Freshers Week: Day Two

This day will probably start a few hours later than most, especially if you’re nursing a hangover from the night before! It’s probably a good time to switch Facebook on, because no doubt you’ve met a couple of people the night before who were still sober enough to send you a friend request when they got home. It also might be worth posting on Facebook/sending a text, just to let your family know that you’re still alive – they’ll probably appreciate that. 

For me, day two was a Tuesday. Once I’d woken up and cleared away the hangover – it wasn’t too bad, in all honesty – I finished unpacking and sorting my room out, making sure everything was nice and tidy, and taking some pictures to show my family at home. 

In the afternoon, the uni and the students guild had arranged a treasure hunt to help us get to know the campus and other people. It was quite fun really, we all got into groups and had to go around the campus finding all these places (which really helped later in the term, I’d have gotten lost without it!), and finishing with dinner in the student bar. 

In the evening, my fiance came up to visit and stay the night (it’s allowed in our halls, check with your halls residence agreement and policies to find out if it’s the same for you), and we spent the evening together. However, the student bar had a DJ on from 8pm until late, so for people who did want to go out, there was the option of doing so. 

Well… I’m here!

I am now officially a student at Glyndwr University! Today is the start of Freshers Week (last week was pre-freshers, and while it was awesome, I really am looking forwards to this week!) and we had a matriculation ceremony today which was a bit extravagant but I guess it’s a big thing. I’m here now for two weeks and then I’ll go home for the weekend maybe, but I really am enjoying it. All the independence is a little overwhelming at first – having to do things like cook and wash up and empty bins for yourself every day is actually more difficult to get used to than I was expecting, but the biggest thing is shopping! I’m not used to doing grocery shopping and I keep forgetting things, but I think I’m doing alright.

I love my room; it’s big and airy and not a horrible colour, and it’s en-suite too. I’ve got all my little home comforts set up – my playstation, my teddies, all my pictures – and I really do like it. When my camera is properly charged, I’ll get some pictures up on here. My course sounds really good, even though the hours are so long! Thankfully the classes are right opposite my accommodation, so it’s not like I have a huge walk in a morning to get there, but it still seems really long – and that’s without the elective I have to take too! That doesn’t start until January, thankfully.

I do miss my family and especially Daf, but I think it’ll get easier as the time goes on, and I am going to see them regularly. I think uni has to be an individual experience – if someone wants to stay until Christmas with no visits home, good for them, but if I want to go home every so often, that’s my choice. Thankfully no-one’s been funny about it, which is good. My best friend from college is up here doing the same course, and I saw her today and we’re going to the school uniform party tonight, which should be fun! I’ve managed to get drunk a couple of times quite badly, and I’m not sure I want to repeat it quite that bad – I’ll still drink, just not as much!

So that’s it for now really. Sorry it’s been a while since I updated, everything really is mad! It’s hard to believe how far I’ve come in the past few years, from not thinking I’d even manage to complete my GCSEs to having done pretty well in my A Levels and now being at university, doing a course that sounds amazing, making new friends and having a great time!

The distractions of a university place.

So, as you can probably tell from the title, I GOT INTO UNI! Yes indeedy, so as you can imagine I’ve been very excited, but also kinda distracted. My results were so much better than what I anticipated though – an A in English (HOW?!?!?), a B in Psychology (3 marks off an A, I’m toying with the idea of getting it remarked even though it doesn’t really matter) and a B in Drama, which really surprised me! So there was much celebrating and a little bit of alcohol consumed that evening. I should’ve updated you all sooner but things have just been crazy – I’ve been trying to sort out accommodation, clearing – yeah, had a change of heart, decided I didn’t want to go to my Firm so there was a bit of a palaver with that, but I’m going to do a blog post in the future for anyone else who chooses to go through clearing, to give any advice I can -, got to go shopping for uni stuff, at the same time as sorting out appointments and trying to have some semblance of a social life!

So, I’m going to Glyndwr University in Wrexham to study Theatre, Television and Performance. I’m so excited, and a little bit nervous but I’m sure it’ll settle down once I’m there. For a small uni it’s got a reputation as a party university, and although I like a drink and to have a laugh, I’m not one for going properly crazy and stealing traffic cones (don’t get me wrong, I’m sure it’ll happen during Freshers, just not every evening of every week!). So I’m worried that there won’t be anyone like me there – that there’ll be two distinct groups; the ones who want to go crazy every night, who I won’t fit in with, and ones who never go out, who I also won’t fit in with. I don’t want to stay in every night and study; yes the main reason for going to university is to learn but there’s also the whole experience, the independence and the fun. However, I also don’t want to lose control of myself by getting too drunk – things are so wonderful at the moment that I think to upset the balance could be disasterous.

Hopefully my fears are just rubbish and there’ll be plenty of people there like me, and I’ll never feel pressured to go out and get drunk if I don’t fancy it. I’m sure everyone there is really nice, and the good thing is that my best friend is going there doing the same course, so things won’t be too bad. I’ll keep you all posted 🙂