My Final Year University Experience: Accommodation

This is the final post within my university experience series! If you haven't read my previous three (Academia, Social Life and Finances), click the links, which will take you straight to them. This final post will be short and sweet once again, focusing on my living situation during my final year. 

PRE-COVID PLANS 

Prior to the pandemic, I had considered my living options. I had a pretty rough first year in some ways, which I won't get into because that's something I'd prefer to stay off social media. That contributed to my decision to stay at home and commute in my second year of university. Although I loved living at home because I have a great relationship with my family and I saved so much money, I did actually consider living in accommodation again or a studio for my final year because I missed the independence. I missed having my own space and being forced to have responsibilities I'm far too relaxed with at home. It made me consider spending my last year living alone again. I played mental tug of war with the idea, but then covid happened and made the decision for me. It didn't make sense to move out in the middle of a pandemic. I would have struggled financially since I had no income due to the hospitality industry being paused. I had student finance but it would have barely paid for the rent. Plus, the idea of not being able to see my family on weekends like in my first year wasn't something I wanted to do. So, in my third year I studied at home again.  

WORKING FROM HOME 

Luckily, due to uni going online towards the end of second year, it wasn't too difficult to adapt in final year. I worked from home for most of the year but there were a handful of times that I went to campus, whether it be for a session or just to work in the library. I basically lived in the library during my second year, so it felt weird barely being there in third year. I wanted to be wise and not put myself at risk though, so I just went every so often.

I'm naturally an organised person, so everyday I made a list of things I wanted to get done, so I would stay on track and not get distracted whilst at home. Being around family whilst they were also studying or working from home meant that there were plenty of opportunities for distractions. Sometimes it would happen but I didn't struggle too much with productivity. In fact, I would say it was my most successful year in terms of keeping on top of things. 

Some days I would work in my room but if I really needed to stay focused, I would work in the kitchen. I don't have a desk in my bedroom so I would sit on my bed. Although the majority of time I could resist relaxing....it didn't always work out that way. I was guaranteed to be productive when I sat downstairs at the table. I don't think my dissertation would ever of been submitted without that table haha.

As I mentioned in my previous posts, I also set myself boundaries to maintain a healthy work-life balance. I didn't want to overwork or feel like I couldn't relax in the same place I worked, when I wasn't studying. I didn't allow myself to work after around 4/5pm, I wouldn't check emails in the evening, and I never worked on weekends. It was really helpful to set those boundaries for myself and surprisingly, final year was probably the first and only academic year in my educational career that I didn't feel burnt out. I'll definitely try to maintain similar boundaries during my PGCE if I can. 

STRUGGLES 

As a whole, there weren't too many struggles but I did encounter a couple. The main one was that I had basically no social life. With there being no in-person events, most people socialised in their accommodation blocks or with their flat mates/bubble. Unfortunately, I didn't have that option whilst living at home. Living in the suburbs, I was lucky enough to even see uni friends at least once in the year. In fact, I haven't seen most of them since second year. The first time I'll see some of them is at graduation next week. Despite having my family, I massively missed being around friends and just other students in general. I missed having study sessions and the rest of the uni experience, besides studying. 

The other thing that was difficult was not being on campus that often. We had a few in-person sessions but they stopped in November, so it only lasted a couple months, and even then we had one a week. It felt so strange to only see classmates over social media. Nobody put their camera on during lectures, so I only saw my lecturers. I'm not going to miss that side of final year at all. Glad that's over! 

POSITIVES 

There were MANY positives to living at home in my final year but the overarching one is that I got to spend time with my family. As I get older, I appreciate time with my family more and more everyday. I know I won't get time like this with them in the future, so I try to embrace my time now. Social media likes to shame people for still living at home in their 20s but I think it's such a blessing. I feel blessed to have a healthy relationship with my parents and siblings. I would much rather embrace it all now before I eventually leave the nest permanently and no longer get to see them daily. I love my independence and I definitely miss having my own space BUT I am in no rush to leave home just yet. 

WHAT'S NEXT?

With that being said, for my PGCE year I will be staying at home again. As I said, I'm in no rush to leave home just yet, and I'd rather be able to actually afford it too haha. Perhaps when I'm in full time work and I've saved up enough, I'll leave the nest but for now I'm going to enjoy working around my amazing and chaotic family for as long as possible. 

So, that was my final year experience! I can't believe the three year series has now come to an end. I've loved sharing my journey with you all. Thank you for being a part of it. 

How was your living situation as a student, during the pandemic? Let me know in the comments.

Thanks for reading,

Have a great day x