MA Film and Television student Yuky tells us about her experience of living in student accommodation – not only as a postgraduate, but also as an international student.
As an international student, coming to Birmingham for the first time was something that excited me and scared me altogether, especially when it came to deciding where to live. I had never visited the city before, so choosing my accommodation from abroad felt initially like a gamble. I searched for accommodation options on different websites, but none met the requirements of what I needed. That’s until I found The Spinney.
I knew I wanted to live close to campus, in a quiet and peaceful area, so when I found The Spinney I was excited because it had all the things I expected my accommodation to have. The place is located in Pritchatts Park, a village very close to campus, so it takes me around 10-15 minutes to walk to classes every day. This is especially useful when I have early classes, or I need to stay at the library until late to work on my assignments.
Since this accommodation is exclusive for postgraduate students, I was lucky enough to coincide with one of my classmates in the same flat, which has made my stay much better because I always have a friend to walk to class with. Besides him, I share the flat with three other students, and despite my initial concerns, it hasn’t been hard to live with more people. It helped that we set up some house rules from the beginning, but also the common spaces are big enough for each of us to do our own things. There’s even a nice sitting room space for whenever any of our friends visit us, or if we just want to hang out while having dinner.
One of my favourite things about staying in a student accommodation is that there’s always something happening around. We’ve had cookie decoration activities, paint your own tote bag, among others, but my favourite one was the Halloween event. Pritchatts’ reception was decorated with a Halloween theme, and they set up stands to carve your own pumpkin, paint your face, and even built a photo booth to take pictures with your friends. As always, we got some great food for free like hot dogs, nachos and donuts. It was amazing!
However, there are other type of activities available too. The university has a programme called Active Residences that allows people who stay in a student accommodation, to attend diverse sports activities for free every week. They have a wide range of options, like badminton, tennis, yoga, pilates, soccer, and more. I go to pilates and badminton every week because it helps me stay active and it’s a good way to clear my mind from classes. Plus, it’s a good way to get to know more people, especially if you are new in the city, like me.
In retrospect, I’m so happy I chose The Spinney as my accommodation. If you are coming to study a postgraduate at UoB, definitely consider this place as an option. It was the best decision I made!
Want to find out more? Explore our student accommodation options!