0013 Moving On Campus
The Brief
Welcome back Ladies and Gentlemen to the Architecture Student Diaries where it is my mission to help you kill it in Architecture school whilst making you, the best you in the process. Unless you are one of the very lucky few who live close to your university, you are going to have to move out of your parents' home and mostly likely onto University residence to commence your studies. For some of you guys, you will be fresh faced teens straight out of High School who are excited (but secretly terrified) about the idea of moving away from your family, while the rest of you may be a bit older and maybe have a bit more life experience under your belt. Regardless of which category you fall into, you are probably experiencing some nerves and are quite unsure about what this next phase of your life is going to entail; that’s why I’m here! Luckily for you, I lived on Campus for the first two years of my degree and have all of the intel that you need, to not only survive the on-campus university lifestyle, but to enjoy every minute of it!
Below is a breakdown of what we will discuss in today's lesson:
What Not to Expect
What to Expect
What to Bring
Your New Family
Make the Most of It
What Not to Do
Learn to Adult
Now, let’s get into it. Class is now in session.
What Not to Expect
So, we’ve all seen the movies, the ones based in American college campuses that glorify the university life to a stream of nightly alcohol fuelled parties and debauchery coupled with love at first sight moments. You know the ones, a boy is standing by the bar with his friend at a college party and looks across the room, he locks eyes with a gorgeous girl, they smile at each other, the lights dim and music starts playing, the pair meet in the middle of the room and boom! Instant love! Yeah... most likely, this won’t happen. Sorry about that. The crazy string of huge parties probably won’t be happening either as universities become more and more strict, security systems become better and modern-day technologies and social media makes it way too easy to broadcast people's mistakes and poor choices. Don’t go into university residence thinking that you are going to live out these movie fantasies, because you will come out disappointed. But rather go in thinking that you have been presented a terrific opportunity to meet new people, find out who you really are and have fun whilst doing it.
What to Expect
Now, even though above I said that the crazy parties from the movies won’t happen, don’t think this means there won’t be opportunities to let loose and have fun. There will be plenty of parties and lots of time to find love and build relationships, but just in a more lowkey and less Disney love story manner. The parties may become like those in the movies sometimes, though typically these are not on the campus itself and rather at a venue nearby, enjoy your time but I cannot encourage you enough to still be responsible and take care of yourself. The last thing that you want to do is to make a fool out of yourself in front of the people that you are going to have to live with for at least the next school year. You are an adult now, and you need to begin to exude maturity. It will only take the first five minutes in a university party to find the people who are going to make bad decisions and the ones who will have to take care of them in a few hours' time. Look after your friends and don’t let them do something they will regret.
Living on-campus will expose you to a world that you have never experienced before and a collective of people that you may not have been able to meet otherwise. University residences are filled with people from all over the world, of all different ages and all with different stories; sometimes it can be like traveling the world without leaving your house. Living with several cultures under the same roof can, however, create a difficult situation at times as people can be used to living a certain way that opposes the lifestyle you grew up leading. People from different countries tend to have different sleeping schedules, different cooking routines/ ingredients, as well as different concepts of acceptable behaviour; this can be frustrating at times. This is a terrific learning experience for a young adult, however. As the world embraces multiculturalism more and more, particularly in Australia, and a life of travel becomes more common than a life spent in one country (Covid-19 Pandemic aside), learning to understand and embrace different cultures and people is a valuable skill.
Furthermore, dealing with people that are different to you will prepare you for the professional environment, particularly in architecture where most offices will have people of different cultures, backgrounds and in general, different ideas. I have spoken extensively about networking here at The Architecture Student Diaries and living on campus provides a terrific opportunity to do just that. Typically, you will not be living solely with other people completing your course, nor only with people the same age as you; this provides a broad array of potential friends, associates, future colleagues and future business partners that you can learn from and experience life with. It is well known that having a wide range of areas and people to draw assistance and inspiration from will place you in a stronger position so succeed in future endeavours. Conveniently, with the social network being adopted so broadly the ability to stay in contact with people who may have gone back to their country of origin or moved for work has never been easier.
What to Bring
Okay, so depending on what university residence you are going to, things will change in this topic as what is provided for you in your cost of residence varies. Due to this I will be providing a broad list that is derived from my time living on campus. Below are the key items that you should bring with you:
Bedding (typically a bed is provided but it is wise to find out what size and bring the correct sized bedding so you can have your own clean sheets).
