The Travelling Thing as a UK student.

Alike many other students at Warwick university, I live quite far away from campus during the holidays. For me, home is around 4/5 hours away from university by car, as I am from the North East of England.  During term time, I live at University. For my first year, I was in student accommodation (Whitefields), and in second year, I share a house in Canley with other people on my course.

For me, the distance was something that I did struggle with at first. When I was planning my move for my first term, Warwick seemed so far away, term felt so long, and I wondered if I would ever get used to quite how far away I was. So, I learnt to break down the numbers, into what felt like more manageable chunks. Instead of thinking of it as ten weeks, it became two and a half months (or so). For me, the smaller number felt much more comforting. It seemed like something I could do.

I also learnt early on to throw myself into things while I can. Being with other people, and being busy meant I had less time to stop and think about what I was missing. Joining societies has been the perfect way for me to do this. With the Classics play next week, as well as a show with Tap in week 6 and plenty of competitions afterwards, I’m definitely keeping busy. Add in academic studies, and it’s easy to see how everything can add up. If I do end up with any spare time, I can always use this to do more reading for lectures, or start research for my next essay early.

While looking at Universities, the distance will more than likely affect your judgement- things like how far away from home you are prepared to go, or how close to home you want to stay. It can also affect your experience as a student- how often do you want to be making the trip? Are you ok with going home only in the holidays, or would you rather have the freedom to go every weekend, or even every night? For me, I knew I wanted to be that bit more independent, and I didn’t want to stay at home. I felt that being so far from home was something I felt I would be prepared to deal with, if it meant I felt I would be happier, and have a better experience as a student. When I visited the department at Warwick, I felt so comfortable and welcome, that I decided that the distance was worth it for me.

In all honesty, the location will always factor into your decision somehow, but my advice will always be the same: go where you feel comfortable, and where you feel you will achieve your best potential. I’m lucky in the fact my grandparents live relatively close to Coventry, so I can go by train to visit them for a weekend. But, I know people who stay at university for the whole year, as well as those who go most nights. University is about finding yourself and who you want to be, no matter the distance you go to do that.