Now that I've been accepted into DCU, yesterday I received an offer of on campus accommodation. There are two places that first years can live on campus - Larkfield Apartments and Hampstead Apartments. There are several differences between the two. Larkfield is inhabited completely by first year students, while in Hampstead first years live among second and third years. The bathrooms in Larkfield are shared while the bathrooms in Hampstead are ensuite. Hampstead has a living room area and Larkfield doesn't (but there are common rooms). The shared kitchen area in Hampstead is bigger that the one in Larkfield and includes a dining area, which Larkfield does not have. Finally, there are groups of five people per apartment in Hampstead, whereas in Larkfield there are two people per apartment.
Most of these differences don't bother me much, but I put Hampstead down on my application purely for the fact that I wanted an ensuite. Alas I ended up getting Larkfield. I've never been keen on the idea of a shared bathroom. Sharing a toilet doesn't worry me in the slightest, but sharing a shower does concern me a little bit. Not because of cleanliness or anything like that - I'm sure the person I'll be sharing with will be fine in that respect. It's just the idea of having to wait a long time to have a shower if it's in use, or keeping the other person waiting and having to hurry up. Still, at least I'll only be sharing with one other person. It would be far worse with a bigger group of people. Of course we're all used to sharing bathrooms at home, but that's with our families, so I at least hope that I'll have a nice flatmate who I can hopefully make friends with, because it would be far easier to share a bathroom with someone I'm comfortable around.
I've also been hearing more than a few horror stories from people who have lived in Larkfield. The main complaint is that the rooms are so small it's akin to living in a shoebox or a prison cell, but personally I don't really care that much about the size as long as it's clean and comfortable. It is university accommodation after all, so there's no such thing as luxury. Another complaint is about security, rules and ridiculous fines for anything and everything. I know that rules have to be enforced, but I've read through the contract and I must say some of the rules are pretty stupid. It looks as if they can fine you for the slightest thing, so I won't be giving them any excuse if I can help it. The third thing is the noise - now, there's always going to be noise and parties in any place that houses a couple of hundred students, but at the same time I hope I'll at least be able to sleep! I've also heard that it helps to be an extrovert, which I am not. I'm a person who likes a bit of alone time once in a while. That's not to say I'm antisocial - I love hanging out with friends and having fun - but I'm not the kind of person who loves partying and getting wasted. Still, there are plenty of clubs and societies, so I'm sure it won't be a problem finding other fun things to do.
It's not exactly encouraging to hear all these tales of how 'horrible' Larkfield supposedly is. Sure, it's probably far from the nicest place to live on campus, but I don't exactly have a lot of choice do I? At least I have somewhere to live. That's the most important thing. The rent for semester one has been paid today, so that's that. Anyway, there are some pros to living in Larkfield as well as cons. The fact that it's first years only would make it easier to make friends, I'd imagine, because everyone's in the same boat. Sharing facilities with your flatmate would mean that you'd have to get to know them, so that's another good excuse to make a friend. Plus, the shared facilities mean that Larkfield is a bit cheaper to live in than Hampstead, and everyone likes saving money right? Best of all, it's right at the centre of campus, next to the library and the Student Union and literally only a couple of minutes' walk from lectures.
And anyway, no matter what happens, at least I'm guaranteed an ensuite next year! ;)
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