Girl in the big city

Back at the beginning of my time blogging for Life at Southampton, I discussed the odd sensation that students experience, of having two different homes. You split your life between your student house or flat, with its quirks and questionable fittings, and your ‘true’ home, where you can enjoy home comforts and a little TLC to get you back on your feet. Even worse is the first time you call your uni house ‘home’ in front of your parents.

However, as well as learning to live alone upon becoming a student, I also had the task of adjusting to city life. When I’m not at uni, I live in a very quaint and picturesque village, where the average age of the population is about 85, and the main concerns of the residents are the upkeep of the village shop, the church, and the local greenery.  It’s incredibly quiet, with the only noise coming from people in their gardens, distant barking dogs and the occasional car driving down the road. We are surrounded by woods, fields, and we have a river with a medieval bridge. Our buses come once every 20 minutes or so (a huge improvement on what used to be every thirty minutes!) and we have no train station. In other words, it’s a world away from the city life I was to experience when I started university, wherever I ended up!

The view from the fields near my home – plenty of countryside (and sheep!)

Southampton isn’t the biggest city in the country. In fact, after a quick Google, it is smaller than Plymouth, Sunderland, and Wolverhampton. As someone who is a bit geographically challenged, I didn’t know that these cities were so big! However, moving from my home village to Southampton was a bit of a shock to the system. Everything was at the tip of my fingers; I could go into town from my halls, Orion’s Point, with only a fifteen minute walk – unlike the twenty-five minute bus ride I had to endure at home. I was also only five minutes away from any social venue, be it a pub, club, café or park; when the nearest pub to me at home is a ten minute drive, and the clubs require a twenty minute taxi ride.

The amazement I felt at being the most independent I had ever been thanks to everything being on my doorstep was also coupled with a little intimidation.  I was suddenly met by noise, lights, busy traffic, and people everywhere. Now, I’m not ignorant; before I was a fresher, I had been to London countless times. I knew what a city was like. But I was immediately hit with the ‘fog’ that people from sheltered areas might experience. You automatically think that everyone walking at night is out to get you, and you’re bound to be robbed within weeks of being in a city. However, just to reassure you; this is incorrect!

The quayside at Southampton on my first day at uni, back in September 2009!

Cities are obviously going to have crime – they all do! However, it was simply the shock of going from a sedate village to, what seemed to me to be, a bustling city, which made me extra nervous. Within a week of settling in, I was reassured and relaxed into my new lifestyle. This was down to getting used to my new life, being sensible, staying with friends, and being kept up to date by the University and local police on their twitter account, which is ideal to make sure students live and study safely! Although you need to look after your safety (avoiding walking home alone, not leaving valuables near open windows…) it’s also important not to get carried away with the idea that you’re at risk at all times.

Now, after nearly four years of calling Southampton ‘Home’ (sorry Mum!) I am looking at moving back for good in September after my dissertation deadline. I will need to revert back to living a quiet life; I will need to drive again in order to get anywhere quickly; my nightlife will dwindle (not that I go out much anyway!) and I won’t be able to visit friends or go shopping at the drop of a hat as easily as I would at Southampton. It will be another adjustment, but I am sure I will get used to it in no time!

The walk between Highfield and Avenue campus is really stunning in all seasons!

The main reason I relaxed so well into city life was, I am sure, the University of Southampton’s campus. It really is lovely; so green and lush in the summer, with streams, resident ducks, trees and it’s not far from the common. It’s a space where you don’t mind just ‘being’, even if you’re not heading to lectures. What also drew me to the university when choosing my options was how ‘safe’ I felt. I wasn’t bold enough to go to a university that was based in the city; that would have been a real shock, and I like boundaries. However, I wasn’t keen on a campus that was so enclosed that you felt caged in, looking out at the ‘real world’. Southampton’s Highfield Campus, to quote Goldilocks, was ‘just right’. It has boundaries; the buildings are all in one area; you have shops, cafes, pubs, theatres and even a cinema; but there are no restrictions. I felt as if it was an excellent transition between the secure life I had lead at sixth form, and the great outdoors where I would be heading when I graduated. I loved it when I visited, and I still love it today; it will be very sorely missed when I do leave in a couple of months.

So, Southampton has given me a taste for the ‘real’ world. I love city life, and though my village home is very pretty, quiet, relaxing and comfortable, I hope one day to live in a place where you can order pizza at 3am from a place three minutes down the road; where you can go for a jog around the park without having to travel for half an hour; and where you are only moments away from friends for a quick trip to the pub. Home will always be home for me; but I look forward to regaining some of my city-girl independence as a graduate in the near future.

Joanne