There’s not much that can prepare you for the huge culture shock you experience when moving from a small country town to the big smoke for university.

Being a student who grew up in the country compared to a student who was born and bred in the city, your university experience is completely different.

We’re Forced To Make New Friends

Being an out of towner, you’ll either live on campus or rent a room in a share house. If you take the on-campus route (which most first years do) you’re thrown into sharing a room, bathroom and kitchen with complete strangers.

By the end of O-Week, these complete strangers become your new best mates and a whole new friendship group is created outside of the one that’s back home.

If you grew up in the same city as your uni, there’s no push to make friends. You might have classes with the same bunch of people, but there’s no need to make much effort because you already have friends waiting for you the minute you finish your lecture.

We’re A Little More Strapped For Cash

Living on campus or renting: there are bills that need paying, bulk Mi Goreng noodles to buy and two for one goon sacks to purchase. If you’re like me and struggled to find a job in first year, having these extra expenses and no disposable income, chances are you hardly get through the week with $5 to spare.

Not having the luxury of mum or dad flicking you a fifty from time to time, paying the electricity bill or putting a home cooked dinner in front of you every night takes a serious toll on your bank account. But my god you learn how to budget like a pro.

We Find Everything New And Exciting 

One of the most exciting parts of moving to a new place is learning the ropes and getting the lowdown of the town. Especially when you’ve gone from having one main street with 10 shops to the city with a Maccas on every corner.

It’s always fun drinking your way around all the bars in the city until you find the one you’ll spend most Friday and Saturday nights at for the next three years. You’re more open to trying that dingy looking pub down the road because you have no idea what could be in store for the night ahead.

The same goes for finding cheap Sunday brunches. City kids will repeatedly stick to the places they know, but you’ll eat through almost every smashed avo on toast the town has to offer until you find the one that’s right (and cheapest) for you.

We Appreciate Home More

It was the best feeling of freedom in the world to get out of your parents place and into a house or dorm where you don’t have to make your bed every day or wash each dish as you use it. But the more times you take that trip back home, the more you realise it really wasn’t all that bad.

It’s nice to head home, go into your local supermarket or coffee shop and know the cashier serving you; you can strike up a convo and they’re genuinely interested in what you’ve been up to and how your day has been.

The relationship with your parents grows stronger by being away and not having the ability to piss each other off on a day-to-day basis. You appreciate the little things they do so much more when you’re only seeing them once every couple of months.

Molly loves playing and watching all sports and appreciates good cheese and fine wines. She has the potential to end up as that crazy cat lady from the Simpsons and is a final year journalism student who would love to end up working in the entertainment industry.

(Lead image: Friday Night Lights/Imagine Entertainment)