Just a quick update for you all after a very productive weekend. I’ve sat down in my room (haven’t seen anyone since Friday) and just gotten on with the work I need to do. It’s been quiet here, in the day and as usual noisy at night so my sleeping pattern is a little crazy at the moment.
10 Things to know when you move in to halls
So here are some things they don’t plan on telling you..
1. Your contract is now your bible
It’s the old ‘you break you buy’ policy when you get into halls. Read through your contract before you move in to check what you need and what you don’t. It’s also a good idea to know what is banned in halls, I had some really odd ones this year such as fairy lights. Another handy tip is to take pictures of any marks as soon as you move in. That way if something has been missed you can’t be charged at the end of the year.
2. Think about what you NEED to bring and can you bring more up later?
You only have so much room so try not to bring everything. If you don’t live too far you may be able to go home and get things, if not you could always bring things back after Christmas break.
3. Have money spare
There is always something you forgot/want/need oh and there is also the possibility of there being issues with student finance (this is not a joke I now people who still haven’t had any money though in November). Even £50 could really do you a favour in an emergency.
4. Your flatmates don’t have to be your best friends
I got quite lucky with my flat mates, we don’t want to kill each other just yet. I do, however, know people who hate their flat mates because they are so different (some Uni’s try and match you up…I don’t think Kingston went down that route). Just remember you only have to deal with them for a year and if it gets really bad talk to your halls management or someone at the uni about how you feel, someone might want to switch!
5. Make sure everyone knows where they stand
This is key in living with strangers, we have a ‘flat agreement’ that was sent around where everyone writes down their preferences over certain issues. Also if you have a problem try and talk to the person! One of my flat mates had to call home at really odd times, after I spoke to her she said she had no idea I could hear and she would try and keep it down. We now get on great!
6. Buy earplugs, or insomnia is your best option
For the first 6-8 weeks of uni I didn’t sleep very well at all. Constant noise, a new place and taking everything in were to blame in my situation. I didn’t think to buy ear plugs and I don’t know if they would work for me but take some with you just incase…you don’t know who you’ll end up living with.
7. Make your room feel like your home
I found this really dificult but it is important to make the room your own. Bring pictures, stuffed animals, books etc to make you feel more at home. If you like being cluttered then so be it as long you you feel comfortable in your environment.
8. Only bring a few sets of knives and forks
Trust me, if you don’t you wont wash up until it gets to a small mound and you have to spend ages getting it all done. I brang 3 sets, enough for people to come over but not enough so that I can be extra lazy.
9.Your room is going to be small…no matter how big it looks in pictures
We all found this out the hard way, I know two people who got bigger rooms than they expected out of EVERYONE. My room is absolutely tiny and often feels messy when I do the slightest thing, another reason to think about what you need to bring.
10. People do stupid things
You learn this eventually. Sometimes it’s funny other times you wonder how the hell they going into uni in the first place. You have to remember that you don’t need to be the idiot…it’s much for fun to laugh at them.
When the past catches up with you
It was inevitable that at some point in the next few years my past would crop up. I didn’t think the time for this would be in a playwriting workshop that would completely throw me. I was speaking to a friend the other day about things in your past that you could hide at university after becoming a new person and she told me it was harder when unexpected things made you stumble. I found this out in my Creative Writing lecture this afternoon after the topic of bullies came up and the victims. We were supposed to write about our school and write a scene based on it. I had already started to squirm and decided I wasn’t writing the exercise, I wasn’t even going there. It got worse as the lecture went on as descriptions of school days came to light, what the bullies did and I could feel dark mood spreading. People started to laugh at the ‘antics’ finding the mental abuse funny.
Needless to say I left that lecture, I just couldn’t handle it. Quite frankly it’s not funny, it damages lives and can cause suicide. All the little tricks that were played never ever leave you. I know that because it’s still in my damn mind and it still makes me angry. I feel like maybe I should spit ball all those who laughed in the lecture, hide their notes before an important exam, create lies about them or just make them feel useless? Because that people is what it does to someone when you bully them because that is when it’s not funny.
Ask my Mum how she felt when her daughter would hysterically cry and beg not to be sent to school. Ask Ali how it felt watching me struggle for years with how I felt about myself. How about you ask my little sister if she understood why I was so sad when I came home from school. Funnily enough when you bully someone it doesn’t just take over their life but it takes over the lives of the people who love them too.
All this said I don’t hate the people in my lecture, I don’t believe that they are bad people but I was upset. I’m sure if they knew it, wouldn’t have been as funny but that is my whole point. Why should your perceptions change because someone is in the room, surely you should just find it awful in principle?
