Post contributed by Abhishree Pandey, second year Law student

Well, my own experience has been very fun. Transitioning from living in the comfort of your home with people to cater to every need of yours to living in a room in a flat with a shared kitchen is undoubtedly not easy. But just like everything else, it has its own perks.

Hey, I’m Abhishree Pandey, law student and Community Facilitator, and I will be talking about my experience in student accommodation. If you are considering student accommodation then this read may be for you.

I still remember my initial reaction to seeing my room. I lived in a refurbished flat so everything was still really clean and shiny and the flat smelled of fresh paint. I loved my room and my windows took up a whole wall and overlooked my campus, so everything seemed perfect! On move in day, we had a pizza party in the common courtyard, and in the next couple of days we had more things such as a Kitchen Cleanliness Induction and a Laundry Induction.

In King’s Residences, everything is explained really well to you. There are signposts and pamphlets everywhere. A kitchen cleanliness rota is established to make sure the flatmates are all equally responsible to maintain tidiness. The staff are very helpful and respond quickly to complaints, and maintenance issues are always speedily resolved.

But it’s not all sunshine and rainbows to live with a bunch of students your age. Conflicts and disputes are just as common as friendships and bondings. One of my flatmates became one of my best friends, another one ended up being…well, the opposite of a best friend. It’s astonishing how that works, but when you meet a bunch of new random people, you love some, hate some, keep some. And that’s fine, it may seem like a big deal at first but it helps to remember that everyone has their own stuff to deal with, and sometimes dealing with a toxic person should not be on your priority list.

So yes, living in student accommodation might give you some difficult experiences to go through. But I genuinely feel that’s just preparation for life. It should not be something that gets you down. And most importantly, King’s Residences offer support for everything! There is a dedicated Residence Welfare Team with professionals trained to manage tricky situations. Authorities take complaints of bullying and harassment very seriously so seeking recourse is always available. Thus even for difficult experiences – you have resources to make the boat sail smoother.

Overall I’d say that everyone should consider living in student accommodation for at least a year, purely for the vibes.