Five Unexpected Things About Living on Campus You Really Need to Know

This post is presented in partnership with the University of Canberra.

Moving onto campus? You can probably picture it now: Bad Neighbours. Legally Blonde. Pitch Perfect. The Social Network. Everybody Wants Some!!

The thing is, living at uni isn’t like the movies, unfortunately.

"In Canberra, anyway, it’s quite different."

That’s according to Katelyn Yeo, a recent University of Canberra grad who moved from regional NSW to the ACT and spent several years in campus accommodation.

"I wasn’t really concerned about living on campus," she says.

"I was excited to be moving away from home and living with new people and meeting people as well."

However, she understands why some incoming students might be worried.

"You’re out of your comfort zone and maybe that is a bit of a concern; that aspect of not having those creature comforts and having to put yourself out there and be quite social to make friends," she says.

Having earned a double degree in Graphic Design and Advertising & Marketing Communications, Katelyn now works at UC. But she also scored a thorough education in on-campus living. So, who better to outline five unexpected things about moving to college? You need this.

1. Don’t overpack.

"Thanks anyway mum, but no, I don’t need a three-year supply of shampoo and conditioner when I move," Katelyn jokes, remembering all the haircare loot she first brought to her share house.

"Bless my mum for trying to make sure I didn’t have to spend too much money when I got here in terms of buying supplies, but [I suggest] definitely only buying just one of everything."

Katelyn says its worth learning how to be "quite compact," considering your limited storage space on site.

"I was basically living out of plastic containers under my bed and I just didn’t have room for anything," she adds.

"When you’re living on [campus], you don’t have the luxury of every cupboard in the house and having lots of space in the bathroom."

2. Keep some cash on you. Especially coins!

Though not all campus living arrangements will be the same, Katelyn certainly wishes someone told her beforehand that she’d need to always keep some gold coins on her if she wanted to get her laundry done.

Keeping cash on hand isn't just essential for coin-operated laundromats, either.

"Cash is always a bit handy for those [vending machines], if they have them, around campus too," she says.

3. Try to learn how to cook (*checks watch*) now.

Again, different campuses will offer different options for making sure you stay fed; they could include common food halls and canteens, or even on-site catering.

But in Katelyn’s five-bedroom apartment, she and her housemates worked with a communal kitchen.

That’s why Katelyn says you may need to know your way around a stove before you arrive, "whether it’s just watching a few nights a week of mum and dad cooking."

If you’re cooking at home, you’ll also need to strategise your shared fridge situation.

"Sometimes, not all of your food will fit, so I definitely took advantage of having a mini-bar fridge in my room," she says.

"When you’ve got five people all cooking different things, the fridge and freezer can get pretty full pretty quickly."

4. Communicate with your roomies.

Take it from Katelyn: If you face any problems in a share house, passive aggression will only make life harder for everyone.

"It’s much better to speak about things directly and to that person or about that issue. Sometimes you’ll face language barriers but typically it’s never going to end well when people talk behind backs or post sticky notes and things like that," she says.

"The difficulty of living in a share house is that everyone has been brought up differently and brought up to do different things.

"Everyone’s going to be different, so you can’t get too angry at someone for doing something differently to how you do it."

5. Know when to invite friends over… and when to vacate.

"If you’re planning on having lots of people over… go around and ask everybody first, or give everyone a heads-up at least," Katelyn says.

"Probably the worst thing to do is invite a whole bunch of people over and have not checked and it turns out a couple of your housemates have an assignment or an exam the next day."

But what happens if a roomie springs a surprise party on the house the day before your exam?

"When you’re living on campus, it means you’re quite close by to the university buildings and the library as well," she says.

"If you’re struggling to study in your room, there are those other options, like study areas you can get away and escape to."

If that fails, see Tip #4.

The University of Canberra have made an awesome study guide to help you with your upcoming exams. You can get your copy here.

Photo: iStock.com/skynesher