Sharing your campus accommodation memories
Kitchen parties. Movie nights. Study sessions. Living on campus can be a special time. For many of you, it would have been the first time you lived independently away from home. If you came to Herts from overseas, it might have been your first time in the UK or abroad.
It is also a shared experience that connects many of you across generations, whether you studied at Hatfield Polytechnic during the 1960s or graduated just this year.
We wanted to relive these special memories with you, and in our November newsletter, we asked you to write in and share them with us. Lots of you got in touch and we wanted to share some of our favourite stories.
Finding love
Berill lived in Bellingham Court on College Lane in 2015 and that is where she met her future husband. Berill says, ‘We found each other on Facebook before moving there. I was an international student, so I was able to move in a week earlier than him, but on his moving day, I helped him carry boxes from his car to his flat.
‘I worked at The Forum for a little while and he’d sometimes come and walk me home after my shift on chilly mornings. We have now been together for six years after meeting on the first day of living in Bellingham Court together. We have a house and have shared lots of lovely memories together.
‘Neither of us were looking for a relationship at the time, but we have been inseparable ever since. So, campus accommodation has played a huge part in our lives!'
One big family
Kennedy was an international student from Africa, who lived on Roberts Way in 2012. Living in a household of five with people from different parts of the world was a new experience for him, but he describes it as like ‘living with one big family’.
‘I was made to feel comfortable, living away from home. We held several house parties and barbeques – we’d always look for a reason to celebrate! There was never a dull moment.’
Making important friendships
University accommodation hasn’t always been at the standard we see today, but this shared experience in 2003 brought Claire and her Roehyde flatmates closer together.
‘The walls in our accommodation were paper thin, but when we were offered the chance to move, we all decided not to. We shared the Roehyde spirit.
‘We took turns cooking dinners. We had kitchen parties, sat in the corridors chatting, worked on assignments together, and squeezed into our rooms to watch movies and eat the treats our parents had sent us.
‘The friendships I made are so important to me and most of us have stayed in touch. I met my partner through people I met in Roehyde. My brother married my best friend from Roehyde and they have a child together. My friends got married and one of their table names at the wedding was Roehyde!’
Trying different experiences
Jawed had a lot of fun in his accommodation. He graduated last year (2022) and wrote about baking and enjoying movie marathons with his flatmates. He says, ‘We also went to many of the Active Student sessions and tried different sports, like badminton. We spent time travelling around locally too, to places like St. Albans, Cambridge, and the Warner Bros. Studio Tour in Watford.’
A second home
Dr Anupama lived on College Lane in 2011 and fondly remembers her accommodation as like a second home. ‘It was a warm and friendly place, and I have countless great memories. I’d highly recommend it to new students.’
The late 1960s
Accommodation has changed a lot since 1969 when David studied at Herts. For his first two years, he stayed with a family in Hoddesdon, a Hertfordshire town about a 25-minute drive from Hatfield. David says, ‘They were lovely people, who treated me like family.’ In his fourth year, David married and moved to a flat above a motorcycle shop in Bishop’s Stortford.
Thank you to everyone who got in touch. We are always keen to hear from graduates and if you would like to get in touch to share memories from your time at Herts, then drop us an email.