EJ

Quite a lot of people hang out or study in the Student Life Hub, so you can always meet people. The interior is really nice. It is a friendly place.

14th October 2025

First impressions and life in the flat

EJ, thanks for your time, why did you choose Purdown View?

The other ones just weren’t cute enough for me. And I wanted my own space—I love to be in my space. It’s probably not healthy to be in it all the time but I think it’s cool.

Have you lived away from home before coming here?

Yeah, I’ve lived in the UK for about seven years now. I did secondary school here and always had my own room. I was younger so I wanted to be around people but now I’m older I don’t really want to be around people as much, so I got a studio.

Do you feel like you can put your own touch on things and make the space your own?

Yeah definitely. It was easy because it was already pretty, I just had to make it prettier.

Love that. And what would you do to improve it?

The only Debby downer is that I think the bathroom mirror’s ugly. I also have an island table in my room and the chairs are really big. Depending on where I put the chair, I either hit the TV or it obstructs me getting into my bed, so I think stools would have been better.

Social spaces and building community

How have you found the transition to living by yourself?

I definitely felt isolated when I first came here. Most people you see already know people or they’ve already found their group—like I think a lot of people go to uni with their friends. So you’re not going to go and bother someone who doesn’t want to speak.

Do you feel like living in a studio has made it more difficult to meet friends?

That’s the only downside but the people in the flat next to me are nice, they mingle. The guy opposite me is also in a studio. I met him quite early because we both have the same room, but yeah we still have our individual friends. I’d feel weird knocking on flat doors and say, ‘hi guys, can you let me in?’ [laughs].

Have you made friends on your course?

Yeah, but most of them are head down. They just want to get on with it and leave. So you don’t force it with them. We just go for practicals, we work together, and that’s it. We don’t really speak outside of class.

What about events, have you checked any of those out?

Yeah, some, a few [laugh]. I just don’t like to go out that much. I like to hang out with a tiny group of people whereas some people like to hang out with bigger groups, so I go to some events. Some people have gone to all of them, that’s just a bit mad for me!

Do you use the communal spaces?

Yeah, Student Life Hub, I play pool in there sometimes. Quite a lot of people hang out or study there, so you can always meet people. The interior is really nice. It is a friendly place.

And are there communal spaces you wish were here?

I think there should be a gym. You don’t want to go outside, get the bus, and then walk to the gym, and then walk back. It would encourage a healthier lifestyle and people would be making better use of the spaces.

A mini cinema room as well. For example, the next building over—there’s a massive sitting space where people go to get away from the cold or rain. You could have put a cinema room or a gym there—I’d prefer that to the Move Studio.

Noted! Would you ever book this kitchen for example?

I’d book the space if I wanted to do a games night or something like that. Definitely, this is a really nice space and it’s not too cold here. I wouldn’t book a space like this for a party though. You feel like you’re on show. It’s a little bit too easily accessible. Maybe a children’s birthday could happen here?

Life on campus

You spoke about the lack of gym, do you feel like you can be healthy here?

Yeah, but some people don’t cook. You come in to uni in the first week and cook so much, then the second week you cook less, and then you start to order more food.

In your second month, you’re looking at your bank account and it’s like, ‘yeah, I need to cook!’ It’s not something the uni can control. If you’re not going to cook, you’re not going to cook. So that’s a personal thing. You have to be disciplined and cook for yourself.

Do you know about the edible planting around the site?

No. Eat it?

Yeah, there are lots of herbs and berries you can pick. The idea was that it would encourage people to cook, or just spice up your Dominos!

Oh wow, okay!

So on the topic of food, do you have access to everything you would want nearby—or do you travel into the city centre?

Yeah, mostly on-the-go stuff in the supermarkets, but there’s only so much a uni can do, you can’t have a big ASDA here. So you can only get some stuff, but there’s a Sainsbury’s just 10 minutes away, so it’s not bad. I like to go out to eat though, so I go to the city centre to go to restaurants and explore because I haven’t seen all of Bristol yet, it’s quite big.

On the topic of health, do you have access to wellbeing support if you need it?

Yeah, I went to one because I was having a really bad day. But I got the sense they were really trying not to overstep boundaries. I asked for a hug and he was like, ‘oh I don’t think so’ [laugh] and I was like, ‘sure, no problem, cool…’ Even though it might not be as warm as a mum’s hug, you just need a hug at that moment.

I’m sorry you didn’t get that hug.

It’s okay [laugh].

Overall, how have you found the uni experience so far–are there other forms of support you can reach out to?

It’s definitely very different to A levels where you’re forced to go to lessons. Here, you can get complacent and just not go to anything, like, ‘I’ll study later’.

Support-wise, you can also work with student experience coaches. They send emails asking ‘how was your lesson today?’ which makes me want to go to lessons. They help you with anything you’re finding difficult. They tell you about events you can go to if you want to meet more people. If you’re struggling with going to class early, they can suggest things to help.