The moments that turn a hall into a memory

The last few weeks of halls is mostly stress. Exams, packing, and the realisation that you have way more stuff than you arrived with. By the time you've handed in your keys, you've barely registered it's over. Here are some small things worth doing before you go to truly savour your last moments in halls. 

Final photos

If you took a plat photo on move-in day, redo it before you all leave. Try your best to keep the same spot, people, and arrangement. If you didn't take one in September, take one now anyway, your future you will be glad to have it.

Group note-giving

Most people will be heading out of London over the summer holidays and this is a nice souvenir to remember your friends that you made over the year. How it works: everyone writes a short note or postcard to every other flatmate/halls friend. If it's a postcard, try to choose a location that has some nostalgia or memory attached to it. Give each other your notes and everyone can read alone later. This way it's not a performance or toast, but something truly heartfelt when everyone is spread apart.

The last flat dinner

Make it a proper one. You can assign everyone a colour or a letter. You can also decide if everyone cooks or buys in advance. If everyone cooks, try to all cook in the same kitchen and divide the roles between the main, sides, dessert, and drinks. Bring cards, or other games as you enjoy your last dinner all together.

Room tours before you pack

Your room only looks like yours for a few more weeks. Make a group with your friends and/or flatmakes and each take turns touring rooms, specifically the decorations and the true areas of the room that were used. 

If you'd like to have a memory of your room, you can also film a slow walk around it before you start packing. You can even narrate the video to explain what is new and what is from back home. 

Shared photo album for the year

One person sets up a shared album (Apple Shared Albums, Photocircle, or Google Photos). Everyone drops in their photos from the year: nights out, kitchen moments, and more. This way you'll see versions of nights you don't remember and photos of yourself you didn't know existed.

A few more worth doing

The last firsts: Last walk to campus, last late library shift, last 1am gather in the kitchen. Not in a sad way, just notice them as they happen.

Superlatives. Create a google form and have everyone answer it. Then show the answers at the last flat dinner. Some prompts could be "Best 3am conversationalist," "Person whose cooking smelled the best," etc.

Here are some websites to help:
Wikihow 
Pinterest
Teambuilding

Final thoughts

Most of these take less than an hour. The reason to do them on purpose is that the last week is going to be chaotic whether you plan or not, and if you don't pick one or two of these in advance, they just won't happen.

If you only do one, make it the flat dinner. Everthing else can fold into that night: the photo, the notes, the superlatives.