This time of year brings a lot of changes, with children back to school, the weather changing ready for winter, and students well into their first term at university. I really loved my time at uni, although it was 18 years ago now; how?!
I went to University in Leeds and loved living there. I planned to live at home and just commute, but I felt like I was missing out on a lot of student life, so I moved to the city for my second and third years. It wasn’t too far from home, but it was good to be out living with friends and being fully immersed into the student experience. When I was packing to move out, I of course had a uni checklist to make sure I didn’t forget the essentials.
I remember thinking that there was just so much to know about living away from home as it was the first time I had lived anywhere else.
My first student house was such a mess, I remember spending the first weekend I was there cleaning it from top to bottom! But then there were so many other things to think about from budgeting, food shopping for myself, cooking, cleaning, and then doing my uni work. Not to mention all of the life admin and finding out answers to things like how to get red sauce stains off Tupperware and do I need a TV Licence to watch TV on my laptop?
Family Quiz
I have been taking part in the TV Licensing Family Quiz with my family. Although I won’t have any students away from home for a few years yet, it has been fun to go through different things and reminisce about my days at university.
You need to be covered by a TV Licence to watch or record programmes as they’re being shown on TV or streamed live on an online TV service. And that’s not just the BBC; it’s all channels on any platform and on any device. You also need to be covered to watch BBC iPlayer.
In halls of residence, you need to be covered by a TV Licence if you plan on watching live TV in your room on any device (so yes, my laptop requires one!). But the biggest benefit for students who buy a licence for the year is that when they go home at the end of the academic year, they can apply for a refund for the unused time! This ensures students only pay for the months that they live away from a family home, provided it is already covered by a TV Licence.
A funny question that was part of the quiz was ‘how often should you change your bed sheets or towels? When you ask an eight-year-old and a ten-year-old, they were both thinking, maybe monthly (ha, they obviously haven’t been home when I’vewashed and changed their sheets)! Although I’m sure many students do leave it longer, gross, it is recommended to be weekly.
What are some of the best memories that you have from your time at uni if you went? It would be great to hear what you think about this.
*This post is a collaboration with TV Licensing, but all thoughts and experiences are my own.