I’m going to try as hard as I can not to dwell on this because I have been doing so well in getting over my past. I’m finally trying to talk about things and sort out my feelings. Luckily I had a very special friend in that lecture who understood and helped get me out as soon as she could, and for that I am grateful.
It’s just a thought for you guys, although I know many of you will understand why I feel this way.
5 ways to make sure you are on top of your deadlines
The time of year is rolling around that has students stressed, tired and caffine addicted. Just as some mothers will be making ruthless trips to Toys ‘R’ Us and hasty calls to Santa when toys arn’t in stock, students will be taking their frustratoins out on the uni/college library and that can of redbull (I am one of the lucky ones who has red bull sold in the library..score!). One thing is for certain, both of them want the run up to Christmas to slow the hell down. December/Janurary marks the first set of deadlines for me and I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t strressed about one particular module, the key thing is I still have time.
This is where my total pain in the arse organizational skills come in handy, I’ve been reading these lists for a few weeks. I’ve tried to memorise when work is due in so that I’m not caught off guard. Luckily my module guides have been handy and I’ve also picked up some tips along the way.
1. Know when your work needs to be handed in
I think the absolute worst thing is having no idea when everything has to be done by, it can mess with your grade at the end. Now all of my deadlines are pretty close together at the moment, in fact I’ve just written them all out to see how much space I have between each. The whole point of knowing these isn’t so you can stress out for months on end, it’s so you can fit things in. Just make a note of big deadlines in a diary or notebook (believe me I am religiously obsessed with noting things down in my academic diary!)
2. Plan when you are going to do things
As I hinted at above I like to plan when I am going to do things. Not everyone works well with pressure, so why not write a to-do list. I find these help more as I can put things in order of what needs to be done and I feel satisfied when I tick it off at the end of the day. I also do a rough plan of when in the week I need to do things and what I have on that week, I’m not goign to lie and say that this can be concrete because things change but a rough guideline can make a world of difference.
3. If you are unclear on what to do ASK!
I think I drive my tutors mad with questions but apparently they think it’sa better idea than getting stuck. Tutors will be much more willing to help you two weeks before the deadline NOT two days. It’s a good idea just to get clarification if your unsure of what it is you need to do.
4.PRIORITISE
This is something I struggle with sometimes, I know that I have to get my Creative writign work done but it doesn’t mean I don’t try and skip. Try and stick to what is due in soonest not what you want to do first. It works both ways though don’t try to get ahead so much that you forget what you have to do for a particular week. Also consider going out, it is still important you know…
5.Make sure you have time for work and play
Which leads me to my last point. It’s all well and good to work hard and get a good grade but you need to have some fun. Fun for you might be going to Hippodrome and getting so drunk you forget about that assignment until tomorrow or it might be reading a book. Basically whatever you do to relax/have fun make sure you do this too because otherwise you’ll wonder why the hell you’re here.
Waking up with a smile
This morning I woke up with a smile. I finally woke up happy and looking forward to the day ahead. Last night I had a lovely evening of what I can only describe as grown-up couply things such as an exciting trip to Asda followed by Ali cooking me a lovely meal of Steak and Potatoes. As you can imagine after a night like that I was an incredibly happy girl, the day got better after a successful driving lesson. Today’s post is only short but I hope you enjoy it anyway! 🙂
I’m Dyslexic!
After 19 years on the planet and 14 years in the education system I can finally say I am dyslexic! Today I trudged to my appointment quite nervous but I didn’t need to be my assessor was so lovely and made me completely at ease. There was one thing though, I found the tests a lot more difficult that I thought I would. In the past I’d taken similar tests and hadn’t found them that hard, which is why nothing was made much of an issue, I wonder now though if I had been trying too hard. As you’ll probably know from earlier blog posts I don’t like failing at anything. If my assessor hadn’t been so lovely I would have got incredibly nervous and stressed when I started struggling.
The end result was that I was obviously dyslexic, something I should have known before. I don’t have the final report but I have a problem with my short term memory, the way I hear things such as phonics and sounds and the rate my brain processes things is a lot slower than the average person. There are a few other things too but I can’t quite remember, either way so many things make sense now! I got incredibly excited when she began explaining what the tests meant and when I asked her about certain situations she said it was part of my dyslexia.
I’ll be talking to my driving instructor about this too as now it’s confirmed there can be special allowances made in my test to allow for the slow processing.I would also like to point out that there are so many different types of dyslexia that it doesn’t just meant people can’t read and write there are many different things. I struggle in particular with spelling, grammar, punctuation as well as that I REALLY struggle with telling my left from my right (which was incredibly embarrassing the older I got). Now I have to talk to the DSA so I can get help with my studies in the form of a mentor who specialises in dyslexia. So a tip for any of you out there who are struggling and feel you could have dyslexia, talk to your uni! I was able to get my test for free because of my household income (otherwise they are £300). It really could help you get the grade you deserve!
