Rachael

For my first year, living on campus was a no brainer as it allowed me to meet so many more people than if I had lived in town in private accommodation. For my second and third year, I decided to return to halls too - the ease of access to campus facilities and the overall atmosphere around the university made it difficult to leave.

I was friends with a lot of people who also stayed in halls, so being able to easily meet each other and not worry about walking home in the dark (as they were less than a five minute walk from my flat through a well-lit campus) was a massive bonus!

Each hall’s committee puts on so many social events to help you meet people outside of your flat, which was very helpful for me. By playing IMS (hall sports), or getting involved with Action and RAG (two charity societies), you can meet people from your hall and other halls with similar interests too. There is always something for everyone. 

With accommodation in the student village, you’re just ten minutes from any lecture halls on campus, and only five minutes from the library. This means I’m much more likely to use the library as a study space rather than trying to work in my own room or a coffee shop, which is important as it provides me with the atmosphere and study books I need.

I have so many great memories from my time in halls. For my 21st birthday, we booked out the BBQs in Cayley and had a BBQ with punch for my friends. The weather was really nice and everyone had a great time. Each hall has its own BBQ area which are great in summer and the barbeques I have had whilst in halls have never failed to disappoint.

Another favourite memory for me is hall day. This is hands down the best day of the year for any hall. Last year, Claudia Parsons had a slip and slide and invited other halls committees to race on it. The weather was sweltering, so the water was a welcome escape from the heat. 

For me, catered halls were a great choice for two reasons. Firstly, it gave me routine. Set mealtimes helped me to eat meals at normal times and also meant I would structure my day around my meals making my work time more effective.

Secondly, it was a really easy way to get nutritious meals. If I got to the end of a long day of lectures, the last thing I’d want to do was cook myself a meal. Catered halls meant I had food on demand and there were veggies and fruit options available with every meal. 

Particularly at the start of the year when people haven’t settled into friendship groups yet and are still getting to know others, catered halls offer a great opportunity to meet others. The open banquet tables mean you can sit with a different group every day if you want and as you start to recognise faces from seeing them every day in the dining hall you become more inclined to talk to them.

The best thing about halls for me has to be the people you meet along the way. Becoming hall chair allowed me to meet so many people who loved their hall as much as I did, and the competitions and rivalries between us were a massive source of fun. It was brilliant to work with such a hardworking committee to make Cayley as great as we could.  

After being Cayley Hall Chair, I went on to become the President of the Hall Students’ Federation. In this role I helped to institute more alcohol-free nights during freshers as well as advising on the planning of freshers from a halls’ perspective. It was an honour to be awarded the Loughborough Experience Award for service to Hall Communities at the end of last academic year and again to be nominated for it this year.