Student report by Jessica M. – Living in a castle – On-campus Accommodation
At ICMS every student has the chance to apply for on-campus accommodation. There are different types of rooms, from individual to four-bed-bedrooms, but all of them have one thing in common: They are located directly above/next to the study rooms basically inside the castle on the hill. Let me explain a little more in detail what it means to live here with many different nationalities on one floor, having a way to uni that is as short as two minutes and having one of the greatest views out of your bedroom window.
The on-campus rooms
As mentioned before, there are different room options available. Also, the rooms obviously differ depending on their location in the buildings and thus can have slightly other sizes, structures or views. In general though, we were all surprised by the size of the rooms and the amount of storage space offered. All of them are clean, modern and have enough light. With a comfy bed with pillow and blanket, a huge wardrobe including hangers, a shelf, a desk with storage space and a little bedside stand, there are enough options to find a space for all your personal belongings.
The bathrooms
One thing that might seem daunting at first are the shared bathrooms. I, personally, was a bit afraid of how this may work out, too. However, after having lived here for a few weeks now, I can clearly say it’s no issue at all. The bathrooms are cleaned with high frequency, there are about 5 toilets, sinks and showers available for a maximum of 20 people. Mostly there are only 1 or 2 girls in the bathroom at the same time, so it’s never really busy. Enough privacy is also provided by the dividing walls with a kind of small changing room in front of every individual shower. Having to leave the own room for tiny things such as brushing your teeth may take a day or two to get used to, but apart from that there is no disadvantage.
The food on campus
Food is provided for on-campus students three times a day during the week and twice a day on the weekends. The time frames for every meal are quite narrow, but designed to perfectly fit in the class schedule. There is also the option of having a meal reserved for later take-away, in case one should be out for longer one evening. There is always a vegetarian option in addition to the normal meal and of course the chefs will also respect any other dietary requirements. The meal options change regularly, bringing in different cuisines from all over the world. Breakfast is usually English breakfast on the weekends and toast, cereals, yoghurt and fruit offered during the week.
Evening activities around the castle
A major benefit of living on campus is the community. It is so easy to meet new people and make new friends. People meet up in the hallway to go to the beach together, have movie nights together in a lounge area or spontaneous game events in one of the rooms. It is incredible how open and kind everyone is. Another fantastic activity is going to meet all the pets on campus – yes, you heard correctly. There are bandicoots, rabbits, turkeys, water dragons and plenty of bird species. ICMS campus could almost be called a zoo. They all live here in their natural habitat and come to say hi whenever you sit outside with your friends.
As you can see, life in the castle means lots of different facettes of student accommodation. I definitely recommend starting off here as an international student as it simply is the best way to meet Australians as well as like-minded internationals.
