The first night

Whether your very first taste of university life is just on the horizon, or you’re a seasoned pro returning for another shot at the student way of being (because you simply just can’t get enough), that all important first night is definitely looming. In fact, for me, that night was actually a few days ago.

After finally moving back to Southampton properly for the last time ever (an insanely scary and daunting thought), it suddenly hit me how bizarre that first night away always is. Be it first year, second year or beyond; shifting gears mentally after being out of the loop for a considerable amount of time is tough. Suddenly being the only person that’s responsible for your survival can be a little jarring at first, but that shouldn’t put you off.

With all of the many millions of boxes of my stuff finally unpacked in my new student house, my new room set up just the way I wanted it, and the shelves fully stocked with enough food to survive a nuclear winter, I realised I was very much in control of myself and what I do from here on. True, it’s a bit of a scary thought, but if you learn to trust yourself it’s also a pretty exciting one too.

After an entire day of travelling, I’m finally moved in. 

No longer are you restricted by dinner times or curfews - you are 100% in charge of what you do and when you do it. Randomly eating cereal in the middle of the night or sleeping in ’til noon is no longer an issue. I mean, you don’t have to do those things, and sometimes they might not really be a particularly great idea (especially if you happen to have a 9am lecture to trek to) but the fact is you can do them if you want to, and no one is going to stop you. You get to decide.

But it’s not just this realisation that makes that first night so strange and unique. Whether you’re in a house or a flat or the university halls of residence, that very first evening is your first taste of what the year has to offer. It’s likely that your living situation might change over the years or even during it if you want it to - but in the large majority of cases, that room is very much where your university experience will unfold.

The bed that you scramble out of after oversleeping before a seminar, the desk that you stare at whilst struggling through a particularly hard bit of reading or even the microwave that, sooner or later, will likely become crusted with some strange substance - these are the tools of your new life. Using them at first may seem odd and different and sometimes a little scary, but in time, it will simply become second nature.

Because as weird and sometimes uncomfortable as moving somewhere new can be, ultimately in time, we all adjust. Yesterday I spent an almost unhealthy amount of time staring at my new oven trying to figure out what all the buttons did. It’s a million miles from my oven back home, and glaring at it so blankly for such a long period of time did make me really miss the old one, but I persevered because in the end, one day down the line, I know that I’m sure to figure it out. For the record, that day wasn’t yesterday - I retreated to the safety of the microwave after nearly half an hour of twiddling random bits to no avail - but I still know that at some point I will conquer it.

The scary, spaceship-like oven in question. 

First night nerves are the most understandable; it always takes a little while to get comfortable with somewhere new. It’s just about trusting the fact that at some point soon you’ll settle in, and you won’t even notice it when you do.

Ben