Settling In

I'm sitting here in my new bedroom in Larkfield, looking out the window at lecture halls and people walking by for orientation. Mine doesn't start until Wednesday morning, which explains why I'm not out there at the moment. I'm currently experiencing mixed emotions. I can't wait to actually get stuck in to my course, but at the same time I'm trying to deal with the overwhelming apprehension at the prospect of living away from home - even though, technically speaking, as I'm in Dublin, I already am home.

The weekend was a blur of packing and last-minute shopping. To say I was nervous on the drive up yesterday afternoon would be a massive understatement. I was gripped with a brief but very real moment of terror the minute my parents left and I was on my own in a quiet apartment, but I've kind of adjusted now. First impressions? The campus is a nice size (although I'm counting on getting lost for a while) and very modern. I immediately fell in love with The Hub (that's the Students' Union building). The bar is lovely and it just looks like such a nice place.

As for Larkfield itself, it's not as bad as I was expecting it to be. The rooms aren't quite as enclosed as people would have you believe and it's clean and comfortable. I've seen far worse! My bed is comfortable, though I did wake up this morning with a pain in my leg, which I always seem to get whenever I sleep in a single bed! Spoiled or what!

My only complaint is the size of the kitchen. It's true, you can barely fit two people in there. I haven't tried cooking yet, but I hope it works out okay!

I haven't seen all that much of my flatmate, but she seems pretty nice. As far as friend-making goes, I've been unsuccessful so far. There was a rave for first years in the courtyard of Larkfield last night, but although I hung around there for a while and spoke to a few people briefly, I didn't exactly click with anyone. Plenty of time I suppose. I'm not a party animal anyway, so I expect that my friendships will come through my course as well as clubs and societies.

The good news is I'm meeting up with a couple of people from my course in The Hub at lunchtime on Wednesday, before we meet the rest of our group properly. That should be a good chance to get to know some people.

My orientation finishes up on Thursday evening at six, so I might go back home for the weekend before lectures start depending on if there's anything happening or not. I don't know how true it is, but I've heard that the campus is extremely quiet from Friday to Sunday evenings due to people going home for the weekends, not to mention the fact that the bar isn't open. I'll see how it goes.

More updates on university life as it progresses!

Living on Campus

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! ;)