Third-year student Logan moved from England to our Belfast student accommodation in 2021 for her first year and is ending her stay with us as graduation approaches.
We spoke to Logan about her three years living at Little Patrick Street, including some top tips for new students coming to live in the city and some standout memories.
A video featuring highlights of our chat with Logan will be added very soon, but in the meantime check out her full story below.
Name: Logan
University: Ulster University
Roost: Little Patrick Street
The craic was great when I first moved in here. Like, I moved in, I lived in my little downstairs apartment, you meet all your flatmates which was really cute. Everybody in my flat when I first moved here, everybody ate dinner with each other for, like, the first week because obviously you're new and it's the first time you're away from home.
When I moved here, because it was the end of COVID, everybody was new. It was absolutely random people and we all had to kind of figure it out together. But we got on really, really well. And then second year, my flatmates were fine and then this year they are stellar. Love them. I have one flatmate that has been, like, a constant. You can pick to keep your room when you rebook, so he kept his and I kept mine. Instead of going into a different flat to still live together, we just kept our own rooms, and then we got three new people.
The events are really good, especially the start of year events because everybody is new. So they're more like, “Oh, I will go down and I will have a slice of free pizza and I will mingle.” There was a really good one at the start of my second year, because there was a lot of people I knew that I didn't know were living in the building again. And it was like, “Oh, you're still here, I'm still here, we can hang out!” And there was a lot of pool, like tournaments and stuff.
Let's talk about the party kitchen [at Great Patrick Street] for a minute. My friends and I have made great use of the party kitchen. We love it. “Let’s go sit in your kitchen”, “No, let's go sit in your kitchen”. I'm like, hear me out. We’ll go sit in the party kitchen, [which has] karaoke. We have done some proper nights in the party kitchen, big fans! We tend to do like charcuterie, or little dishes… and lay them on the big party kitchen island.
I love the desk staff. I feed them pieces of cheesecake and everything, because they are amazing. They will chat to you about quite literally anything and are really nice, especially my first year when I just moved here. Sometimes you just needed someone to chat to.
And obviously, they're there 24/7. So like [if you have an issue], you just go downstairs and you're like, “Hi!” And they're like, “No problem. We'll get it sorted.” [They] know that most of the times I go to work, I forget [my] key. And it's like, “Hi, can you let me in?” They know my room number at this point.
I mean, that's what my parents kind of really liked about it. You move out and you're 18 years old, and I'm in a different country… they’re not exactly down the road to get me. So they were like: does it have security? How do you pick up your parcels? Can people get into your flat? Is it keys? Is it fobs? You know, asking all the, like, important questions.
It’s brilliant. You know, because you walk in, you're on the ground floor. You don't have to wait for an elevator. You don't have to take your bins down in the elevator. You don't have to take your washing up and down in the elevator. I just walk from my room, around the corner and back in. Absolutely no bother.
I mean, I love it personally, your bills are included, your room is your own, your kitchen is your shared space.
My flatmates have never caused me any bother. You're not always going to be instant best friends with everybody, but you will learn to live with each other and you have little chats and you do little things. And it's just, it's a very, very harmonious type of ‘just get stuck in’. [Students] need to take the pressure off themselves. Chill. Just live your life. And it will all just work.
Are you looking to start your Belfast uni journey as a first year like Logan? Or maybe you’re coming up to third year, and looking for a new living situation in the city as you head towards graduation? Take a look at our Belfast student accommodation, including brand new Nelson Place opening in September 2024.