10 things you'll miss when you leave halls

Katie Green - University of Manchesteron 19 June 2015
beer pong chess board on a kitchen floor

The 10 things you are going to miss the most when you move out of halls!

It’s time to pack up your belongings and move out of the little room you’ve called home for the past year. Whilst not everything about living in halls will be something you’ll miss; the 3am fire alarms, the noise complaints and the shared bathrooms, most students will count living in halls as the best year of university.

After a year of living with strangers, most students will be excited about the idea of moving out and moving into accommodation with your friends. Whatever next year brings, you will be guaranteed to miss some, if not all, of these top 10 perks of living in halls.

Your little box room

The small, box room you once thought was dreary and drab soon became a cosy little nest that you now don’t want to leave. The bed may not be the comfiest, the room may be small and the majority of things may be broken, but for most, this is your first home away from home.

student accommodation

The cleaner

Moving away from home brings the fear of having to clean up, not just after yourself, but after the other students you live with. The fear of messy kitchens and bathrooms, with arguments over whose turn it is to take the bins out is soon resolved by that one special person. The cleaner.

After a month or so of living out of halls, when the house desperately needs cleaning and everyone is refusing as it’s not ‘their mess’, you’ll be wishing you had the luxury of a cleaner once again.

janitor from scrubs

Living close to uni

Most university halls are located closer to university than other types of student housing. That extra 10 minutes in bed you get when living in halls is key if you are going to try and make it in for that 9am lecture. Next year, say goodbye to rolling right out of bed and being in your lecture within 5 minutes.

student in library in a onesie

Not having to pay bills

Bills? What bills? Living in halls allows you to not have to worry about bills, you’re able to use electricity and water how and whenever you like. Leaving halls means saying bye to long, warm showers and heated rooms and hello to extra layers of clothing and allocating bathroom slots for each housemate.

As you move out of halls and into student housing, its time to focus on how you spend your money, the cruel choice between affording a night out or affording the heating.

dog tucked into bed

The people you live with

It’s unlikely that you will ever again live with this amount of people all under the same roof. You will have met most of your friends whilst living in halls and most will be people you’d probably never usually come across. Seeing them every single day is something you are certain to miss.

The spontaneous parties

The highlight of living in halls is the spontaneous parties that pop up, wherever and whenever. They require no planning or prepping, just turn up and have fun. Whether it’s a small gathering in the hallway or a huge end of semester blow out, the parties you attend in halls are certainly ones to remember.

student party

Freshers

Moving out of halls, for most, means that it’s the end of your time as a fresher and time to grow up. Freshers is all about meeting new people and non stop partying and it’s the focus of your year when you are living in halls. There is always something going on and your social life will have certainly never been dull.

impromtu slip and slide in a campus hallway

Having meals made for you

While not all the food made in catered halls is worthy of 5 stars, the convenience of having all meals made for you is quite a luxury. Having to make the trip to the supermarket in order to make your own food, will be something alien to those living in catered halls.

Being able to roll straight out of bed or come straight home from uni and have meals ready for you is quite the luxury for students in catered halls.

Getting things fixed for you

The lights aren’t working, the taps are leaking and the oven is broke. Not having your parents there to fix things for you can be somewhat daunting as a new student living away for the first time. But living in halls means you’re not on your own just yet. Need something fixing? In halls this is no problem. A simple call for maintenance and the problem will be fixed in no time.

flooded hallway

Security Guards

Maybe not the first thing you’ll miss about living in uni halls, but if you’ve ever been locked out at 3am in the morning after losing your keys on a night out, these friendly faces will always have been there to help.

security guard asleep in a chair

What was your favourite thing about living in halls? Follow us on socials and let us know.

Katie Green - University of Manchesteron 19 June 2015