When I think about my favourite parts of university, sure, I’ll think of learning about things that I’m truly passionate about, Cogro lattes, and even the occasional Tumble Tuesday. But something that I love above all else is living somewhere new, experiencing life on my own for the first time, and just meeting new people and living new experiences. My all-time favourite part of university has to be living with some of my best friends.
British singer-songwriter Maisie Peters’ unreleased song “Girls House” puts this feeling into perspective perfectly. She wrote this song about when she lived with her best friends, and it puts the feeling of having people around you who love and support you into this song. My favourite lyrics are in the first verse where she sings “And then we all went partying/ Inside our house, our living room/ Five girls and one shared hate for you”. There is a unique love that comes from living with your friends that you just don’t get when living with your family, and Peters illustrates that feeling in those three lines. University houses can be so full of play, and support. I’m eternally grateful for random living room parties and hangouts on weekday nights, which are definitely unique to living with young adults who don’t take life too seriously. My house has so many little things that we love and make us fall over laughing. I’m sure many of your university houses have something similar! I mean, tell me where else you’re watching Sue Sylvester from Glee sing “Super Bass’ every night (I’m not even exaggerating).
There is a different constant love and support that you get from living with your best friends that I never want to take for granted. There are some topics that you just don’t want to talk about with your parents, but with your best friends, nothing is TMI. If some guy screws you over, he becomes the house enemy, and your friends are there to help however you need. Whether this is being a shoulder to cry on, cussing him out in the Ale line, or just making jokes about him to make you feel better.
Another fabulous aspect of living with your besties is the hangout that truly never ends! I love it when my housemates randomly knock on my door to chat, or when we decide last minute to throw on a movie while simultaneously having some of the best conversations ever, a unique spontaneity that doesn’t exist anywhere else. If I’m bored I’ll walk two steps to my housemate’s room and we will have a silly little hangout with zero plans but the best vibes.
Unfortunately, living with friends doesn’t work for everyone. However, I am seriously so lucky to have become best friends with some random girl who DM’d me from the Queen’s 2025 Instagram account asking to be my roommate. I think that finding people you can live with, while also being friends with, is certainly a challenge, but once you figure it out it’s so worth it and an experience I wouldn’t give up for the world.
Living with three other students in their 20s sounds like such an insane idea. We are irresponsible and we surely can’t manage an entire home, but we figure it out, and we have fun doing it. Isn’t that what this experience is all about anyway? Our tiny Kingston home is not the nicest and has its fair share of flaws, but it truly is the people who make a house a home.