For many students, going to University isn’t just about starting a new chapter and embarking on a new course.. it’s also about moving away from home.
For lots of us, myself included, moving into halls or into a student house is the first time we have ever left home.
I was one of the students that were frantically checking the Facebook page at every opportunity, trying to find my flatmates and hoping that they were at least relatively normal (which they were, thankfully!)
But worrying about whether I would get on with my flatmates was only one of the things that I was thinking about. Would I like my room and my flat? Would I be good at my course? Will I cope being away from home?
There are many worries that I’m sure everybody has when they are starting University, but I think that the reality of it is a lot stronger when you have to move out of your home as well.
Luckily for me, home is only an hour away at most. I also have a car, which makes travelling back on the odd weekend very easy.
But… my main concern was not how I would get home, but how I would ever have any time to!
We were made very aware on the open days and interview day that the Primary Initial Teacher Education course is busy and requires your full effort and time. With full days of lectures, stacks of work and long placements, the prospect of having any time to go home seemed near impossible.
I have a very large and very close family, and I will admit that I was worried that I wouldn’t see them often.
A few of my course friends have admitted that they did in fact also worry about this. Especially those who now live a 
good few hours away from home.
If you are one of those students, like I was, that is nervous about moving away and having no time to return, then let me tell you this…
You will have plenty of time.
Now that might seem obvious to some people, but I think that I would have been more at ease if somebody had told me that before I started.
I have in fact been home many times throughout my first and second year, and so have my course friends that live hours away. It’s often difficult to plan in advance, but with good time keeping and organisation, it’s more than do-able. And of course, we do get a few weeks off throughout the year, and a nice long summer break!
Living away from home has many positives as well. I miss my family, but I have made lifetime friendships, had a blast in student halls, and am having so much fun living in a student house this year with my friends.
I could have commuted to University every day, but I wanted the new experience of living here as well, and I have never regretted that decision.
It becomes easy to live away from home and makes the times with your family that little bit more special!
Don’t let your worries of missing home stop you from doing the course that you have your heart set on.
Training to be a teacher is hard, and often I don’t go home for a while, but by the end of my course I will hopefully be doing what I deem to be the best job in the world.
So, how is that not worth it?
Please send me any questions you may have, any concerns and thoughts that have crossed your mind. I’m happy to reply and give you my perspective….been there, done that after all!
Worcester Student Life 