I’m obviously excited to start my second year, but compared to how I was last September, I’m a lot more relaxed this year. Going back to Southampton this September will not be as nerve-wracking as it was last September! I’m sure there are a lot of other people out there who are extremely nervous and excited for university to start. In my opinion, that’s exactly how it should be! You should be a bit nervous, a bit anxious, a bit excited – you name it. I don’t believe there are any ‘right’ answers to how you actually should feel.
However, there are right answers to what you should be packing for university!
Being stressed about what to pack and when to start is just adding to the anxiety many people already feel about moving away from home and starting a ‘new’ life at university. Therefore, I hope this list and my experiences from last year may help!
Last year I started packing about a week before I moved, with the last two days being the most intense. The actual planning side of what to bring and what to buy started around this time last year. I made a list of absolutely everything I was bringing and this made the packing process a lot easier and faster.
Since I was flying to the UK I was forced to have everything I was bringing in two suitcases, whilst at least from what I have seen it looks like most British students drive with their parents and hence can fill up a car with everything they want. This isn’t necessarily an advantage, because there’s a higher chance that you’ll bring too many things! Both my dad and I was a bit shocked to see exactly how much stuff some people had brought with them during the moving day last year, so remember this: your room in halls is not that big and storage possibilities are limited.
Distinguish between the things you need to bring and things you can buy when you arrive in Southampton. There is a huge IKEA with very convenient opening hours in the City Centre where you can buy everything you might need for your room.
If you are thinking about bringing those shoes or clothes that you in fact haven’t really used in a long time, my advice would be to leave it at home. No matter how careful you are while packing you are bound to bring things you wont use or use that much, but its always OK to try to limit this as much as you can.
So, what should you bring then? This list consists of stuff I brought last year and found extremely helpful.
A washing bag.
For a lot of people moving away to University, this will be their first time washing clothes on their own. I am forever grateful that my mum forced me to bring washing bags last year! I’m even confident that this smart invention has saved some of my clothes from being ruined by the washing machine.
This is what they look like if you are curious
Raincoat, rain boots and an umbrella.
In all honestly, I didn’t use my rain boots as much as I had expected to, but on those days when it was really heavy rain from morning to evening they were like gold to me. A raincoat is also essential especially with the strong winds that often comes with the rain in Southampton at winter!
One of the many rainbows spotted throughout the year from my room at Mayflower Halls.
Bathrobe.
This is probably the thing I have been most happy about bringing from the day I moved in to the day I moved out. From early mornings in the kitchen to late nights making food my bathrobe followed me. If you by any chance are living at Mayflower Halls I promise you the staff in the shop downstairs won’t be surprised when students walk down there in a bathrobe and slippers!Adapter.
If you are an international student, remember to bring an UK adapter. Furthermore, I would advise all international students, especially the ones from outside EU/EEA, to visit the University’s International Office webpage and take a look at what you need to bring for border control inspection, visa etc.Last but not at least, bear in mind that most of you are not packing for a whole year. Many people go home for Christmas, so pack clothes suitable for September, October, November months and when you go home in December you can bring the clothes you don’t need for the months before Easter holiday, and if you go home for Easter you can again swap clothes!
Before you move into University accommodation make sure you read all the paperwork like hall regulations and make yourself familiar with what you can have in your room and what’s prohibited. At some point during the year you will have a room inspection, so to save you from any surprises you should be aware of these things – for example, candles are prohibited from halls!
Probably my most exciting birthday yet was last year moving into Mayflower Halls!
Remember to find the Official SUSU Facebook pages for Freshers 2015/2016 and the different halls. They’re great if you have any questions or want to see what questions other people have.
Happy packing!
Alexandra
No comments:
Post a Comment