Students' and Parents' Experiences
Life in a Self-Catered Flat
Wow, it´s September 2005 and I´ve just arrived at university. Sheffield University, to be precise. Time to get keys and get registered. I want to see my flat and meet some people
And so it began, my new life as a student here at Sheffield. I came down with my mate Chris and helped him move in first because my parents were bringing my stuff down later on. Whilst Chris was at his car unloading something, another of the lads from his flat came and introduced himself to me. I explained that it wasn´t me who was moving in and it made me realise that everyone is in the same position; everyone wants to make friends as soon as possible.
Well, once Chris was all sorted I went to my flat, met my parents and got unpacked, there were no other people in my flat while I was there so when I was done I went out and met back up with Chris who was out with a couple of the lads from his flat. Needless to say, a few drinks later and I had made new friends with ease. Over the next couple of days I spent more time in my flat and got to know my flat mates.
Which brings me on to living in a self-catered flat. Many say that you don´t get the same atmosphere and banter as you do in catered halls but I don´t think that´s true. After 3 weeks, the four of us here in our flat have become a close knit group, we all get on so well, we cook for each other and don´t mind sharing stuff. This was the case after a few days, never mind a few weeks. When everyone wants to make friends it´s easy to say that people aren´t acting as themselves just to fit, but in truth everyone appreciates it more if you are yourself. There really is nothing to worry about.
So now that I´ve gone over the main points of being at university I´ll quickly cover that little thing called work. The first week is all just introductory lectures, so nothing to worry about there. The week after it starts to get a bit more serious and might require you to engage your brain. The worst thing you can do however is let yourself think that it´s going to be easy, because it isn´t. Once the lectures, tutorials, seminars and whatever else start, you´ll suddenly find that you have a lot of work. If you keep calm, organise yourself and get the work done everything will turn out fine……now I just have to do that and I´ll be fine…..
Sheffield University is a fantastic place to be, the Union is great, the nightlife is better and the people are the best. I hope and honestly think that my experience here will continue as fantastic as it is now and would encourage anyone with Sheffield in mind to come here.
Kurt Scott
Chemical Engineering with Fuel Technology
First Year