Why Shared Accommodation is the way to go for your first year

Congratulations! You have received an offer for university, and you are about to move out of home for the first time. It is an exciting time in your life, but it can also be a daunting one.

Looking at the university website you can see there are multiple types of different accommodation available. A lot of factors go into deciding which accommodation you are best suited for, which one has the best facilities, is it in a good location, can I (or Mum and Dad) afford it. There are other factors that you may not have thought of but become evidently obvious once you are at uni. Things like:

• Is my accommodation an easy place to make friends?
• Will my accommodation be able to provide help if I get into trouble?
• What kind of events will I be able to participate in?

It’s for these kinds of reasons that I strongly recommend trying shared accommodation, at least for your first year of uni. I get it, living with a bunch of strangers can be daunting, but it is also the quickest way to make friends. You may think to yourself I would prefer to live alone and not have to deal with anyone else’s mess, noise or bad habits. But trust me, this is a leap of faith that will pay off in the long run.

There are so many benefits to living in shared accommodation;

1. Best way to make friends. 
   
2. Don’t know how to do something….ask a roommate. It could be something like “Where is the Uni?”, “Where are the shops?”. Or it could be something more complicated like “What is the meaning of life?” or “How do I do a load of washing?”.
3. UniLodge @ UC and the University offer several amazing events that you will no doubt want to attend. But who wants to rock up alone? Not a problem when you have ROOMMATES.
4. Cleaning inspection is coming up and you look around and you think OMG! But as the old saying goes “many hands make light work”. How do you get many hands…. ROOMMATES!!!
5. Loneliness is not good for your mental health. University can be a stressful time so it is always good to have someone around you can talk to (or procrastinate with).

So, as you can see the benefits clearly out-weight the negatives when it comes to shared to accommodation. It is the right move to get your University life off to the right start. Give shared accommodation a try, I guarantee you won’t regret it.