FRESHER’S GUIDE: Consider these few items before choosing your hostel

As freshers prepare to start university education, one of the issues that are being looked for by majority of university hopefuls, is a hostel.

That room or space that you will rest in after a long day of course works and lectures.

Statistics from the previous years show that at least 85% of the students that are granted places in public universities would like to or at least try to get a hostel that is within their means but due to a number of factors, some of them miss out.

Others realize later that the hostel they chose wasn’t the best for them and many opt for a change years or even a few semesters later.

What brings that dissatisfaction is that many students, tend to ignore some details while choosing their hostels.

Some of these details may come off as insignificant but yet very vital as Jonah Kirabo explores.

Whereas it seems like we have a number of hostels and rentals around town, not every infrastructure that offers accommodation is meant to house a student, more so, a student in their first year of study. Before choosing that hostel for yourself, consider the following:

Good neighbourhood

Fredrick Egondi is a recent graduate from Makerere University. He graduated with a first class degree and he attributes his success, partly to the quite environment that his hostel offered him.

“I think many factors attributed to my good grades at the university and I can’t ignore the fact that I resided in a good hostel that offered me a good , quiet environment for my revision,” Egondi said in part.

A good neighbourhood with libraries and professional infrastructure offers a wide range of options to a student.

From the conducive environment to enable them carry extra revision to guaranteed security. Survey the neighbourhood of your preferred hostel before signing up.

A good hostel must have policies and stipulated guidelines or rules

Like any other organisation or setting, a good hostel should also have rules or guidelines that should guide it and all its occupants.

Listen, many will argue that they are finally at campus and therefore need some relief from strict guidelines and rules but if you look at it closely, this is done for your own safety.

At Makerere University Business School were I was for the last three years for example, almost all the main hostels like Valley Courts, Akamwesi among others have a strict guideline and standard policy on hygiene and proving of running water.

At Valley Courts hostel in Nakawa, sleepovers are not allowed for non-residents. There is also a fine if a non-resident stays in past 11:00pm. These and more are only meant to protect the residents.

Location

Consider the location of your hostel and its proximity from the university gates. You don’t want a hostel which is far away or one where you will need to hire public means. If it is far, then it should have a shuttle to transport you.

Occupants

Consider the occupants of your desired hostel. The Bible tells us in 1 Corinthians 15:33 that “Bad Company corrupts good character,”

Find out a little details about what the public thinks of that hostel and the students who reside in it. You don’t want to live the rest of your university life with drunkard roommates and all that. Don’t settle for just anything.