First-Year Residential Hall Experience

First-Year Residential Hall Experience

In this blog, I am going to go over my first-year experience living in a hall (Arana). This is purely my opinion and is probably very subjective and is not how all students feel.

I remember when I was halfway through year 13 and I was considering Otago as an option for university. This meant I had to make a decision based on my living condition. There are two main options open to students that choose to move away from home in their first year, you can either flat or you can move into a hall of residence. I chose the hall lifestyle purely based on my wants and needs. 

I wanted to be independent but not entirely independent and this is where I thought a hall would be the perfect transition year. I wanted to get out and meet new people, I wanted to make new friends and being in a structured social environment like a hall was perfect for me. I have heard stories of some of those who have flatted in their first year and completely loved it, in no way I'm saying one is better than the other but for me, a hall was the best option. 

From here I had to choose what hall. This was probably one of the hardest decisions I had to make because there were so many options. Upon making this decision, I made a list of what I wanted in a hall to decide what was best for me. At the top of my list was academics, does the hall have a solid reputation for providing an academic first environment. I then wanted a hall that was close to the university, as well as being relatively large to meet as many new people as possible. I eventually decided to choose Arana as my first-choice hall. 

Initially, I was hesitant to put it down as my first choice as I have heard stories about how many people get rejected and that they select roughly 1 in 8 (or even more) applicants. I kind of fell in love with it and would have been devastated if I had been rejected. Thankfully I got accepted and I was more than excited to get my first year of university underway.

For people wondering what my high school "resume" contained, I had nothing special that extremely stood out, I was an excellence student (80ish excellence credits at level 2), involved in volunteering work and leadership activities, took part in tutoring and was in the first XI, I was not a prefect, I never got top in anything but I had faith in myself and "bit the bullet".

I remember it vividly a year on, my first day, my parents helped me move in and set up my room, you could feel social angst in the air. Once my parents had said their goodbyes and left it began to set in and I was pretty damn nervous yet excited to get the ball rolling. I was lucky enough to be coming from a pretty big school and I knew a few people who were also there with me. However, I had none of my best friends and the people I knew from high school I was just friendly with and never really "hung out with them". 

I admittingly was being a bit of a leech and clinging onto the people I knew. The hall was so big, so me and a few others went exploring and trying to gather our bearings, along the way meeting people and just being friendly, saying hi, opening with the typical "where are you from?" and "what are you studying?" These were stock standards and got overly repetitive after a while. 

That afternoon I remember distinctly just talking to people and getting to networking. Not trying to toot my own horn or anything but I would like to think of myself as a pretty outgoing person, this helped me but then again there were introverts who I knew for sure found it tough in such a large environment. My first tip on the first day is just to not be a dick, don't be arrogant, don't talk about your high school achievements, because when you're at university and especially at Arana or any other first choice hall there is someone better than you whether it be sporting, academic etc. 

It gives you a chance to reform yourself. Although I aforementioned that I was an outgoing person, I decided to go into this year with the "fake it till you make it" mentality and attempted to reform myself into a better version of me. I believed this did work and I couldn't be thankful enough that I took the leap, although being nervous as anything. 

The second tip I would have on your first day is to be open to anything, and what I mean by that is alcohol acts as a social lubricant especially during O-week. I know I'm not speaking for everyone as I know some people don't drink for their reasons (which everyone needs to respect) but I thought it was a good way of bonding that first night. 

Most people are in the same boat and it's not hard to organise drinks at a flat or in a common room. What it does it allows everyone to feel less nervous, less anxious and helps those who may be a little shy to "spread their wings" per se. O-week was a seven-day bender where I met friends for life and had one of the best times of my life, the good and the bad I wouldn't trade it for anything (just make sure you turn up to your English diagnostic test for HSFY after a big toga night!).

