The First Week

I don't think any specific word describes the first few days of university. As a student who's moved over from the other side of the country, you come to realise that it can either be really easy or really hard to grasp the idea that you have forced your way into independence. As for me specifically, my first few moments as an independent individual felt really great and exciting; but after you really start cooking for yourself and your first round of student loan comes through, you realise that your burnt bacon at 2 am isn't like your mum's homemade lasagna. Or that you're going to need more than just your student loan to cover the amount of food you actually eat at the end of the month; and it's not like you can live off of super noodles and actually survive to tell the tale at the end of the year. As for my lessons, seminars and lectures, you have no idea how much I actually appreciate the extra hour/ hour and a half of sleep because the walk to classes are about 5-10 minutes rather than an hours travel time compared to the last two years I endured at Harlington Upper. Accommodation on campus, you may be expensive but you are a godsend in terms of proximity to lessons; otherwise i'd be late to every single session.

A word of advice for freshers events: make sure you have a long sleeved shirt on for that outdoor silent disco at the beginning of freshers week at the SU. As much as I loved it and sang (or rather slurred) every lyric to very song that I knew, it definitely isn't worth the flu that I have two weeks on because I was in a t-shirt.

Turns out, living in a university far away from home can be tough because your friends and family (even tougher when you're away from your adoring pets), but you definitely will begin to figure out what kind of adult you'll grow up to be, without depending on others.