I was very nervous arriving in Edinburgh. While I am fairly extroverted, making a good impression with 11 people was a lot of pressure, not to mention the logistics of living with them all.
Julianna Gawlik, Edinburgh Medical School
“A twelve-person flat?!?”. I stared at my accommodation allocation email, with the clear warning that I have only 24 hours to accept the offer. Getting a place at Edinburgh Medical School was a dream come true, and knowing the challenge that lay ahead, I had purposefully requested a quiet flat. Receiving a spot in one of the very few 12 people flats instead of the usual 3-4 person setups therefore came as a huge surprise.
Needless to say, I was very nervous arriving in Edinburgh. While I am fairly extroverted, making a good impression with 11 people was a lot of pressure, not to mention the logistics of living with them all. Once I had collected my keys, I went up to my flat to explore. I was relieved to see the layout of the space; the communal area was very spacious, with several sofas, fridges, stoves, and tables. The rooms were spread throughout three corridors, so sound wouldn’t carry and people wouldn’t disturb others by constantly walking past.
Meeting everyone for the first time
Soon enough, amongst the hustle and bustle of unpacking and saying goodbye to parents, I started meeting my flatmates. I must have said “Hi, my name is… Lovely to meet you too, where are you from? What do you study?” etc. a million times, but everybody seemed very friendly. Before we knew it, we were all in the kitchen, counting if everybody had arrived yet and if not, which room numbers we were waiting for. We went to the pub together later that day to chat and get to know each other better, and despite having different hobbies and being at different stages in life, we got on really well.
The first few days understandably took some adjusting to. The people were still fairly unfamiliar, and this was the time to decide on the ground rules – which items were communal (things that everybody could use and we’d take turns to buy) and which ones were for personal use, how to split fridge space or who takes out the bins. The WhatsApp group chat became extremely useful, seeing how difficult it was to gather everybody at the same time. Everybody was clearly trying their best – one flatmate bought cake for everyone, I baked cookies and we all supported each other, whether by showing others where the hoover was or giving advice on where to buy certain items.
As time went by, it became apparent who I got on best with – while I was friendly with everyone, there were certain people that I would chat to more than others, often late into the evenings in the kitchen. We would also attend events organised by the resident assistants together, some examples including an Arthur’s Seat hike, tote bag painting and board game nights. I got into the routine of grocery shopping, cooking etc. fairly quickly. Admittedly balancing this with studies, society taster sessions, work and social life did take some getting used to, particularly figuring out the best timings. The central location of my accommodation definitely helped to make this manageable.
My advice for anybody going into student accommodation is to not panic – simply try to make the most of it! For many people this will be the first chance of living independently. At the end of the day, it is a brilliant opportunity to meet new people, learn new skills, cook, clean, and figure out your own routine. The first week is always full of emotions – a time to transition and set up some ground rules. But also, it’s only the start of the years that lie ahead.
In hindsight, I’m extremely glad that I was allocated the 12 person flat. I got to meet so many fantastic people, some of which are still among my closest friends to this day. We have had flat Christmas and Thanksgiving meals, late night chats, trips, games nights and more. We’ve cooked together, supported each other through hard times and we have some wonderful memories from first year. Were there no challenges with communal living? Of course there were – the dishes weren’t always clean, and there were a few things that broke – but honestly those were far outweighed by everything that I got out of it.
