Diary of a Gen Z Student: I love my parents but coming home after the college semester has been a rude awakening

Last week, as the semester finished, I had to pack up that apartment and move back home

Jane Cowan: 'I’m no longer paying extortionate rent, walking on sticky floors through my kitchen, and if I’m too tired to cook, I know my mother will handle dinner.'

Back in January, I wrote an article about my intentions to start living a bit less like an OAP with a 9pm bedtime, and a bit more like a 22-year-old with some semblance of youthful vigour. At the time, I was moving into university accommodation for the first time, and I was determined to break up with healthy habits like drinking in moderation and showing up to my lectures well-rested. I felt that I wasn’t having the early-20s experience I had been sold.

I think I achieved those goals in plenty of ways while living on my university campus. I thought I would struggle with being thrown into an apartment with a group of students I didn’t know, but it was some of the best fun I’ve experienced. I made great friends with (most of) my flatmates.