Everything you will experience as a second year living in King’s halls

We all know what it’s like turning up to halls as a first year. That feeling of living away from home for the first time, praying that your flatmates are okay human beings and generally being excited for uni life.

But what happens when you’re a second year living in halls? You’ve been there before and you’re back there again yet it is a completely different experience.

You will become the most important person in the group chat

Everyone turns to you for advice on anything from signing in guests to how to get to campus. You spend your time telling tales of your time as a fresher, relaying your mistakes to first years and dispensing helpful advice you wish someone had given you.

You know all the best places

You know better than to spend £20 of the commercialised freshers’ carnivals, festivals and circuses which turn out to be a normal club night with balloons. Through trial and error, second years know which overrated clubs to avoid and where the hidden gems are.

No more getting lost

Gone are the days of wandering around London with Citymapper leading you down shortcuts and dark alleyways. If you stay in the same halls as you did in first year, you may never need to look at Google Maps again.

All you want to do after a day of lectures is get home asap

People assume you’re boring

They think that being a second year or older means you have so much work you can never possibly go out. You are as social as you want to be. A second year who is on top of their work can be just as much fun as a first year.

Computers will become your enemy

You should be the most efficient packer in the world

In theory you should know exactly what you need for the year but somehow Freshers’ Week rolls around and you unload an entire cars worth of bags before realising you forgot to pack a baking tray or shampoo.

The relief of having 24/7 reception, security and maintenance

Throughout the year your friends in private flats have to deal with unresponsive landlords, mould, plumbing issues, potential evictions and much more. Whilst they spend hours on the phone with their estate agent, you simply have to walk downstairs and let reception know.

You get incredibly jealous of your fresher flatmates

They either panic over their first essay or never turn up to lectures but either way their first year is worth almost nothing. Your year, on the other hand, is worth 40 per cent of your degree. Your flatmates don’t realise how lucky they are.

All things considered, staying in halls in second year is way better than first year. You get to do Freshers’ all over again and meet new people minus the stress of desperately trying to make friends and being terrified of living in a new city. All the fears of being the old one in the flat quickly disappear as you realise that no one cares what year you’re in as long as you’re sociable, fun and don’t make a mess in the kitchen.

Related stories recommended by this writer:

• King’s students turned away from halls are still living in grim hotels

• Free travel and £750 ‘goodwill’: How KCL is compensating displaced freshers

• Which is the definitive best seat in The Maughan? An investigation