By Ellie Mullan

WHEN scrolling down my newsfeed on Facebook I was inundated by pictures of packed bags, newly refurbished bedrooms and hundreds of emotional status’s wishing farewell to hometowns – from this, anyone can deduce that first year university terms have just begun.

I myself will be joining this crowd of home-leavers. But, with my term starting in another two weeks, I first have to sit back and watch my closest friends go to start their new lives at opposite ends of the country.

When applying for universities this time last year, you would probably have got the impression that I wasn’t much of a home-lover – applying to universities nowhere near Dorset, and eventually picking one the furthest way away! But now, as I begin to contemplate the hefty seven-hour drive to Durham University, I have realised the importance Dorset has in my life. For anyone, moving away from your hometown is difficult.

Your family, closest friends and most likely childhood home all reside in this one place.

From the age of eight, I have played in Borough Gardens, bought cheap cinema tickets at the Plaza, ran panting around Maiden Castle and sunned myself on Weymouth beach.

I shy from being sentimental, yet I know that young people around Dorset about to embark on the infamous ‘freshers experience’ share the same feelings as me.

Yet, it is not all doom and gloom, as I’ve been told that those who are about to start at university will have the time of their lives. But, for now, I’ll be sad to say goodbye.