Halls of Residence Dilemma

UKroseblue

pimento wrote: »

my son suggested he get a bike, but where would he store it?

I'm studying at Portsmouth and bought a new bike for uni last year - it was nicked after a few weeks, even though it was locked up outside a building with CCTV! The police and uni weren't bothered as it happens all the time...

Saying that there are loads of students who have bikes and it's a good city to bike around as it's flat, but don't buy a new one, get a second hand one, the 'rustier' looking the better!

There are loads of bike racks outside each building.

Good luck.

pimento

kai666 wrote: »

Amongst a couple of other things

Which are?

pimento

fridge_raider wrote: »

Well you're not going to make this whole process any easier for him then.

I could get a room down the road from the halls and walk him to classes every morning.

kai666

pimento wrote: »

Which are?

Getting in the way of his self development, problem solving skills, independence, and learning through his own mistakes/decisions. Also the satisfaction of sorting out his own problems without relying on mummy

pimento

kai666 wrote: »

Getting in the way of his self development, problem solving skills, independence, and learning through his own mistakes/decisions. Also the satisfaction of sorting out his own problems without relying on mummy

Thanks for your input.

kai666

pimento wrote: »

Thanks for your input.

You're welcome

Cazza

I graduated from Portsmouth in 2003 so I'm not too familiar with the new halls of residence which have been built since I left. But..... being a City Centre University, the accomodation and buildings have always been quite spread out, one of the larger halls my friends used to be in were about a 20 min walk from Fratton station. Public transport is pretty good inthe area and he will probably find that there will be a social scene which has grown in the area around the halls, as there will be many people in the same situation when the free bus stops running and they don't want / can't afford to pay for transport. Porstmouth is a good city of cycling and lots of people did so when I was there; the city is pretty flat to! I definitely agree with the other post about only getting a cheap second hand bike, just in case it goes walkabout. I think i the first year, your one will make more friends in halls, which will enable him to make decisions about who he lives with and where he lives in later years. He won't start til October and he'll finish in June, so it's not that long really!

flossy_splodge

Oh boy can I see both sides of this!!
Both mine are now free and clear and graduated but looking back I do wish I had been a little less available to 'support' (i.e. take over and resolve problems).
The conflict for me was I didn't like not being a part of their lives so I jumped at the chance to 'help'.:o

They've both turned out really well so it can't all have been too bad but they would definitely have benefited from my saying if you can't resolve something, feel free to give me a call; rather than getting down and dirty at every opportunity.:eek:

One daughter feels she now knows it all :eek: and the other still asks for input, having given a go to sorting things herself.

So hey ho, who's to say what is best in YOUR family.
I would just caution that he makes the decisions, not you. He does have to learn ultimately.

I have a nephew who is a real mummys boy, just finished year one at Uni and brought his washing home EVERY week for mum to do and so was at home virtually every week from Friday til Monday.

He has learnt little about life and has few friends, he's never there to make them.
But Mum feels important!;)

Summercherry

Cazza wrote: »

I graduated from Portsmouth in 2003 so I'm not too familiar with the new halls of residence which have been built since I left. But..... being a City Centre University, the accomodation and buildings have always been quite spread out, one of the larger halls my friends used to be in were about a 20 min walk from Fratton station. Public transport is pretty good inthe area and he will probably find that there will be a social scene which has grown in the area around the halls, as there will be many people in the same situation when the free bus stops running and they don't want / can't afford to pay for transport. Porstmouth is a good city of cycling and lots of people did so when I was there; the city is pretty flat to! I definitely agree with the other post about only getting a cheap second hand bike, just in case it goes walkabout. I think i the first year, your one will make more friends in halls, which will enable him to make decisions about who he lives with and where he lives in later years. He won't start til October and he'll finish in June, so it's not that long really!

The halls of residence mentioned aren´t new they are the ones at Langstone. Yes they are very much a trek and it would indeed take about 50mins to walk and at a rough guess about 20 mins to bike it. However that said, I have had friends that have stayed at Langstone and they said it was fine accept for the fact they are quite a way from the uni buildings. But they are in a quiet family/residential area (away from anything rough!) with a couple of pubs and a small shop across the road. There used to be (don't know if there still is - not been down to Langstone for a while!) a bus service that stops right outside campus the 13/14 service which runs into town, as well as the uni bus that as the OP stated runs mon-fri.

pimento

I'm getting lots of advice here and a bit of a bashing. My son isn't a mummy's boy at all, he's an independent lad who does what he wants, goes to festivals on his own (and has done since he was just 16) and two or three times a week goes to concerts in London (an hour away) on his own. I don't wear an apron, so he's not tied to the strings but I am a control freak and husband and son have got used to it over the years.

Once he goes, I won't be on his case all the time, but as neither his dad or me went to university, I just wanted to canvas some advice on here as there's usually loads of people who know what they're talking about. If it was up to him, he'd do nothing until results day and we'd be chasing around trying to find digs. If he did that, the world wouldn't end, but if he can be guided by a bit of advice, then why not? Isn't that a parent's job?

Incidentally, I haven't just taken over, he did ask for my help.

Thanks for all the ideas though, keep them coming!