HOME, sweet home. Or according to these students, not so sweet! Jessica-Anne Lyons rounded up some stories about moving out that will make you laugh, cringe, and consider yourself warned!
When you finally leave the nest, sometimes you can get so caught up in the excitement that you don’t realise until you’re right in the middle of it that sometimes the most unexpected things can and will go wrong!
We chatted to some students living out of home to share their experiences and what they learned from them. While some of these stories would have been pretty serious at the time, they’re definitely funny in hindsight!
My house was a death trap
Sorrell, 21
Studying Bachelor of Arts (Human Rights and International Studies), Monash University (Caulfield)
I only spent two weeks in my first house. After moving in and realizing that there were a number of things wrong with the place – like exposed wires in the kitchen, power sockets detached from the walls and broken electricity switches – we asked our landlord to get someone in for repairs. When he refused, my housemates and I called in an electrician ourselves because we were sure that something wasn’t right.
According to the electrician, our house was a “death trap”! Turns out that due to the faulty wiring, the tin roof of the house was conducting electricity and we could have been electrocuted if we touched it! Not only that, the house didn’t even have a fire alarm! Needless to say, we all moved out immediately afterwards.
What I learned: Because it was my first time living out of home, I was too ready to just take what was given to me. So I learned to be more assertive with real estate agents to make sure that the place I moved into afterwards was comfortable, and most of all safe.
My dinner blew up in the microwave
Marcella, 22
Graduated from Bachelor of Arts (Psychology and Media and Communications), University of Melbourne
I once microwaved ‘semur’ (a beef-broth-soup kind of dish) without putting on a lid and it just exploded. Cleaning up the microwave afterwards was a real sport. Lesson is well learned.
What I learned: To make sure to cover dishes that I heat up in the microwave!
My landlady yelled at me
Giulia, 21
Studying Bachelor of Media and Communications (Journalism) at RMIT University (City campus)
My first landlady was a nightmare. I’d only been in Melbourne for two days when I moved into her house and I took the room straightaway because I was desperate and couldn’t afford the hostel I was staying in for too long.
After a few days, my landlady got mad at me for using her detergent and saucepans. She also yelled at me because she “told me on the first day I was supposed to buy my own things”. She said she wasn’t happy with me in the house and suggested I start looking for a new place. From that moment on, she acted as if I had already left, going into my room when I wasn’t there without asking and even having cleaners come into my room while I was sleeping without telling me – or them that I was even there! I got out of there in less than two weeks.
What I learned: Next time I’ll definitely wait to view at least a couple of rooms before making a decision.
Everything gets dirtier quicker when you live out of home
Lauren, 21
Studying a Bachelor of Construction Management and Architecture, Deakin University (Geelong campus)
Mums are really underappreciated. Seriously, I don’t understand where all of my mess comes from. When I lived with my parents, I did the dishes, I cleaned my room and the bathroom but for some reason now that mum isn’t around everything is just messier, dirtier and more confusing! For instance, my bathroom fan is really dusty and I didn’t even know that could happen.
It can sometimes take hours to clean the messes I create in the kitchen pretending to be on Masterchef, and then literally five minutes after it’s a wreck again.
What I learned: When you have to take care of yourself, you will have to clean a lot, and clean lots of things. You also need to stay on top of it, which I’m realizing now was something that my mum is really good at!
Have a story about living out of home that you’d like to share? Send it to us via email to <jessica-anne.lyons@meldmagazine.com.au> along with your name, age, course and university for the chance to be featured!