The End of the First Year

Today I officially finished my first year of university. Well, I finished a while back. I finished my classes in April, I submitted my last assignment in May, and my loyalty card for the Students' Union diner expired in June. But today I learned that I've passed the year, and have also moved back home for the summer holidays.

University has been a fantastic journey for me. I'd initially been  scared away by A Levels, and believed I'd be more likely to get a job via the apprenticeship route. After six years working on and off in finance, I decided that I'd rather be writing and opted to study for a BA in Creative Writing. It's an adventure. And a chance for me to enjoy life before everything collapses.

I feel more suited to life at university than I do at work. I can make a routine which better fits my sleep cycle, and I have more of a social life. I've made a lot of friends through the societies.

I'd like to share some of my highlights of the year:

• Going on a Halloween social with the Fencing Club, where I was branded a traitor by the History Society in one of the pubs. 
• That same night, an American friend of another club member asked me if I could name all the US presidents and I started singing 'The President Song' from Animaniacs. 
• Finally, there was a shot called A&E (consisting of cinnamon vodka, sambuca, and absinthe) which left me hungover in my lecture the following day, and that was at 2 in the afternoon.
• Stepping into the role of Treasurer for the Game Society
• Seeing reindeer at the Students' Union during a Christmas market
• Asking Benjamin Zepheniah what the strangest thing he did in the name of research was (if you're asking, he said "Going to the barber")
• Volunteering at the Cultural Exchanges Festival, even performing a story at one of the events
• Attending the Varsity fencing match and realising I knew nothing about sabre or foil fencing (having only really practised with epee)
• Getting a serial published on a website set up by one of my classmates
• Performing poetry at an open mic night
• Going on a trip to the British Library
• Lending Kate Forsyth my pen

Yeah, I'd say that was pretty eventful. As for regrets? Well, I've managed to avoid any serious drama. I guess I wish that I'd socialised with my classmates a little more. I made some plans which didn't go ahead. And there were some societies I had to miss out on due to overlap. But there's always next year. One thing I have to acknowledge is that I'm older than a lot of my friends by at least six years. I suppose that can make me feel out of place at times. That'll be difficult over the summer, as most of my school-friends are working now. A lot of them are also getting married and having kids. I mostly stayed over the third term because there was more to do than back home, but I think being at home is liable to get lonely after a while.

I think the toughest thing I had to deal with was when the toaster and kettle were repossessed by my flatmate's parents. I'd assumed those were provided by the accommodation, but was mistaken. I got them replaced easily enough, and wasn't too inconvenienced by it. 

Here's to more adventures next year. And more rum.