There’s no denying that every student accommodation is different, and the majority of people love their first year living in halls. So, whether you used to live in West Downs at the University of Winchester, or you’re a fresher moving in in the next few weeks, hopefully these 20 points will give you something to smile about in remembrance or look forward to for the future!
One of the best things about West Downs (if you’re a cat lover like me) is that it has it’s very own cat! I firmly believe that if you’ve dragged yourself out of bed for your 9.am and the first thing you see is a cat, you will either question your sanity or find hope in the day getting better.
Making up a name for the cat is like a right of passage when you live in West Downs. Even though each flat will have a different name you will all swear that yours is the one true name.
Waking up to find a random woman in your kitchen is almost as confusing as finding a cat and can take some getting used to. One thing is for sure, by the time you leave you will either be best friends or arch enemies with your cleaner.
Much like the cat, the cleaners name may remain a mystery to you for a few weeks, but that’s okay because you’re pretty sure she looks like a Sandra so that’ll do for the year (even if her name turns out to be Sue).
Climbing through windows becomes just as normal to you as walking through a door. As a result of this there’s a few wonky windows but everyone will swear that “it was like that when I got here”.
In addition to making an excellent door, your window serves as a great way to pick up your pizza. You’ll do anything to catch the attention of the delivery guy so that he doesn’t ring that awful doorbell.
If you haven’t run down the strip at least once, drunk or sober, then did you really live in West Downs?
One of the first things you notice about West Downs is that getting anywhere involves walking up a fair few hills. Even after you’ve lived there for a few months you’ll still find it necessary to complain each time you go up it.
Many a naive fresher have thought that the hill “can’t be that bad”, then tried to carry their Sainsbury’s shop all the way through town and up the hill. You then realise that it would probably be easier to run a marathon than to ever do that again.
You get pretty used to having your non West Downs buddies saying things like “omg I COULD NOT do this every day”, and you’ll smugly say something like “eh, you get used to it after a while”, even if you’re struggling for breath and your legs are on fire.
Okay, so maybe this isn’t true for every single person in West Downs, but if you haven’t gone there to stock up on alcohol for your flat party then you’ve missed a trick!
If you love your flat as much as I did it’s likely you’ll want to go out and socialise together. Even though there’s loads of places in town, 9 times out of 10 you’ll end up across the road at County.
As the summer months approach it is only natural to want a nice BBQ. So you make the trip to Aldi, grab 20 sausages for 99p, set up your best Bluetooth speaker et voila! Just got to keep an eye on that grass!
If you can’t take your washing home to Mum each week, the launderette is somewhere you become very familiar with! However, you will have to play a game of “guess the working machine” every time you go.
You may think that having a shop about 30 seconds away is great at first. However, when half of your loan gets blown on 5 meal deals, 10 chocolate bars and 6 cans of coke each day you do wonder if it is such a good idea. Then you decide that it definitely is and blow the rest of your loan in the same way.
It’s pretty standard to receive a few letters for people who either aren’t in your flat or left 20 years ago. You can try and track down their owner if you’re feeling nice, but mostly you’ll just end up with a pile of letters which will remain in your flat until you all move out.
Among a few Tesco and Sainsbury’s delivery vans and some Deliveroo bikes, you see at least 5 Domino’s cars per night. Sometimes you may catch a glimpse of a plumbers van that’s been called in to “fix” the washing machines, but that’s if you’re lucky.
At University you come to accept that nothing is weird any more. One of the joys of living in West Downs is getting to watch the many activities taking place in the fields outside our flats. Whether it’s a messy game of football at pre’s or Winchester’s finest swordsmen practicing for their next battle, you can assume that if your window faces grass you will see some funny sights.
When you’re not used to cooking for yourself it can be easy to forget what you’re doing, next thing you know your alarm is going off and everyone is mad at you for disturbing the peace. It’s always funny when it’s not your flat though and you get to hear about how the neighbors set their toaster on fire.
You very quickly realise that your bedroom lights will turn off every 2 minutes if you aren’t constantly moving. You’ll find yourself waving your arms about to get them back on and occasionally someone will see you, but that’s okay because they understand the struggle.
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