Fear of Missing Out
Hi there! Today, I want to touch on my accommodations in London and the group dynamics of my dialogue. In London, students tend to only stay on campus as freshmen, however as I mentioned earlier, London has a lot of high end development going on right now and that is pushing rent prices up and lower income residents out. Hmmmmm, sounds awfully familiar doesn’t it? Thus, students don’t always have an easy time finding apartments and “Student Accommodations” have begun to pop up all over to solve this issue. These places are very modern, with lots of amenities like laundry facilities and onsite gyms, and can be quite expensive. Their main mission is to provide mostly independent housing for students that is convenient and relatively affordable. These enterprises feel a lot like a hybrid on/off campus residence hall. Although each is fully equipped with its own kitchen, bathroom, bedrooms tend to be singles, and rent is paid directly to the organization, there are still some things that are a little more structured than your average apartment complex. There are more communal spaces to foster student community, there are some group activities and outings, and you still need to sign in guests. Students can sign onto leases that are year long or just for the school year as well, another option unique to their nature.
Personally, everyone from my dialogue including staff is staying at Pure Aldgate, a student accommodation between central London and Shoreditch. Our studios are singles and Pure provided us with bedding, towels, and some kitchen supplies. Although there have been some minor issues, our accommodations have been very nice. The rooms and common spaces are quite beautiful and we have access to a large conference room for our classes on the ground floor. We have used the screening room to watch documentaries as a group, we often study together or hang out on the gorgeous 18th floor common room, and watching the sunset from the rooftop terrace is absolutely picturesque. My one qualm is that we are not all together on one floor, rather we are spread out in the building, and having singles can be very isolating. It feels weird to make dinner in your own kitchen and eat alone when you know that everyone else must be doing the same thing in their own rooms. We have tried to combat this by doing some group meals and many of us will often hang out in the common spaces at night but there are still times that the FOMO is real.
To that point, we are also spread out during the day because most of us have different internship sites, and there are two main classes being offered so some go to one while another group goes to the other. Thus, the whole group is together a few times a week. In that sense, there has been some division in the group. I wish I could say that we’re all in college and age is so trivial and doesn’t matter at all, but honestly it does impact the group dynamics a bit. It seems like with a few exceptions, the older students stick together in one group and the younger in another.
However, with all that sort of negative stuff being said, everyone on this dialogue is extremely nice and easy to talk to! I have always felt welcome in any group I find myself and I have gotten really close with some students. I am lucky enough to work with two other students at my placement and they both happen to live on the same floor as me so we have been able to spend a lot of time together. I think that also just being really open to anything and just saying yes when someone suggests going out to explore, or to this or that really helps as well. I make sure I’m dedicating enough time to myself so that I can get everything done I’m supposed to sleep enough, but I also remind myself that I’m only here for a short time and I want to make the most of it. It’s a complicated balance and I definitely spent way too much money eating out the first week, but I think that I’m starting to figure it all out now and I can’t wait to watch our little community grow closer as our trip goes on.
