What to bring when you come to university

When you decide to move away from home for the first time to come to university it is a huge step to your own independence – lets just say things like cooking and doing laundry were a massive shock for me in first year! For most of us it’s a lot different to living at home and it’s the next step to fending for ourselves, so I’m going to mention a few things that are essential for when you come.

1) Bedding

When you arrive at your accommodation (whether it be halls of residence or renting), things for your bed are always important. Duvets, pillows, duvet covers and bed sheets are essential for when you first arrive and it also makes your room feel more like home so you can start to settle in quickly.

2) Cutlery and crockery  

This is another important essential that you should remember to take with you – you don’t want to be splashing your loan on just pizza for the first few days because you have nothing to eat normal food with. Also buying pots, pans and oven trays to store in the kitchen are really important too so make sure you don’t forget them.

3) Food 

Maybe this should have been number 2 because you can’t cut up food if you don’t have any… I’d recommend doing a food shop before you get to uni just for the basics that you can leave in the cupboard like chopped tomatoes, pasta, herbs, salt and pepper. Being a student does mean you will be eating more pasta than you’ve ever eaten before!!!

4) Laundry detergents and soaps

Once you’ve learnt how to use the washing machine, laundry detergent and fabric conditioner will be what you need to clean your clothes. To tell the truth, this is actually the highlight of my shopping trip as I love smelling the different fragrances they have!

5) Clothes

When you come to university the weather may still be warm so I would bring a range of summer and winter clothes – living by the seaside you never know when the sun may make an appearance, so it couldn’t be easier to put on some shorts and go and sunbathe.

This is all I can think of for now but bring things with you that remind you of home so you have a sense of comfort too… Anymore questions just send me a message!

Word from the uni…

Since Amy wrote about her summer school experience the university has announced some changes for courses based at Eastbourne. From September 2024 all of our sport and health sciences courses will be based in Brighton at our Falmer campus. Find out more about our plans.