My experience living in Yugo student accommodation in DIAC

Picking student accommodation from another country is a unique experience. You make a choice based on the information available to you online and without seeing the place in person. As an international student preparing to move to Dubai for my postgraduate degree, that's exactly what I had to do. I chose Yugo Dubailand, one of the student accommodation providers that partners with the University of Birmingham Dubai and offers students preferential rates. A year later, I can confidently say that I'd make the same choice again.

Why I chose Yugo

Honestly, it came down to the room itself. I went for a studio, and even though it's small, it's completely mine: private space, my own kitchen corner, my own bathroom, somewhere I could make feel like home rather than just a room I happened to be staying in.

The first week nerves

I won't pretend I wasn't nervous when I first arrived at Yugo on my first day in the country. New building, new everyone, new everything. One thing that made those first days easier was that I didn't have to do them completely alone. My sister, who had travelled with me to Dubai, stayed with me for the first two nights, which Yugo allows at no cost, so she was there while I tried to turn this small studio into somewhere that actually felt like mine. Having her there while I unpacked, worked out where to put things, and got my bearings made the transition so much gentler than facing it solo.

That guest policy ended up mattering long after move-in day too. My cousin, who was living in a different Emirate, came to visit nearly every month for a long weekend. Those visits became something I really looked forward to, a familiar face turning up regularly in the middle of an otherwise new routine. It's a small thing on paper, but it made Dubai feel a lot less far from home.

Once my sister had headed off, the ice properly broke at the Welcome Event. I didn't want to walk in on my own, so I knocked on the door of the girls next to me to see if they were heading down too. That one knock on the door changed my entire year. We ended up chatting for ages and never stopped hanging out after that.

Making friends faster than I expected

Before moving in, my biggest fear was that I'd struggle to make friends. What surprised me was how quickly that fear disappeared, through long walks around Dubailand, home-cooked dinners and spontaneous beach trips, and game nights that went on for hours. A lot of the people I met were also new University of Birmingham Dubai students, all figuring out a new city and course at once. Yugo also made it easy to keep meeting people, there was always something on downstairs or at the rooftop, sip and paint, Kahoot nights, karaoke, movie nights, pottery, and I found myself trying things I'd never normally sign up for.

An event I still think about: African Cultural Night

If I had to pick one event that stood out above all, it would be African Cultural Night because of the food, the dances, the music, the dressing, all of it. Seeing people share pieces of their home brought my own culture a bit closer while I was so far from it, and closer to people whose cultures felt familiar despite being different from mine. The photo booth was out too, like it always was for the big events, and I still keep those little printed photos, some of my favourite souvenirs from the year.

Settling into independence

Adapting to living alone built up gradually, cooking for myself, managing my own schedule, figuring out laundry days. Realising I could run my own household did wonders for my confidence. It wasn't all smooth though, some weeks the homesickness crept in, usually on quieter evenings when a video call home wasn't quite the same. There was a practical hiccup too, the curtain shield in my room kept coming loose for weeks, until Yugo finally replaced it entirely, reassuring that when something genuinely needed sorting, it got sorted.

Two spaces shaped my routine most. The study room became my sanctuary during my dissertation semester, quiet and away from distractions. The pool and gym were the opposite, that's where I went to switch off, and having them right there meant I built a routine around movement. Reliable transport to campus helped me too, no excuse to miss a lecture or turn up late, and whenever I had a question or an issue, the Yugo team was reachable over WhatsApp or a quick call. It felt like actual people looking out for me.

What I wish I'd known beforehand

If I could go back and tell myself one thing before moving in, it would be this: don't overthink the "putting yourself out there" part. I spent so much energy worrying about how I'd meet people, when really, it came down to one knock on a door and saying yes to a Welcome Event I almost didn't go to.

The two practical things I'd flag for anyone weighing up their options:

• A studio gives you privacy, but the community still finds you through events and shared spaces, you don't lose out on that.
• Say yes to the Welcome Event, even if you'd rather stay in and unpack. This goes for all other events you're interested in, you won't regret it. They really help to bring together the university experience.

Final thoughts

Living at Yugo Dubailand shaped my University of Birmingham Dubai experience as much as anything on campus. It gave me a private space, family who could visit, a quiet corner to work on my dissertation, and a community I wasn't expecting to find so quickly.