4 Tips To Consider Before Moving Out While You’re At Uni
It's all about balance.
I moved to Adelaide from a small country town to go to Flinders Uni and complete my undergrad. During the four years of my degree and honours degree, I moved SO MANY times.
So, because I’m basically an expert now, I’ve put together the four tips you need for a harmonious living environment while at uni.
#1 Keep The Commute Short
When I first moved to Adelaide, I was a two-hour commute from uni. And while I had the most wonderful accommodation – I was living with a bunch of other Aboriginal girls from rural areas in a home-away-from-home kind of situation – I’d have to be up at the butt-crack of dawn to catch a bus to the city, and then catch a connecting bus from there to uni. And because every day I finished at 5pm, it’d be past dinner by the time I got home each night.
I learned the hard way that it’s important to find a great place, but not at the expense of an insane commute to uni. You don’t want to be falling asleep on the bus or missing out on social gatherings because you have so far to travel.
#2 Get A Good Housemate
You might think, “yeah I’ll be fine, I’ll just live in my room and won’t interact with people, I’m a heavy sleeper, etc.” WRONG. Unless you’re living in uni housing, or you’re good mates and personal issues can be sorted out, there is SO much that can go wrong.
I’ve had nightmare experiences with some flatmates. One of them overcharged me rent, played loud music and had a go at me while I was trying to sleep. Another was a huge partier and kept bringing around his inappropriate mates.
So while finding a place close to uni is a good idea, you have to make sure it’s not with someone questionable. Make sure you know your friends really well before moving in with them.
#3 Proceed Living With A Significant Other With Caution
Unless you guys have been together forever, please be super careful with this.
Living with someone can be really tricky, but add a romantic interest into the mix and it can become a whole lot trickier. Make sure you’ve been together for quite a while and know what you’re getting yourself into.
Finding the balance can be tricky, but if you can get that sorted in your first year, it’s the best thing ever.
#4 Prioritise Uni Above All Else
I understand that having mates and a social life is super important and if you’re lucky like me, you live fairly close to your amazing friends.
However, their attitude to their studies is their business. You shouldn’t let it impact your study and time management. If they’re awesome friends (like the ones I have), they’ll understand that study comes first.
If anything, this could be a good motivator to make sure you organise your time well, so you can get uni stuff done and then get your drink on, or go to the movies, etc. I know it’s a real worry to risk losing friends but 1) it’s heaps worse to fail uni and 2) if they’re decent friends, they’ll understand.
It’s a bit annoying at times to have to orchestrate your entire life around your degree. It’s so much different from school when your parents were the ones to sort out the freaky stuff like bills, rent, etc.
However, if you’ve taken the leap to live independently and go to uni, you need to have a bit of balance.
Carissa is a Wemba-Wemba actor and writer. She’s currently working as a Research Assistant at the University of Melbourne while completing her Master’s Degree in Indigenous Performing Arts. When she should be learning lines and/or writing her thesis, she’s probably napping or binge-watching something and tweeting about it @rissless.
(Lead image: Fresh Meat/Channel 4)