Only five minutes away
When I first found out that I was allocated a room in Shoichi Hall I was apprehensive, as I was worried that there wouldn’t be many of us living there and that we’d be isolated from the rest of college and not feel a part of the community.
Shoichi Hall is about a 5 minute walk from Trevs, but is slightly closer to town and lectures than college is. It’s not too annoying to have to walk over to college for meals, a lot of us will walk as a group or go directly to/from lectures.
Still part of the Trevs community
Whilst those of us living in Shoichi have formed a community, all of us are still friends with lots of people from Trevs. Both most of my friends and I have signed for houses next year with a mixture of people living in both Shoichi and Trevs. Almost all of us have got involved with college sports and societies and go to college formals and events. I particularly enjoy being a part of the college cheerleading team and I also work at the college Buttery (toastie bar and shop).
Facilities
The rooms are really nice, are a good size and have slightly more modern furniture than most of those in Trevs. Whilst they lack slightly in storage space, this is easily rectified by buying some under bed storage boxes. All the rooms have sinks, like in college, and the toilet and shower facilities are shared by a similar number of people as in college (and we have baths as well!).
Each corridor has a pantry, which has ovens, hobs and freezers (less commonly found in college), as well as the standard kettle, toaster, microwave and fridge. They’re a lot bigger than in college so are a great social space. As well as this, we have two lounges and a study room, and it’s nice to have the choice of these facilities or those in college.
A friendly team
Our porters and cleaners are really lovely and have got to know us better than if we were in college as it’s a smaller building. While we have to leave our rooms at the end of term, we can leave our belongings in our rooms over the holidays.
Overall, I’ve really enjoyed living in Shoichi Hall. While it’s a little different to living in college itself, there are definitely advantages, and most of my friends and I have still participated in college life.
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