I would like to note that for prospective or high schoolers thinking about Arana, the hall is split into buildings (floors of people, think dormitory style) and into flats of anywhere between 2 and 11 people. You will get a message letting you know if you are in a flat or not upon receiving an offer. Being in a flat is not all terrible and what people think it is. Benefits include bigger rooms, more independence and a close-knit of flatmates that you will do anything for. 

You get your own lounge and kitchen that you only have to share with 5 people rather than 25 if you were to ask 99% people of people who were in a flat at Arana I believe they would tell you that they wouldn't change it for the world. It is not the end of the world that you get put into a flat (I think a 25% of all people are) and it's quite a lot of fun (from what I've been told that is).

From O-week onwards you could still tell everyone was still nervous and still settling in, but definitely, it was nice to have some familiar faces around. Every mealtime you would meet new people, hear interesting stories of last night's shenanigans and find out who your people are. My one criticism (that isn't a criticism but whatever) is that Arana is quite "cliquey". From about halfway through semester one there were pretty well-defined groups of individuals. 

Although you may have thought that the high school days are over of the nerds, the jocks and the art kids, they still existed in the Arana community and probably every other hall out there. Although I was never really phased by it (probably because I knew I was in one of these self-proclaimed cliques), I could see from an outsider's standpoint that it would be pretty intimidating looking from the outside in. 

These cliques were pretty solid until the rest of the year I thought and my advice would be to attempt to make friends ASAP, easier said than done but some tips I would recommend are; making a group chat on messenger, Facebook etc, be that person to send follow or friend requests, ask for that phone number, be the change, be at the pinpoint of the social circle and then you'll see it slowly but surely develop around you! 

If you are more quiet, studious, and an introverted person, there is nothing wrong with that. Every person finds themselves a group and I couldn't name one person I know that didn't make a single friend even on the first day because everyone is on the same boat.

Arana was good at providing academic, social and mental support. Whether it be their tutorial program which is where they bring back past students who got 95+% in the respective paper the previous year to tutor and assist students or that hall parties down at UBar or in the main common room. All halls have their tutorials, all halls have social events, I guess the only difference is the people your sharing the experience with. 

The pastoral care team this year, although strict at points, were probably some of the nicest and caring people in the college. The residential assistants (one per floor, around 25 people in my case) were your go-to for anything, they were pretty much available to chat whenever and if you needed something or couldn't find something, they would be there to assist you, these people will do anything for you (including cleaning up your vomit or putting you to bed). 

Food is always an interesting topic of discussion. Options were plenty and catered to most dietary requirements (vegan, veggie, gluten and dairy-free etc) and always had a variety of salads. The menu got a bit repetitive and boring as it rolled into semester two but I guess that's what you can expect.

As the year progressed friendships (and relationships) blossomed (for some the opposite) and by second semester you had made friends for life. I had become as close to my friends at Arana in one semester (4 months roughly) as I was with any of my high school friends over the last five years. 

The second semester was just a ball of fun, academically you knew what you were doing, socially you didn't have to worry about making friends, about making connections. Building a solid foundation socially in O-week was what shaped my friends and my year.

Overall, I wouldn't trade my hall experience for anything, it doesn't matter where you're from, your race, gender or religion you'll make friends with people that you'd never of thought to even have talked to in high school. Also, it doesn't matter what hall you're in. I know once again it may be easy for me to say, but I have had friends who have gotten into their last choice halls that have had a hell of a good time and have succeeded academically. 

I would just like to end this with some more tips I would tell myself entering the halls at the start of this year: Everyone is nervous and anxious, you're not the only one. You'll find that your real friends will stick by you and be there for you whenever, wherever. Be open to change and you have got be able to roll with the punches. 

And finally, I reassure you that you will be fine at whatever hall you end up at, whatever friend group you're in, whatever course you study, as long as you are true to yourself others will see that and gravitate towards you.

If you have any other questions about Arana or any other halls, the selection process or anything that I didn't cover in this blog feel free to email me at hsfyblog@gmail.com or leave a comment and I'll be more than happy to respond.