Tips on living with housemates and making friends.

Hello Hello Hello, back again with a few tips I’ve learned along the way from living with housemates and my best advice for making friends at university, okay let's go! 

Tips for living with housemates:

1. Establish a cleaning rota from jump especially if you’re living in accommodation with shared kitchens / living room areas

I’m sure everyone has heard at least one horror story about how dirty a shared kitchen can get at uni, especially when you're living with complete strangers who may have different perceptions of cleanliness to you. My top tip would be from the day you meet your flat/housemates ESTABLISH A ROTA, for example, if you’re living with 4 people, every week 1 person deep cleans the kitchen plus the living room, throws out the bins etc.

Every time someone cooks they should technically ensure they leave the place as they met it, having that periodic deep clean keeps the shared areas of your house/flat as clean as you can make it. Plus no one wants a kitchen with 4 week’s worth of rubbish lying around in a corner, think of the smell (IT'S A NO FOR ME LOL).

2. Know exactly who you’re living with, behavior-wise and cleanliness wise, before deciding to get a house with them

This kind of links to my first point, being friends with someone vs living with them are 2 very different things. I had to learn that the hard way, the main point here is you're gonna be coming home to that shared space with those people every day.

Are they good vibes? Can you manage conflicts like adults if they arise? Are they respectful of your personal space? Are they clean (VERY IMPORTANT, TRUST ME)? Just really consider all of those factors before making the decision to move in with people .

Tips for making friends:

1. Step outside your comfort zone

At uni, you’re gonna meet all different types of people, some good, some bad, some very out of the box. I’ve made some of my best memories and made friends with people at uni when I stepped out of my comfort zone and just really tried to be open with people

For example, I went on a trip to Amsterdam in my second year with the Nigerian Society. Going to another country with a group of people I’ve known for less than a year, and meeting new people on the coach to Amsterdam required me to step out of my comfort zone. Some of the people I met are now my lifelong friends, and not letting that fear of travelling to another country and making the most out of the experience created some of the best memories and I met some amazing people along the way.

University presents a lot of opportunities for you to step out of your comfort zone, you just have to be open-minded and just go for it, especially when it comes to meeting new people and making friends.

2. Try new things you never know who you might meet

I think societies are one of the best ways to try new things and meet new people, you’d be surprised who you can meet in societies on campus, even if it's something you only have a slight interest in with the vast choice of societies on campus you really never know what new thing you may try and through that the people you may meet from all different backgrounds.

Even the events run by us, The ResLife team! You never know who may meet so definitely try playing in the table tennis tournament or log in to one of our virtual slumber parties,  come along it's always good vibes with us!

Article by Rachel Aina