My time as a student at Durham University has been a collective journey of great new experiences. One of the most relatable parts of my student life so far has been my time cooking with my housemates in my third-year house. As a student from a self-catered college who then moved out of college in years 2 and 3, it’s important to have social meals with other people and to not always eat alone, whether that’s lunch with friends on campus or meals at home after a hard day’s work at university.
Eating together
My housemates and I have made a tradition of walking home, cooking and eating together after being on campus for our respective subjects. It’s a great part of the student experience after you move out of college, to enjoy student living and all the quirks that come with it. Whether we’re making curry, Italian pasta or stir-fry together, we make sure to natter away as we do it, to make cooking and cleaning feel like less of a chore that we all have to do.
Rotas and routines
There have been a few mishaps, where I have burned the garlic bread or dropped the plate of spaghetti bolognese on the floor, but it happens to the best of us. Sometimes, we have watched endless episodes of Horrible Histories and Bake Off while cooking, dancing to music, or just catching up with each other on our day. It is a part of the student experience that most people can relate to, especially after moving out of college and looking after your own student house. It’s about designing cleaning rotas and trying to remember when bin collection day is as we navigate living alone for the first time, together.
Tackling jobs together
One moment in particular I will remember: my housemates and I had been batch cooking together, kitchen full of the different smells of the various meals before settling at the table and eating and chatting together; the conversation lasting into the night as we lost track of time. It was only after midnight when we noticed that we still had a mountain of dishes left to clean before bed that we had to crack on with and a 9am lecture the next morning. Together, we tackled the seemingly monumental task but I was grateful that they were there with me and that I had the opportunity to make lifelong friends out of university and student living.
It may not seem much, but it’s these little things I will look back on fondly and remember forever, long after I have left university. Sometimes, it’s the little things we remember the most.
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