Leaving home can be an opposing mix of the excitement of gaining independence and freedom, and the grievance of leaving and the facing the frightening ultimatum – “Am I actually capable of fending for myself?”

The Kingswood Student Residence is an eclectic congregation of fledgling home-leavers; some people have relocated from local suburbs while others have made their way here from other states and different countries. I spoke to my fellow “ressies” about their experiences in moving out and the different ways each of us miss home…

Many of the people I spoke with agreed that the inconveniencing facts of life such as doing everything for yourself and budgeting for food and rent, are a small price to pay for the freedom of living out of home. While we all miss luxuries like having dinner on the table after a long day at uni, access to mum’s car and occasionally walking around in nothing but our undies – no one misses the “Where the hell have you been!?” speech at 4am.

Learning to feed one’s self proves to be a challenging process of trial and error for many here. Even the ‘safe’ option of toast for supper can lead to regularly setting off the fire alarms… In fact the early days when the piercing screech of the alarm bells provoked panic and gathering outside in the cold, have given in to bothered sighs and resigned to waiting out the nauseating noise in your own home until the fire truck rolls in and begrudged fire men yet again discover no fire to fight, but perhaps a heavily steaming saucepan of over-cooked two-minute-noodles. Here’s hoping our attitude is somehow instinctively less complacent in the event of a legitimate fire.

“When I left home, to come here, I was surprised by how much I didn’t miss home,”commented one of my friends. This reaction was not unlike my own, the day my family moved me onto the residence I was surprisingly unflustered, and I’m quite sure I may even have offended them when I didn’t even shed so much as a single tear as we exchanged the final hugs and I pranced off in the direction of a jumping castle (which was a part of the Orientation Week festivities).It can take instances like your family moving further away, or even a serious family illness (or something else you would refer to as “extenuating circumstances” in an application for special consideration) to provoke real dislocation from home and make you want to see your families faces.

Another person I spoke to recalled how he would make the journey back home every weekend when he first moved on, before he truly started to settle; “It becomes easier – you’re not as dependent on others… Living at home is the easy option, with family and dozens of friends at your beck and call. Challenge yourself: cook you own dinner, get a job, make new friends…”

While phone calls, skyping, visits and amateur facebook-stalking help us to stay in contact with the family and friends we couldn’t bring with us, the absence of the cute and cuddly is a tender wound. Pets being against the rules has not stopped numerous attempts to adopt stray kittens which occasionally wander into our midst. The no-name cans of tuna which were gifted to everyone in their welcome packs have been seen sitting on back steps next to bowls of lapped-up milk. While these poor cats always suspiciously disappear, we choose to believe they move on to greener pastures.

I leave you with this advice, moving away from home can be scary and it can be thrilling. You’ll never know what opportunities you’ll pass up if you don’t get out sooner or later. Embrace the new chapter in life, but keep in touch with family and old friends. And never take for granted having a dog around to lick up spilt food.

OUTBURST: As I was completing this piece in a late-night, deadline-crossing frenzy, I was, no joke, interrupted by the fire alarm!! Irony aside, it appears that when the alarm sounds at 1.07AM people actually do stumble out from their bedrooms to congregate outside our houses and collectively grumble about being disturbed from slumber and night-before assignmenting sessions.

-Alannah Maher-