Living at Storthes Hall
Grace Lewington
Sociology BSc(Hons) - Third Year
Hey there guys! My name is Grace Lewington and I am a 3rd Year, Sociology Student. My favourite thing about university is meeting new people every day and learning more about the world and the different societies within it.
I FINALLY LIVE ON MY OWN!: Storthes Hall Edition
Hey there guys! My name’s Grace, I am a second year Sociology student, and I am here to tell you why I chose to live at DIGS Storthes Halls Accommodation (Storthes for short) - and why I will continue to do so until I graduate. I am the kind of person that must react based on their initial feeling. The day I walked onto the University campus was when I knew I was in the right place, and the same went for Storthes.
When I decided I wanted to go to university the thing I wanted to do the most, was go as far away as possible. I am from a place called Bexley, on the outskirts of London, but now I live on the other side of Kent. My entire life has consisted of my family and I moving houses too many times and I needed a fresh start more than ever. I wanted the chance to be the person I knew I really was on the inside.
Moving to Storthes Halls was fabulous! It gives off a deeply-rooted community atmosphere, which stems from Block Vs Block events and chatting to all the on-site staff and the flatmates around you. That does not mean I wasn’t incredibly nervous though. Everyone assumes that people who come across as confident, make strong-minded decisions (like moving five hours away from your family) are always 100% happy and can hold their heads high without questioning themselves. Gosh…is that wrong! I had never been so excited and nervous for something.
There were a few ways to help me out. I never thought I would use Facetime as much as I do, despite wanting to escape parental supervision, I often ring my mum for cooking advice, e.g., how do you cook chicken without giving yourself food poisoning?
She laughs every time I can assure you. My flat is also full of photographs. The rooms come with a pinboard that is completely empty and there to decorate. If you don’t decorate it, your room doesn’t feel just right.
I used a cheap app deal to get hundreds of photos printed that remind me my family are always there even if I am miles away from them. If I could give any advice to people moving away from their family to live at university accommodation, it would be learn about how many responsibilities you are going to have, simple things like how to cook pasta, how to do your washing and why it is important to hoover after you have dropped popcorn everywhere!
Realising you are going to have a lot more responsibility before you leave home, is a key piece of advice and something I always hear people saying they wish they had learned sooner. So, make sure you learn!
Within my first few hours of being at Storthes I had met at least 35 people and already made a name for myself as I knocked cranberry juice all over my white jumper at the “get to know each other” event, before the opening party that night! Despite doing this I wasn’t embarrassed - someone came straight over to help and was laughing with me. I was lucky enough to not even have to pay for a replacement drink. I stood there and thought to myself, “well, at least everyone knows who I am now!”
For me to feel positive over something like that was a quite a big deal for me, I finally didn’t panic about how people were viewing me. I felt like myself. It was a feeling I had not felt for a while. I finally fit in somewhere, which still stands to this day.
You meet all different kinds of people at student halls. At parties, events, in the corridor, the laundry room or even when you are all waiting outside on a Tuesday waiting for your dominos to arrive! I even managed to meet a good few people on the bus on my way to University.
My key bit of advice when it comes to meeting people is that everybody is in the same boat when it comes to knowing everyone, so try not to worry too much about getting to know people. Storthes starts a Facebook group chat way in advance for people to vote on polls about which flats/rooms they will be living in the next academic year. Everyone starts getting to know people early on so you can make things easier for September.
Now…your flatmates aren’t always going to be your best friends, maybe more so in the second year when you can choose which rooms you are in, but sometimes things do get tense. You need to learn how to live with different people, whom have all had different upbringings and household values until this point. People can find it difficult to even live with their best friend but you all have to learn to compromise and work together. That’s how you keep your university running smoothly. Keep everything equal, household chores, let people know if you are going to hold gatherings and just make sure you don’t cross any ground rules with the flat to keep things running smoothly.
You do get chances to relax though, don’t panic. Storthes offers a lot of social and fun opportunities, from singing at karaoke night, running to be a Block rep or winning a pancake tossing competition on Facebook (I dropped my pancake on the floor which my flatmates did find hilarious enough to post).
You need to take a chance on every single one you can, it is your only chance to be free from the extra responsibilities you have as you get older. Confidence and having faith in yourself are key later in life, so take the chance to do those new things. Small steps like dancing along to a song on the dancefloor gives you more confidence for later in life and I learnt that the hard way. Trust me, it’s worth facing your fears, so start joining everyone else and embracing the chances you only get once.
Without a doubt my favourite will always be quiz night on a Monday. I am the kind of person to retain useless information or facts and quiz night is where I get to show myself off. Up at The Venue (kind of like our onsite pub/restaurant/events hall) we have had silent discos, UV parties, but one of the best ones is when the guide dog charity turns up.
I sat for hours chatting to individuals who use guide dogs and what their experiences were like in society. As a sociology student I find life stories interesting regardless but, people who have personal tales to tell are better. The dogs were so adorable and were so comforting considering I missed my dog so much!
Future students want to know what a current student thinks of their living and friendship situations and I can, hand on heart, stand here and tell you Storthes Halls is absolutely nothing like I thought it was going to be.
I was worried about rent prices, room quality, flatmates, etc. University life is nothing like you imagine it will be… IT IS SO MUCH BETTER!
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