First times

It's been quite a while since I last posted. Where posting on here helped to let out some of my anxieties and fears I have had fewer, and so less need for posting. I am about 10 weeks into my first term of third year now and despite the work being more challenging and the essays being longer and more detailed, I am generally enjoying things and managing my symptoms well.


The relief to finally be simultaneously ill and a student without the one massively impacting the other is huge. I have had a few stressful weeks with my coursework essays though where I underestimated the amount of work needed for the first and then the other two going down like dominoes. I'm still a bit rough because of it but I am grateful that I only feel a bit rough every week or so as opposed to every minute of every day. Mostly anyway!


I also had a panic where I had applied for an extension for one of the courseworks and it was turned down, which had never happened before. Fortunately a meeting with the support office finally shed some light on the situation and what things could be offered to help me when I am struggling to get my work done.


So overall a much more positive time, for now! I am exhausted and can't wait until Christmas but where my only stresses are study related and where I love what I'm studying generally things are OK. I live in a beautiful building and I have lots of neighbours, all of whom are lovely. I have all my meals made for me in a canteen and all my lectures and the bus stop are within 5 minute's walk.


Thoughts of what next year will hold are a little scary though. As a third year my inbox is full of messages that are career related. Currently I really don't want to think about it but I also don't feel there is any rush and that I can take my time when I graduate to find the right job for me.

The HMS Founders

My parents and I went back to the house I was living in for the last academic year to pick up the last of my stuff and hand my key back to the estate agent. I could talk for a while about the laughable filing system at the estate agent which consisted of a few cardboard files in a heap in the corner, but there was much more excitement to be written about. My mother in particular was keen to see where I will be living next year. I knew the building and room number but had never ventured into that part of the building.


My university has many mismatched buildings on a small campus on the outskirts of a small town. Some of the building feel a little decrepit and smell funny but I love it all just the same. However the pride and joy of the university is their original building that is built in the gothic style and is called the Founders Building. It is massive and orange (my first sentiments when I saw it for the first time) and has two grassed quads. It is also very like Hogwarts in that there are gargoyles everywhere and turrets and it's so easy to get lost you would be forgiven for thinking that the stairs moved or disappeared when you weren't looking.


This building contains offices, the GPs surgery and a library amongst many things, but it also contains accommodation for students who are willing to share a bathroom. It is in this building that I will be living next year and so I have been proudly telling anyone who will listen that I will be living in a castle next year. Most look pretty sceptical.


It happened to be an open day on yesterday too and so my mother's forwardness paid off and one of the very kind student ambassadors took us up to see my room, even allowing me to go inside despite my lease not having started. It was a little like entering a ship's cabin as the room was on two levels and had porthole-like windows. I don't think I have really seen a room like it. Unlike my room in halls in first year which was bare and white, this room had character despite having only basic furniture. It had hidden cupboards that you wouldn't notice immediately and a sloping roof (thankfully I'm only five foot tall!). We couldn't see out of the windows without standing on the bed but our guide told us she was staying in a similar room and could see for a surprisingly long distance. It felt like there were new things to be explored in this great room come September.


I could talk about this room for ages but the main reason it has appeared on my blog is because it has made me excited again about university. University is supposed to be exciting and interesting but it has previously been very much a drag a lot of the time. This room and everything that comes with it promises to make my last year much more enjoyable.