University - The World As I Had Never Experienced It.

University – The World As I Had Never Experienced It.

Separation - Not something I thought
about prior to University.

Okay, so in retrospect I should have begun this blog many months ago, on my first night of University, the 18^th September 2012.

In no way could I describe September 18^th as beginning a perfectly normal day - that is something it could never be. Born and raised in a small historical market, I attended the best local state primary school. Following my basic education there I progressed onto the nearest secondary school. 

The Ancient Greek Alphabet

An ex-grammar, all girls’ institution, this school shaped my next seven years. Due to its previously public status the school offered a number of subjects which are not often taught at state secondary schools. These included Latin, Ancient Greek and Classics, these subjects and the department responsible for them undoubtedly placed me of a path that I would not otherwise be following. I do not and never could regret this.

However, there are downfalls to education in a single-sex school and this was perhaps something I did not understand to its full extent until fairly recently.

It would be a lie to say that anyone is without nerves on entering the new world of higher education but for me it was more than that. A deep fear had taken root inside of me; described as ‘quirky’ and ‘somewhat different’ I saw no reason to believe that my fear was unfounded. Before reaching university I had become friends with four future flatmates via social networking sites.[1] Three girls and a boy. This was going to be change enough. In the two years of sixth form some of my classes had been combined with the corresponding boys’ school, but still this gave me very little knowledge on the attitudes and actions of the opposite sex.

No this is not the state of our Uni kitchen!
Emma and I keep it very clean in comparison! 

I found Cassie, Laura and Emma online and after flicking through a few photos on their profiles I was horrified to find that they all seemed as different from me as was humanly possible. The boy, Ben, seemed somewhat more likeable, a Cummings quote on his page reassuring me that I would be able to have conversations about literature with him. Of two more housemates however, I was completely oblivious; Jason and Mathew. The latter was a foreign exchange student, some years above us and due to his arrival a week late we never got a chance to bond with him. Jason on the other hand quickly became my best friend. I had never even been true friends with a guy, and therefore this again was a whole new experience for me.

A clubbing holiday in Zante - my
own personal nightmare. 

As it turned out all five of my new flatmates were not half as scary as I had believed them to be through internet acquaintance. Emma, despite her drunken Zante photos, turned out to be deeper than I could ever have imagined. Cassie and Laura, somewhat exclusive at first soon became people I could pop to for a chat about anything that was worrying me. And Ben, who I had assumed would be studious and closest to me in personality turned out to be irresponsible, sarcastic, irritating, but the best person to give an outsiders/male view on a situation ever. Despite his constant annoying habits; leaving washing in the sink, forgetting his key and therefore ringing the doorbell at three in the morning and playing football in the kitchen, Ben has something strangely endearing about him. He listens when you think he is deaf and comes to check up on you when he’s sensed a vibe no one else has. Jason, on the same course as myself, introduced me to new and fantastic music, and portraying himself as a raging socialist attempted to turn me to his cause. And to Emma, I soon found myself pouring out my heart. Every emotion, every problem, and every situation that I normally kept to myself due the larger issues within my at-home friendship group, I was at once revealing to Emma. This new freedom, these new friendships, gave me something I had never experienced before. It felt strangely stable, and after a fortnight, as I Skipped friends from home I was honestly surprised to hear that their University lifestyle was not shaping up to be as positive as my own.

So I guess what I am trying to say, is never make an assumption. Every single one of us does, even subconsciously. We all fear for the worst, but the truth is that until the moment of inception comes we cannot know the result and even with the begging, we cannot foresee the end. For this reason do not be afraid for nothing can change until we take the first step. Even when it is a step into a new world of experience it is a place that, if we embrace it with all our energies and best intentions, can offer us more than we could have ever imagined.

Take a set forward out of the darkness and see what the world has to offer you – I guarantee it is twice what you expected. Amyx

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[1] For the purposes of this blog all names have been altered, as have locations, but the events will still be represented accurately.