Living away from home
Joseph Arnott
Drama BA(Hons) – Third Year
Hello, I’m Joseph, I’m originally from Middlesbrough. I’m currently a third year Drama student at the University of Huddersfield. I have a keen interest for photography, singing and I always love to make people happy.
Living away from home wasn’t a priority when I was choosing a university, but I wanted to be somewhere not too far from home that I couldn’t go back if I wanted to - but not so close that I was on my doorstep. I looked at universities and drama schools all over the UK, so distance was not a thing I was really bothered about.
I was incredibly nervous about coming to uni and not knowing anyone, when luckily I had a mate on my course in the year above so at least I knew someone but I realised everyone would probably be in the same situation where they would not know many people at uni - it allowed me to start being more confident around people.
One of the biggest changes when leaving home and moving to uni was not having planned days, for example not knowing when I would make food and planning it myself. Actually, cooking itself was a new step for me as I had only done basic meals like a stir-fry or pasta, so I got some easy student meals books and had a look at what I could make which was fairly simple.
If there were any tips I would be able to give it would be that if you like structure, then make a little timetable including your uni hours and plan out what you can do when. For example: revision hour on a Monday after lecture, gym after lessons Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday afternoon. Include your meals on the timetable, buy food and work out what you can have when based on the best before date.
Getting on with my flatmates was easy because I was lucky to have three lovely students in my first year who relaxed me and we all made each other feel at home, which was rather difficult as two were from Cyprus. I am also studying drama which by the nature of the course encourages you to get close and become friends with people, so finding friends and people I could relax with was easy.
If I have learned anything from living away from home, it is that if you have wooden floors you need to dust, a lot haha! On a serious note always check the best before date on food before you buy it, this goes hand-in-hand with the food plan. If you have a calendar on your phone, then I would suggest using it to plan the meals, use the best before dates to decide what meals you will have and when.
In terms of money, in first year I didn’t realise how much I was spending and to be honest went slightly over my loan, but learning from this in second year I budgeted so I figured out how much I could use per month, and put that into my account instead of having the whole loan in there tempting me to use it. I have found this incredibly useful to do.
In second year I have also started to use a budget app where I input what I am spending, and it keeps track of it for me. Using the allows me to know exactly how much I am spending and on what, and it helps me realise how often I buy things. Sorting my money into months and using the app has helped me a lot this year and it is definitely something I will keep doing.
I do enjoy the freedom of being able to go out and not have to be back for a certain time for dinner etc, but coming closer to exam times and deadlines I had to be tough on myself about doing the work and not letting myself leave it until the last few days. During my first year trying to balance a good social life alongside different societies and doing all the work your course needs you to do was a bit of a challenge, but as soon as you find that balance (which is different for everyone) then it is just being strict with yourself on sticking to it.
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