I’ve always found that good things tend to happen when out of your comfort zone, so I was a little excited to move to a new city on my lonesome. I say on my own, actually two of my friends from school moved here with me so I’m not quite flying solo!
I moved into Nelson House to begin with, but city centre living didn’t suit me so I moved to Hiatt Baker two weeks in, a choice I’m definitely glad I made. Hiatt is part of the group of halls at Stoke Bishop just over Durdham Downs, and with everyone in the same boat, friendships are super easy to come by.
Extra curriculars are laid on thick here, the Freshers’ Fair not only had your bog standard Domino’s vouchers (I know it’s a gimmick but you’ll be thankful when you’re hungry after a night out) but was teeming with quite literally hundreds of societies grabbing you as you walked round. Get there early, the queues were horrifyingly long by the time I got there at lunchtime!
My favourite society is DanceSoc, which runs classes almost every evening in the brand new dance studios at the Students’ Union on Richmond Hill. I definitely recommend joining a few social clubs, it doesn’t hurt to meet new people I promise. There are always other lost freshers around so don’t be scared!
I’m reading Classics, which I absolutely love. I’m really impressed with the teaching standard: the lectures are engaging, my tutors’ doors are always open, and I’m studying with people who are equally keen which is especially good for me as I’m coming from a class of one at school.
Last week, I attended eight lectures based on the topic ‘Deep Classics’ in Goldney Orangery: a convention of professors from universities all over the world including Princeton, Yale and Padova. I thoroughly enjoyed them and am told that my faculty has programmes set up for us to attend throughout the year so we have plenty to look forward to in the coming months thanks to Bristol being so research intensive.
– Grace
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