Pillow (however many you deem necessary. I’m looking at you girls with 10 cushions for aesthetics)
Dining set (cups, plates, bowls)
Cutlery Set
Towel/s
Toiletry necessities
Coffee Pod Machine (if you are a coffee drinker like me).
Cooking utensils (pots, pans, spatula etc.)
Chopping board/s
Small smoothie blender such as a NutriBullet (only if this will be used)
Small printer/scanner for your room (having a printer in your bedroom will make your life so much easier than always having to go somewhere to scan or print a page)
Books (whatever you’re into as well as your textbooks)
Portable Speaker
Storage tubs
Small, portable fan. Those rooms can get hot and this can be a life saver
Small and portable clothes drying rack
Clothes washing liquid
Photos of friends and loved ones
Anything to make your room feel homelier to you with your own personal flavour
Medical kit with pain medication, cold and flu medication and some bandages
Bucket (This comes in handy for many reasons, I did not have one but was glad that my roommate did when I tore the ligaments in my ankle and needed a bucket of ice water).
A scent to keep your room fresh (a diffuser is typically a better option that a scented candle as some universities ban candles due to fire risk).
General kitchen and cleaning supplies
Everything from my previous Every Day Carry articles
A bar fridge for your room (if your residence permits this)
As stated above, the required list will differ depending on university and you as a person, however if you cover this list then you should be set for a comfortable experience living in your new home.
Your New Family
One of my favourite sayings in the world is: ‘Blood doesn’t make family, love does.’ There are not many statements that I believe to be truer than this one and moving onto campus allows for these words to come into play. I am not saying that straight away from when you move in that these new housemates will become more important to you than your family back home, but after a while they may just find a special place in your heart. I personally was very lucky with the people that I lived with over my two years on residence, I was presented with a terrific group of people both years with varying ethnicities, backgrounds and interests and quite quickly these people became more than just roommates to me. They became the people that I spent hours a day with at home, that I would go out with at night and that I still see regularly, I even lived with one of the girls I lived with in first year again after I finished my time at University residence and I think of her as family. My two sets of roommates from the two years were quite different and the living dynamics were very different as well, though I enjoyed my time with them both immensely and you will with your new roommates too if you put in the effort to get to know them and don’t hide in your bedroom.
I have heard many stories from others about negative experiences with roommates who are rude, loud, inconsiderate and who simply just ignore people; I myself never experienced this, however, this is not to say that you are guaranteed not to. The number one thing that you can do is to ensure that you are not this roommate, and that is not a hard thing to do. Be considerate of others and don’t talk loudly or have loud music late at night when others may be trying to sleep, be a kind person and don’t speak rudely to others, don’t take other people's food, and if you do, ask if it is okay and offer to replace it. Simply be a good person, that is all that you must do. Take the time to get to know your roommates and spend time with them, do not just sit in your room with your door closed and avoid others at all costs. Some of my favourite moments from my second year living on campus were the simply the nights when I would sit in the living room and watch the television with one of my female roommates. It happened regularly with her and my schedule that this couple of hours at night we were both home and could just spend time talking and watching whatever show was on at the time. It is these simple moments when you realise that you have become a family, and it is truly a great feeling.
Make the Most of It
I am not a believer in your younger years being the best of your life and that once you get older your best life is behind you. But rather, I believe that the best time of your life is whenever you make it the best time of your life, and so, this could be in your 20’s when you are partying hard or in your 60’s when you are retired and surfing in Hawaii. Not that architects really ever retire though; you will always be getting requests from friends and family who say ‘I was thinking about doing a renovation and was just wondering...’ Living on campus does have the potential however to be some of the best years of your life, it is where you may find the friends that you will be surfing with in Hawaii in all of those decades time, it may be when you find the love of your life or simply may be the time that you felt more free than you ever have. So, don’t take this time for granted and watch it sail by.
Usually university residences offer a large array of free (included in your fees) activities, sports, parties, food and other experiences. These activities are easy to pass up but are something that you should try to get involved with every chance you get (especially the free food, because it’s food and it’s free... do I need to say more?). I didn’t get involved with as much as I could have in first year and I regretted this, so in second year I endeavoured to do as much as I could find time for and I did not regret it. This exposed me to more people, and I was able to generate new friendships from this and in extension, the more that you involve yourself in the residency community the more you get out of it and the better opinion of you the staff will have.
