The Warwick Bubble has everything you’ll ever need

One of the most important criteria for choosing universities is whether you want to experience campus-life or not. While it might seem as something which shouldn’t influence your decision, it shapes your university experience more than you’d think.

As someone who grew up in a small city, not having to deal with the traffic and the tube was a big relief for me. But these are minor details when it comes to living the campus life and actually enjoying it to the fullest.

Being on campus offers you a warm, familiar atmosphere which helps a lot when you are a fresher and you feel anxious because you don’t know anyone. Your friends are back home or spread around the country and your mum’s only way of helping is by reassuring you over the phone that everything is going to be alright. So what can you do?

Being on campus offers you a warm, familiar atmosphere which helps a lot when you are a fresher

It may sound simple but, go for a walk – you’ll probably meet your future friends in a short time. This is exactly the beauty of living on campus. The halls of residence are really close to each other so it’s easier to meet people and and maintain your friendships because your friends are only a short walk away whenever you feel like watching a movie or having a chat.

The Piazza and hotspots, like Curiositea, are always full of people and you’ll most probably bump into a coursemate or someone from last Friday night. So it’s almost impossible to ever feel alone and not befriend anybody. I met some of my best friends on the first day of University and because I was living on campus, I couldn’t have got rid of them even if I wanted to.

Now, maybe you’re thinking ‘I can make friends in a big city too! It isn’t too different.’ and even if it may be true, friendships grow stronger and quicker when your friends are always in walking distance; it never takes longer than 20 minutes to get anywhere on campus. In first year, I was almost never alone in my room as my friends used to drop by almost every day.

The Piazza and hotspots, like Curiositea, are always full of people and you’ll most probably bump into a coursemate or someone from last Friday night

Nonetheless, living in a mini-town is exactly what you imagine: you get to know everybody. This could be a great downside whenever you feel like spending time by yourself and taking a break from everyone.

However, whenever you feel claustrophobic, you can always explore the green spaces around campus or jump on the bus and visit Leamington Spa, Coventry or even catch a short train to Birmingham. Whenever I felt like this in my first year, I would take a walk around the Bluebell lake to clear my head – it’s a great way to unwind. Of course, this doesn’t mean that you’ll feel suffocated all the time – your experience at University is what you make of it so if you’re not a massively social person, don’t worry, you can definitely have as much privacy as you want.

Another great thing about being on campus is that is impossible to be ‘too far away’ from the building you have seminars in or the café you’re supposed to meet your friends at. Everything is so close to your halls that you can’t excuse yourself for not going to classes or having a studying session in the Library. Usually, in just a 5-10 minute walk, you can get to wherever you have to be; which is a great if, like every regular student, you tend to get lazy and procrastinate. The proximity of everything is an advantage when it comes to societies and the various events they hold as well. Being involved with societies requires some time management as they organize both academic and social events. If you’re doing sports as well, being on campus makes it really easy to go back and forth between your commitments. Not having to commute too often as a fresher to participate events is amazing as it allows you to get involved with as many societies and sports clubs as you want since almost everything happens on campus.

Nonetheless, living in a mini-town is exactly what you imagine: you get to know everybody

My involvement with societies in the first year would’ve been considerably lower if I had to take the bus or the tube every day just to go the events.

Whilst I could go on about the other advantages of campus life, such as the safety of it, I will focus on one more aspect: nights-out. You’ll quickly become accustomed to the regular Warwick schedule: Monday Kasbah, Tuesday’s and Thursday’s at Smack, Wednesday Pop! and Friday Neon. But even if you eventually become bored of the routine, it’s the little things like riding the UniExpress to get to Leamington and the sticky floors in the Copper Rooms which are experiences unique to Warwick. Who doesn’t love a double decker full of drunk students and Disco Dave playing your favorite tunes? Trust me, it’s the little things that make up your student life, and being on campus as a fresher, especially at Warwick, is a completely unique whirlwind of an experience.