offered (but not the one I ended up placed in), but there were still some things that were unexpected.
(Of course, this is in no way speaking for all halls in all the world. This may be very specific to Montefiore House, or it may be more typical across the country, but it is all I can go on).
The walls were so thin: Maybe I should have expected this, but the walls were pretty thin. Thin enough so that I could hear a not overly loud conversation in the hallway as if it was happening in my room.
How messy the kitchen would get: Again, this should probably have been expected. The accommodation came with a cleaner. On Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays a cleaner would come in to flat to clean the kitchen, hallways, and bathrooms (he was a very nice man, even if he didn’t speak much). And yet, somehow, the kitchen managed to get to such a level that someone had to come into the flat (whilst I was out) and call a meeting to tell everyone how disgusting it was. Things improved from then, but it still wasn’t great.
The noise: I remember talking in September or October about how beautiful halls was. Outside I could hear someone playing jazz music. There were birds singing and, every once in a while, a train would go past. By the end of my stay in halls, that train would drive me insane. Every once in a while turned into every five minutes, the traffic wasn’t bad (there wasn’t much) but we were on the UniLink bus route and the queue could be noisy at times (especially on a Friday and Saturday night, when all the students went out). The fire alarm every Wednesday. The flat mate that insisted on playing music wherever he went… It was a noisy place to be. And that can be a good thing. And that can be a bad thing.
Internet: A lot of universities’ WIFI is “eduroam”. Which can be brilliant in that you can connect to any eduroam network in the world. So, when I went to my interview at my next university, I could connect to their WIFI. And, if my friend from Norway ever wanted to visit me, she could connect to my WIFI. It was also (unsurprisingly) very bad. Again, this was probably something that shouldn’t have surprised me, but did.
The friends: I made some amazing friends when I was at uni. On my course, in my societies, and from my flat. The people I shared a flat with were strangers, but they’re people I was going to have to at least get along with. And I did. And I did not expect to make as many good, reliable friends as I did. So no, it’s not all bad. Definitely not.
The Ghoul Student 