Lara Sammé
The expectation of finding not only a second-year house but also a suitable group of people to live with can be quite distressing for first-year students who are still navigating their way around campus and adapting to university life. As soon as Autumn arrives, there is an unnerving atmosphere of discussion as to who people are hoping to live with. Conversation that changes as quickly as the leaves, now they’re falling swiftly from the trees. Lara Sammé enlightens us on her chaotic house-finding experiences…
The overwhelming rush to secure a house for second year
Scouting is certainly what we did. From securing our eight-tenant house to being left with only four tenants and thus four empty spaces. My friends and I had to make the decision as to whether we would keep our house or look for a smaller four-person house.
Our first house viewing occurred on the first of November 2023 – yes, the night after Halloween – but we pushed on in search of a sense of security in obtaining a house for second year. We all loved the house, so we paid our safety deposits and filled out the mandatory paperwork. Yet some of our friends began to worry that we were rushing the process. Whether these four were having second thoughts about living in an eight-person house or whether they were having second thoughts about the people they were living with, I cannot say, but soon after, our eight-tenant house was reduced to four tenants. The multiple conversations as to whether we kept the house or went off and considered looking at smaller houses was a repetitive cycle. Luckily, we discovered two guys in our hall had also experienced house trouble, so they joined us. Although we were now a group of six tenants, two rooms remained empty.
you can see the issues which house hunting can cause: the back-and-forth notion of overthinking
Overall, you can see the issues which house hunting can cause: the back-and-forth notion of overthinking, overthinking whether you’re rushing into a house too quickly, overthinking whether you’re leaving it too late, the anxiety that as a fresher you won’t be with your friends. Ultimately, there is a need for security, a need to feel as though you have a place and have found people to live with. Student houses generally come onto the market during October and November, with many contracts signed by December. Therefore, many students are eager to relax over the Christmas holidays, knowing that they have secured a house and can focus again on university life.
As a group, we made the decision of whether two of us paid the extra deposits or we again backed out of the house. In the end, we all ended up paying for the extra two deposits, resulting in another quick scout to find two more people to live with us. Trying to find a house is challenging, you just have to remind yourself that all will work out in the end. And it certainly did for us; we found two other guys who were happy to live with us.
the people you live with during second year may not be your best friends, yet the ones you live with in third year will be the friends that last a lifetime
My advice to any fresher, and even for current second-year students trying to find a house, would be to trust your gut instinct about whether or not the group you’re with makes you happy. To ultimately prioritise yourself, to envisage the environment you want to live in, to ensure your happiness. One of my friends explained to me that the people you live with during second year may not be your best friends, yet the ones you live with in third year will be the friends that last a lifetime.
The whole process of house hunting is stressful. There’s a whole cycle of overthinking whether you’re moving into a house with people too quickly or the urgency after Christmas to find a house if you’ve left it too late. However, there are always alternatives if it doesn’t work out. For example, staying a second year in halls is a great alternative, in an environment which you know well. And even if you do happen to drop out of a house, I’m sure other friends would be there to happily accommodate you. So remember you are not alone and that everybody in some part of their lives will experience situations like these.
Yet above all, to be grateful that you have a house and a home to stay in, that there are far greater difficulties in the world, far more pressing matters, therefore try and put the situation into perspective, to remind yourself that everything will work out in the end.
Lara Sammé
Featured image courtesy of Super Straho via Unsplash. Image license found here. No changes were made to this image.
In article image 1 courtesy of Super Straho via Unsplash. Image license found here. No changes were made to this image.
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