I’m definitely glad I’m at University
Today I spent the afternoon with my Mum, Nanna and sister Summer on the stall. Now this is nothing new, I’ve been helping Mum on various stalls for as long as I can remember and I really enjoyed it. As a kid I would scour car boot sales looking for good that I could sell on and make a small profit on (I still do that now, although I’m not as good at it as Mum). Today however we were at a baby/toddler sale, oh my lord I felt weird.
I saw so many people my age or a little older with children and it scared the living daylights out of me! When I lived at home I didn’t think twice about it but for some reason going to uni has changed me. The thought of having children right now is terrifying, I’m 19 years old and as much as I find other peoples kids adorable I like giving them back.
I feel like I have so much more potential though, so do a lot of people. I’m not saying that having children young is a bad thing, I have a friend currently studying Law at uni with an adorable 2 year old (coincidently my goddaughter, who gives THE cutest hugs), she’s doing fine. I have other friends who have children too but for me, I feel like I don’t know who I am or what I want to do.
My logic is that when I have kids I want to be able to tell them things and give them life advice. In light of this uni is the greatest thing, I get to do so much and really find out what I want in life. These are the kinds of things that go through my brain because I’ve realised how much I’ve changed in the last year, so I’m gonna carry on working on that.
Headed Home!
Today I raced through uni with Ali’s suitcase behind me, casually knocking the ankles of the people around me. I frantically got through my day before running to the bus trying not to miss my train…I didn’t need to do that I was 20 minutes early in the end. Although by tonight I knew my weekend wouldn’t be as planned I will be spending some time with my family and not to mention my dog. So now I’m cuddled up on my bed with Children in Need on (although I’m not ashamed to admit I’ve cried some of these stories are just horrible). Today has been quite odd though, I spent 45 minutes trying to sort Ali’s present followed by a job interview I now have on Sunday. What can I say, it’s good to be home!!
The essay countdown
There is a point that every student gets too, the dreaded essay countdown. Now mine isn’t for another few weeks, unfortunately Ali and Ben don’t have that luxury. I got the bus up to Kingston Hill expecting to meet Ali as he was just finishing his essay, that wasn’t quite true and Ben wasn’t finished either. So we watched the clock as the hours ticked down and got to work, I hate to say it but at times I was like their mother. It worked though, by the time I got my bus at 10pm both of the boys had finished and submitted their work now I’m hoping I can call back the favour in a few weeks when my clock is ticking. Surprisingly though it was such a nice time, we might have been going through essay structure all night (a blessing and a curse, luckily I quite liked helping the boys) but it was fun. I was thinking about doing a little top tips thing but I can’t really do that until I’ve submitted my own, wish me luck!
Can I also mention the lack of pictures is because of my broken phone! More to come soon!
Trying to carry on
I hate to use this blog in any way to rant but I think I’ve been pushed to my limit. As much as I want to be positive all the time I’m not and I don’t think it’s fair to pretend to you all that I am. My transfer got declined and it was a huge blow, so I’m stuck on Creative Writing for the rest of the year and I’m not ashamed to say that I cried. My brain feels like it’s going to explode all I want to do it be FREE!!! I miss writing, I miss enjoying writing for myself and not doing exercises that take the fun out of creating a character. I miss not being able to travel the world through a character. I miss being a writer.
It’s not because it’s a bad course I know a lot of people who really enjoy it, it’s just not for me at all. I think mostly it’s down to the way I write. I have until March on the course I keep trying but it is driving me insane and I just want to study full field. Half the problem is me being a perfectionist I can’t stand the thought that there will be even a slight mark on my transcript forever and I know that’s stupid but it’s just how much I care. I worked so damn hard to get here and now all I can think is that I made the wrong damn choice last year and I should have just taken full field. The thought of ‘just passing’ makes me feel ill, I just can’t stand not getting 100% out of this. The worst thing is that it’s not because I’m bad at the course I get great feedback, I’m just really bored at the moment.
Despite saying this I’m going carry on and go to all of my classes. My English Literature tutor has once again been an angel, along with the Director of Studies for English, they have kindly offered their time so I can build my skills and be ready for second year. In a lot of ways I feel incredibly lucky that I came to Kingston, the support network is incredible here. As well as all this I also have some pretty awesome people around. I can’t be positive all the time and that’s ok, I guess it’s what makes me human we all have bad days sometimes….I just have to find a way to deal with them.
Chloe Metzger 