I have been
driving now for 4 years with a Kia as my first car (which I had throughout
college and during my first year at uni), a Ford as my second and I am now back
in a Kia. If I’m honest I used to hate
driving as I was also so worried about crashing. I used to avoid cities and would even try to
avoid rush hour by arriving to college 45 minutes early, which also meant I
could attempt to park my car without everyone watching! This meant that when it came to going to university in
Birmingham, there was no way I was going to bring my car!
There were many reasons other than the fear of driving in the second largest city in the UK
that contributed to the decision not to bring my car during my first year at
university:
1)
I
was sharing Olly (my first car, a little white Kia - yes he does have a name!)
with my sister. This meant that I
couldn’t take it to uni as she was using it to learn to drive.
2)
I
was worried I would become “the driver” and have to ferry people around
everywhere and I knew I would feel awkward asking for fuel money as I know we
are all students and money can be tight.
3)
I
was living in student accommodation where everything from the station and shops to uni and
the clubs was a short walk away.
I will admit
that there were times when I felt very lazy and didn’t want to walk to the
station with my heavy suitcase so did use Uber's, however, it wasn’t very often because everything was so close. It wasn’t until moving into a house in second year where I felt the need to have my car.
I am currently
staying in a student house in Edgbaston, meaning things are a walk away still,
but just a lot further of a walk.
University isn’t too bad at 30 mins, Morrison’s is also a mere 20-minute
walk. However, places like the station, the Bullring, clubs/pubs late at night are some routes I don’t feel
comfortable walking due to the time of day or the distance. It was during the first few months in second year that I was
spending way too much on Ubers to and from places. After landing a job in Redditch,
I knew I needed a car as train and taxi fares were far out of my budget. So I
bought a little Ford - Ben which was later replaced by a Kia - Simon.
Now in my third year and have had my car at university for the past two years, I have seen it’s pros. I was able to simply get in my car and drive home when I needed instead
of having to wait for a convenient train time and arranging taxis etc. I can go
to my favourite superstore and not have to worry about the long walk with
heavy bags. And, I haven’t found myself being “the driver” as I have been strict on fuel and driving people from the
start.
I would say
that having a car can be tough at university as it is an extra cost you have to
account for, especially when thinking about fuel or if something were to go
wrong with the car. However, it has
helped me make an extra step into the world of life and I have learnt more
about what you have to deal with in life.
I am glad I
didn’t have a car in first year as I don’t think I would have used it, but now
I am in third year and living slightly further out, I am glad I have one.
I hope you
found this useful. If you have any
questions, please leave a comment!
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