As a final year student at university, it is time for me to decide what I want to do next. All my life I have wanted to be a teacher, and I am lucky enough to have been given a place on a teaching course next year. The course will take place in my home town, and after four years of living away from my family, I know I will find it very strange to live there again. Of course, I do live at home during the summer, but to be there permanently will actually be quite different. This isn’t because I don’t enjoy living at home, because I do, it is mainly because I have become used to the independence that being a student brings. While I live away from home I have to buy everything myself, I have to pay bills and I have to work hard to pay rent for my house, just like every other student.
Because of the economic situation in this country, it is becoming more and more popular among students to live at home again after they graduate. One reason for this is a lack of jobs, or the difficulty to get a job – as so many people are applying for the same post as you, it turns into a competition of experience, which is something that is difficult for students to have. Another reason is the cost of living, and bills, which means that living with your family is sometimes the only option when it comes to money.
In my family I am one of two children, and my younger sister will start studying at university next year. This means that my parents won’t have that strange period of time when both of their children have moved out, leaving them living as just the two of them once more. I haven’t spoken to them about it, but I am sure that this isn’t a problem for them – I would like to think that they enjoy having us around! Having said that, I don’t think this is what they had in mind on that first day when I left for university.
I am coming to terms with having to live at home again, and I will enjoy being able to see my parents every day, as at the moment I only see them once a month. However, I am only looking at this as a temporary situation – I would love to find my own place eventually, when I can afford it!
Is it common in your country for people to move away from home to study? Would you prefer to live with your parents or find your own place?
