Students' and Parents' Experiences
Pizzas and Pens!
It was so sad to pack up my room and cram everything into the car ready for the long drive to Sheffield, but I was so excited to be on the edge of experiencing so many new things and meeting loads of new people.
After registering and going to get my keys, my mum and dad drove me to my new home. I was unsure what it would be like as I was not going into halls or a flat, but a university owned house. I needn´t have worried; my house was on a road of university houses all with first year students moving in and it was huge! I went in and explored my new home; it had a big garden: excellent! My room was bigger than I expected so I was very happy.
I already knew I´d be sharing it with 10 other students and was anxious to meet them. By the end of the weekend everyone had moved in and we all got on really well. We quickly found out where we were all from and what we were studying and also found that we were all very keen to go out and check out the night life in Sheffield. So, Intro Week is a bit of a blur now! But I know that we went out every night and took full advantage of all the events that had been organised like the flats´ bar crawl and "Freshers´ mania". I got so much free stuff at the Intro Fair I don´t think I´ll have to buy a pen again in my life! I signed up for so many societies that looked like fun, some of which I have since attended regularly.
By the end of the week I was very well settled in and felt completely at home in Sheffield. Evenings spent with my new friends made the whole experience fun and easy to adjust to. It´s great sharing a kitchen; smelling all the different food people cook, learning some new recipes and baking cookies in the middle of the night!
For the first week our common room was a bit of a tip with beer cans and pizza boxes everywhere, but it just had to be done. It´s Intro Week: you must make the most of it! Since then, we´ve had to have more than one mass clean- up in the house but even cleaning doesn´t seem like much of a chore if you´re all doing it together.
At no time have I felt homesick or any desire to go home. It´s so nice to get letters from home and emails from friends at other universities but I notice that I´m enjoying the experience the most!
Now it´s 5 weeks in and I still love everything, my room, my housemates, my course – my university.
Joanna Haley
Accounts & Financial Management and Mathematics
First Year