You may be thinking, ‘why on earth would I care what the staff think about me. This isn’t High School man, I’m an adult now.’ Yes, you are an adult now, which means that once your time finishes on campus you are going to be looking for a house to live in and most likely this will mean renting. When you apply to rent a house, the owner will want you to provide referees who can state that you are a trustworthy person who will pay your rent on time and not destroy the house, now who do you think would be the ideal person to give you a reference of how good of a tenant you are? Exactly right! The residency staff member who loves you because you took the time to remember her son’s name. So, remember, in life you get out what you put in, therefore, put in what you want to get out. Basically, enjoy your time on campus because it will go by faster than you think.
What Not to Do
I have covered a fair portion of the do’s and don'ts of campus life above, but there are some specific don’ts that I feel need their own section. These are as follows:
Don’t close your bedroom door if you are in there and awake, this allows for people to say hi as they walk past and makes you appear more approachable as a person.
Don’t be rude to people.
Don’t use other people's food or possessions without their permission.
Don’t waste the opportunities that on campus life presents you that I discussed above in ‘Making the Most of It’.
Don’t make a fool of yourself, whether this be at a party or in general life. You have to live with these people.
Don’t get romantically involved with one of your roommates (this can end horribly).
Don’t be scared of others, they are just as intimidated by this step in their life as you are.
Don’t only eat unhealthy food, this will be a novelty at first, but it will get old fast and your body will not thank you for it. Fruit and Vegetables are extremely underrated by young people.
Don’t judge or discriminate people because they are different to you. In 2020 everyone should already know that this is a no no.
Don’t act rudely to staff
Don’t overindulge in alcohol to the point that you will make someone else responsible for your health and safety. This is simply unfair on that person.
Learn to Adult
We have reached the final, but probably most important step in preparing for life on campus, growing up. This is one of the scariest points in a person's life, where they no longer are the child and have to do everything for themselves that their parents or guardians once did. Everyone is different and grew up in different situations with different rules and responsibilities, so this means that some people moving onto campus are already fully functioning adults ready to take on the world, but some will still be quite immature and do not know how to use an oven or washing machine. For those of you that already know how to adult, congratulations, you don’t need to read this section and you should be proud of yourself because you have succeeded in one of life's hardest challenges; but if you are not at this stage of accomplishment, let’s get into the adulting section.
Basically you are now in charge of yourself in life, you may be lucky and your parents are still providing financially for you, but if not, it is time to get a job and learn to manage it whilst studying at the same time. This can be difficult, and in architecture school this can be even harder than for most people due to the workload. You will need to learn to schedule and be discipline to ensure that you are able to work to support yourself, but also allocate enough time to produce high quality assignments at university; this sounds difficult, and it is, I’m not going to lie, but it is possible. If you do not already have a job, you will need to start hunting for one, be persistent because sometimes it will take a while to be offered a position. Look everywhere, if it means that you need to work in retail for a few months before you find a better job, then do it. I started working for a radio station during second year before being offered a position in a large construction company; sometimes you simply have to do what you have to do to get by.
Now that the finding a job section is out of the way, lets tackle the home life of being an adult. It is now time that you learn to cook for yourself, and healthy food, not just chicken nuggets in the oven every night. You need to learn to cook balanced meals that will provide your body everything that it will need to function each day. You will need to learn to clean and do you dishes once you have cooked your balanced meals each night (remember, many university residences will not have dishwashers, so this is all going to be by hand). You are going to need to learn to use a washing machine to clean your clothes and an iron to make yourself look presentable. Basically, everything that you have watched your parents do for the entirety of your life and taken for granted you now have to do. Welcome to the real-world kid, I’m sorry to tell you, but sometimes it’s no fun. You never know though; you may find that you enjoy doing these tasks. I personally enjoy doing dishes by hand because it is a time where I can just turn off my brain and be calmed by the warm water, you may think I’m weird for that but I also know plenty of people who enjoy cleaning the house for the same reason of simply being able to turn off your brain for a while as you do a not mentally tasking chore.
Final Notes
This is it, time to grow up, time to be your own person and find out who you really are. The time that you spend living on campus will go by fast, so don’t take it for granted because if you put in the effort to make the most out of it, it will be some of the best time in your life. Be kind to people, be kind to yourself and your body and everything will be fine, there is nothing to fear. If you have any more ideas to add to my lists above or you think I have missed some, please feel free to leave a comment below. But in the meantime, good luck moving into your new home, and enjoy it!
Ladies and Gentlemen, class dismissed.
Iain Colliver, SONA, YBA, GKIHS
