Home Sweet Home: Living Off-Campus

So, today’s the SU Housing Day, and I’ve been living off-campus for nearly three months. I figured I’d talk about my experience so far.

I’m currently living in a Warwick Accommodation managed house on the outskirts of Coventry, that I share with five other people. It’s about 40 minutes’ walk away from campus, or about 10 minutes on the bus.

I think the biggest thing I love about my house is that it actually feels homely. My experience of halls was that it never felt like it was my own place – everything was weirdly identical in all the rooms, and having a cleaner in the communal areas every few days didn’t really help to shake that feeling. Sure, in my house, we have to clean after ourselves, but it feels a lot less surreal to me.

Another thing I like about my house is how big it is – sure, houses come in all shapes and sizes, and student houses are no exception – but my housemates and I chose one with a big kitchen and living room, and the extra space is great for having friends over. We’ve also got proper sofas – quite a lot less like a village hall than Whitefields’ bench and kitchen table setup.

I also kind of like the feeling of being able to detach myself from uni a bit more – last year, I kind of blurred the lines between studying/working/relaxing/socialising, but this year, I’m finding it much easier to clearly separate my day because I have to plan ahead. One disadvantage is I’m quite a long way from campus now, which is somewhat annoying if I want to stay late on campus for society events, and also that I have to plan trips to Tesco.

Next year, I’m hoping to live in a similarly sized house, but closer to campus, if at all possible. We will see!