{"id":1201,"date":"2026-07-02T16:33:19","date_gmt":"2026-07-02T15:33:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/be-well\/?p=1201"},"modified":"2026-07-02T17:27:17","modified_gmt":"2026-07-02T16:27:17","slug":"making-bath-a-second-home","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/be-well\/2026\/07\/02\/making-bath-a-second-home\/","title":{"rendered":"Making Bath a second home"},"content":{"rendered":"

Biomedical Science student and Black Students' Network Ambassador Adebayo shares his experience of leaving London, navigating move-in day, and finding a community during his first year at Bath.<\/em><\/p>\n

University life is full of exciting experiences, and moving away from home for the first time is arguably one of the biggest milestones. Leaving Tottenham in North London to start my first year at the University of Bath felt like a massive leap. Although moving out can be quite exciting, some nerves can arise when making that change. Looking back, the transition was quite smooth, but there were definitely a few things I learned along the way that I thought I'd share.<\/p>\n

The first thing to tackle is packing. If you feel like you have overpacked, do not worry. I most definitely did, and as I would say, it is better to be safe than sorry. You want your room to feel like home, so bringing a few extra things that make it feel homely makes sense. However, my biggest piece of advice is to be strategic about the bulky essentials. On my arrival day, trying to find a duvet in the city centre was unexpectedly stressful. With so many other students moving in on the same day, the shops were completely cleared out. I ended up getting a cosy blanket for the night from Primark while waiting for my duvet to be delivered (and I very much preferred the blanket).<\/p>\n

To save yourself the hassle, either bring these large items with you if space allows or order them to your accommodation beforehand. I would also advise checking what your student accommodation provides you in terms of bedding, so you know what you can leave behind or bring along with you. Making sure your bed feels the way it does back home will help you settle in a bit better and have a better night\u2019s sleep.<\/p>\n

Once you are unpacked, the next adjustment is getting used to a new city. Coming from London, where there are a lot of things to do, shops to visit, and places to go out, I was used to having everything right on my doorstep. Bath can feel undeniably quieter, and the reduced shopping and nightlife definitely took some time getting used to. But honestly, it isn't a bad thing. There are just enough shops, independent cafes, and venues to make Bath incredibly enjoyable without feeling overwhelming.<\/p>\n

Another really important thing is building your community by branching out and stepping outside your \"\"comfort zone. I found the process of making friends to be quite easy, largely because I made sure to join societies early and threw myself into Freshers' Week events. Getting involved with the African and Caribbean Society (ACS) and playing football were brilliant ways to connect with people who shared my interests right from the start. It turns out that a lot of people make the journey from London to Bath, and finding people who share the same experience and background makes settling in a lot easier. Whether it is kicking a ball around, heading to Black Students' Network<\/a> events, or just sitting in the kitchen playing a few rounds of Uno and card games with new flatmates, putting yourself out there in those first few weeks really pays off.<\/p>\n

Moving to university is a huge step, but once the initial whirlwind of unpacking and adjusting settles, Bath quickly starts to feel like a second home.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Biomedical Science student and Black Students' Network Ambassador Adebayo shares his experience of leaving London, navigating move-in day, and finding a community during his first year at Bath. University life is full of exciting experiences, and moving away from home...<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2058,"featured_media":1205,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[73],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1201","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-black-students-network"],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/be-well\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/144\/2026\/06\/Media-8.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pd4PsN-jn","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/be-well\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1201","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/be-well\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/be-well\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/be-well\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2058"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/be-well\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1201"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/be-well\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1201\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/be-well\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1205"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/be-well\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1201"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/be-well\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1201"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/be-well\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1201"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}