After receiving my offer in February 2014 to study children’s nursing I had plenty of time to prepare for the big move to London. I was working full-time as an outpatient receptionist, so I was able to start buying bits and pieces to get prepared for moving out… Little did I know how much I would actually need! My Nan’s spare room ended up looking like a showroom display from IKEA, much to her enjoyment. Moving day arrived and as we packed up the car (with great difficulty!), it all of a sudden became more of a reality than dream, I was heading off to start my nursing degree (after many times I thought it would never happen…)

I always knew I wanted to study in London but moving from Nottingham, although it is a big city, was a bigger transition than I ever imagined. . Moving day arrived and after months and months of planning, I was starting to feel nervous! Don’t get me wrong, I was excited/happy/eager to get started, but the realisation that I was leaving my family, friends and home had started to sink in and all of a sudden, I was really apprehensive about leaving everything I knew. After saying goodbye to my family, we set off in the car and it was the longest car journey of my life- However, as we kept driving down the motorway and the miles to London became less and less, my excitement grew.

On arrival at my halls of residence, I was greeted by the friendly reception staff who gave me my keys after completing all the admin stuff. They showed me to my room (the staff even helped me and my family bring my mountain of bags and boxes up!). They told me all the basics of who to contact if I needed anything and where to find particular things available in my halls such as the gym, common room, post room and laundry facilities. I’m not going to lie, when my family left me, I felt very alone and isolated. I kept myself busy for a few hours trying to organise my room, un-pack the mountain of bags and boxes and then I sat on my bed and had a little sob!- Looking back on it, I feel so silly because my family and friends were only a phone call/train ride away, but at the time it was really hard. I think this was the part I found most challenging about starting at university. But once the initial first night nerves were over, I started to settle in and enjoy the experience.

I lived in private accommodation in my first year, where not all students were from City, they studied different courses to me and some of them were mature students- so I wasn’t sure how I would make friends and if I would have anything in common with anyone. I moved in first as nursing courses start a few weeks before ‘normal’ courses and fresher’s events- so I had to wait a few days for my flat mates to move in. I lived with 5 girls in first year and although it wasn’t always harmonious (5 girls living together, there may be a few disagreements), I had a really good first year experience which helped me to adjust to being an adult (just about!) and living independently. When I moved into halls, I suddenly realised I had to do everything on my own- washing, cooking, cleaning, buying food and day-to-day essentials (I was clueless about what washing powder to buy and how to apply to be on the electoral roll!!!) but somehow I muddled through.

As my induction to university started on the Monday, I moved to London on the Saturday before. I thought I would give myself a day-or-so to settle in, get my room the way I wanted it and so I could

explore the local area. I even did a test-run to university on Sunday to see how long it would take me to get to my 09:00 lecture the next morning- it’s always best to be prepared, especially in London!

The induction two weeks for the School of Health Sciences were really crucial for me and helped make me feel like I would settle into university, meet friends and most of all made university seem less daunting. The first few days were all about registration, DBS checks, occupational health screening and uniform fittings so I really felt like I was going to be a student nurse and although looking back it seems trivial I was so excited. As induction continued, I got to meet people on my course and started to make friends; I made sure to say hello to as many people as I could (after all, we were going to be spending the next 3 years together!). During induction we had sessions about the course structure, biology, placement, professional practice and had specific course sessions where we got to meet our lecturers and find out more about them. This was really informative for me and made university seem a bit more personal knowing the academic background of my lecturers and who would be teaching me for the next 3 years. The only thing – there is such a wealth of information being thrown at you, by the time the end of each day came, my brain was fried! But it all sunk it eventually…

In the second week of induction, I attended the Fresher’s Fair which is an event held every year for students to promote the services available in the university, events, societies and best of all… lots of freebies! The highlight of Fresher’s Fair for me were the discounted dominoes vouchers and all the free pens (that must be the nurse in me coming out). Whilst I was there, I was able to apply for my student oyster card, find out more about the student ambassador scheme at the university and get information on loads of ways to save money as a student. During fresher’s week, I also took the time to explore London and get to know the City I would be spending the next 3 years in. People always say to me “oh how do you live in London, it’s so expensive!” but there’s loads of free things to do and one of my favourite things to do is to walk along Southbank – it’s so pretty at night!

Looking back on those first few weeks, it’s so important to remember we were all in the same boat and probably had the same worries and nerves, so you’re not alone! Nearly 3 years later, we all still support each other because we’re in this together, you really do make friends for life. If I could give myself one bit of advice if I was to be a fresher again, it would be… Don’t lose your £8 travel card on your first day, don’t let nerves hold you back and most of all- enjoy it!