Moving to University

Moving to university is a transition that many go through. I personally went through this transition just last year. Some students may move just 15 miles away of 200 miles away. However, in my case I moved 3,458 miles away from Washington DC to the UK. As you would imagine I was both terrified and excited. In fact on the morning that I moved in didn't sleep a wink and when my mum woke up I told her I no longer wanted to go to university. Despite this statement I did in fact pluck up the courage to move in to my new room/home. Looking back I cannot imagine not going to university I had such an amazing year and met some fantastic people.

So given my experience I wanted to give you guys a few tips that I learned in my first year. So whether you are going to university or are still in university I hope that some of the things I am about to say are helpful!


One of the most exciting and stressful thing about moving to university is planning your new room. I know there is differences in university rooms between the UK and USA, as in the USA you share a room while in the UK you tend to have your own room. Despite this one of the main similarities is that the rooms are SMALL!! And if you are a shopaholic like me you really have to utilize your space to fit everything in. However, one of the mistakes I made was that I took everything, and I mean literally everything! So the tips that I have to combat this issue are:

-Limit how much stuff you take. I mean do you really need 6 winter jackets? Unless you go to university in Alaska, the answer is probably no. I would suggest that you take maybe 3 jackets, a jacket for sports, a casual jacket for during the day (or a heavy winter jacket depending on what the weather is like) and a jacket for going out. As you pack your clothes ask yourself do i really need this or have i already packed something similar?
- Make the most of all of your space. This may not be the same for all universities but I had a lot of storage space under my bed. To utilize this  space I bought large plastic boxes to keep things such as handbags, scarfs, boots, and jeans. If your bed does not have like place boxes on top of your wardrobe or under your desk.
-Everything should have a space. I hate clutter or things being a mess so this was a really important aspect for me. I wanted every times to have a place so that clothes would not be on the floor and make my room feel any smaller than it was. At university this no mess aspect is a good thing to have as you never know when people are going to come over for a chat so you don't want to leave your room a mess.

One of the not so exciting things about university is missing home and feeling homesick. I personally felt very homesick in the first month or two of moving to university. In fact on the third weekend of term I took a three hour train ride to visit my grandparent. I only stayed for 2 days but I would defiantly suggest going back home to family or close friends for the weekend if you are feeling homesick, as this personally really helped.  

Another thing to do is to place as many photos of family and friends around your room. So if you are ever feeling lonely you can see all of there fabulous faces! I had a large board in my room that I placed photos on to, and through out the year I added even more. By the end of the year I looked back at the board and saw how many fantastic thing had happened with the people I had met at university. 

(I don't actually have a proper photo of my board :( but here is a little snapshot of it) 

If you are going to university soon and are nervous about the transition that is absolutely normal! There is no one that is not nervous, unless they are some freak of nature. Overall I would just suggest have FUN! you are only in university once so enjoy and get involved.  

Hope you guys liked this post!