Most students look back at their time at university with very fond memories. Who could deny that staying up late into the night, drinking, dancing and socialising, getting up late, rolling into a couple of lectures before doing it all again wasn\'t a fun lifestyle?

The majority of students spend their first year of university life in halls of residence, often provided by the university. They are a great place to get to meet other people, and provide an ideal transition between living at home and living independently. Students can normally choose to enter either catered, or a self-catered hall. Whilst some prefer the independence of being able to cook when and what they wish, others are quite happy for another year of someone else doing the cooking for them!

Living in university halls is great fun, but the majority of students cite their golden years as moving into their first shared house. This brings a whole new era of independence and fun. Gone is the one bedroom abode, and hello to an entire house, complete with living room, kitchen and garden if you\'re lucky, and a group of your best mates.

The move can involve a bit of work, but as long as you\'ve got a few friends with cars to help out, (or failing that, try and find some cheap van hire in the area). And you can always coax a few friends into helping you move, although you might have to provide a bribe or two! But once everyone has fought over bedrooms and got all their stuff set up, the real party begins.

Everyone loves a good house party, and the second and third years of university life tend to be dominated by them. It seems that almost every weekend, someone, somewhere is having a house party.

Of course, hosting a house party comes with both glory and downsides. When the music\'s pumping and everyone\'s having a great time in your house, it\'s a good feeling to think that you are the architect of the revelry; but when the police turn up at 3am in the morning and shut you down, when the neighbors hate you for the next 6 months for keeping them up all night, and when there\'s pools of vomit, spilled beer and cigarette burns on your duvet the morning after, you may wonder why you bothered! Still, when people tell you it was a \"great party mate!\", perhaps it will make it all worth while?

However, the most important thing for students to remember is that you should make the most of your time living a relatively carefree life. All too soon graduation comes along, and you must enter the real world, get a job and start repaying all those debts that you racked up, so enjoy it while it lasts.