First Year Halls – Senghennydd Court

Yep it’s the best name ever! I’ve heard it pronounced sooo many different ways. It’s pronounced Sen-gen-eth, but variations include Seng-hen-eeed (the one I was using for the first week at least) and Senny-genny-ed. All I can say is, Welcome to Wales! It’s one of the first year residences at Cardiff and was my first home in my time as a student. I’ll be honest, it wasn’t my first choice of halls…in fact, I think it was about my sixth! But, it was the best place I possibly could have been.

I know that I’ve been so lucky with the people that I’ve lived with, in the fact that arguments and fallings out have been extremely rare. And honestly, it was the people who made my first year so amazing, however Senghennydd as a place to live is pretty cool too. So here’s the 5 things I loved most about it, and why I would also recommend living there.

Location – Senghennydd wins on this every time, hands down. It is the only accommodation that’s slap bang in the middle of the university and town; you really can’t get a better location than that. My walk to lectures was literally 7 and a half minutes (yeah I timed it!). Which was perfect for me, as I love my sleep! I’d roll out of bed half an hour before lectures started, jump in the shower, grab a spot of breakfast and be in the lecture theatre in the same time it would take other students to make the commute into uni…. Ok maybe a bit of an exaggeration, but you get what I mean. As for town, a brisk ten minute walk and you’re in the centre. This was especially handy for nights out as we never needed to get a taxi, which meant more money saved – essential when you’re a student. And  if that wasn’t enough, we’ve also got a library with a full on cafeteria serving hot breakfast, lunch and dinner pretty much on site. It’s a sure fire winner in terms of location.

Cost – Admittedly, the quality of Senghennydd wasn’t as amazing as Talybont. But again, that’s to be expected; Taly halls are pretty much newly built, whereas I like to think of Senghennydd as more from the vintage era. The plus side to this, is that it’s a lot cheaper. Again, meaning you may actually be able to save up a bit of your student loan.

Cleaners – Because we had a shared bathroom, this meant we also got cleaners who would clean the bathroom for us. You kind of realise how much you appreciate this until you’re actually in the moment!

The Vibe – No horror stories ever really came out of Senghennydd. I probably put that down to it being not as party driven as Talybont, and that’s for two reasons: Firstly, Senghennydd is also occupied by post-grads who (and this will come as no surprise) are more work focused than freshers. And secondly, because we were much closer to town and the union, so that’s where most of the partying happened. It’s great! You get the best of both worlds. You can work in peace when you need to get those all important essays finished, but when you want to be in the midst of the buzz, all the best places are literally a hop, skip and a jump away!

The People – The final one for me is quite a general one, and is pretty much out of anyone’s control. But it’s got to be the type of people who were living there. I don’t know if it was a coincidence or not, but I can’t remember clashing with anyone who lived in Senghennydd. Everyone was so nice and always a lot of fun to be around. I guess at the end of the day, it doesn’t really matter what your accommodation is like, there’s always ways to make it feel more homely. The important thing is the people around you. I know this can be quite daunting in that a lot of it is pot luck in who you’ll be sharing with. Just remember there will always be someone near you who you’ll just click with, and it’s that what’ll make your university experience that much more epic.

Han