Go self-catered: you’d be an idiot not to

Going self-catered can be seen as a pretty high-risk option, especially if your basic cooking skills are somewhat questionable.

But where’s your independence? Leave the school dinners behind and go for it.

You can eat whatever, whenever, without having to mission it through the cold to a canteen in dreaded fear that all the half decent grub will be gone.

You can go to sleep at night with peace of mind at the thought that you don’t have to wake up to the sound of an alarm in order to have your hang over fry up.

The kitchen allows you to gossip in private over cuppas and host your own pre-drink events, all in an environment of spacious leisure, rather than being crammed into someone’s dingy box room or even a corridor.

You can unite with your other independent pals as a team in your supermarket sweeps and together attempt to make relatively balanced meals without burning down your entire block. You get a real kick out of it, honest.

The chances are a mother hen figure will emerge and cook you all a roast dinner now and again or, if this doesn’t happen, a Come Dine With Me get together does not take much organising.

Self-catered does not have to be a daily effort.

If neither of these things end up happening, you can still all order a Dominoes and not feel guilty you’re skipping that pre-paid for dollop of potato.

You don’t have to awkwardly knock on people’s doors in order to ask whether they will accompany you to the dinner hall (going it alone is social suicide).

There are, of course, very minor downsides.

Hours will fly by in that kitchen and the work you were sure of finishing may take longer than planned. The kitchen is likely to become a tip and cleaners will become your arch-enemies, bag up your piles of dirty plates, and confiscate them.

But these are only minor setbacks in your new-found self-sufficiency.

Learn your survival skills early.