It is easy to get lost in the unreal seeming simulation that is a university campus. An alternate universe where children don’t exist, sleep schedules are reversed, and construction work never ends. You could be sharing a living space with your best friends or complete strangers, and studying there too – whilst also socialising, shopping, and whatever else your heart desires. A place where personalities and lifestyles are destined to clash but also, somehow, harmonise.
Bearing all this in mind, the first-year me could not wait to move into my second-year house; releasing my Northfield shackles and finally getting to live with my best friends. I created exciting propaganda in my head, building up the moment I finally entered the “real world”. Real people on real streets. The luxury of a homely environment. The escape from constantly seeing the same ghosts on campus. Most importantly, a CLEAN kitchen. Actually, it didn’t even have to be clean; just a kitchen I’m not afraid to enter in fear of what pans of mine had been used or what the bins were looking like.
Despite all this enthusiasm, now as a second year in my six-bed house in Moulsecoomb, I find myself wanting to go back to my cosy little ensuite flat in Northfield – realising how I took the campus ‘bubble’ for granted. Trying to get on a full bus is not a problem when you live close enough for your legs to take you to lectures. And I have seen more mould on just one wall of my current bedroom than I have in my entire life pre moving out.
The jump from campus to life in a Brighton house is huge. Socialisation is no longer localised and you’re adapting to a new area. Whilst you’re juggling everything else, your studies are also getting more serious, and you can find yourself a bit lost. Maybe you are finding it harder to make friends outside of campus or maybe you are having issues with a flatmate. Whatever you’re experiencing, it is okay to accept and recognise that sometimes the abrupt change in environment can feel overwhelmingly lonely. Through conversations with my peers, I realised I was not alone in this feeling at all.
This being said, I don’t want to scare first years about to move out! There is so much excitement ahead. Enjoy every moment on campus and every moment after. I completely changed my mindset by looking at second year as an opportunity to explore Brighton further and get more involved in societies. To people moving into Brighton: explore more pubs (Martha Gunn being a popular choice among students), check out the quaint Elm Grove cafes, enjoy being a walkable distance to large food shops and maybe even the beach! Second and third year living is all about figuring out what you thought you already knew. This is because with the bars, shops, and restaurants all in one place, you would never ever have to leave campus… if you weren’t told to move out!
