I know I am writing this in November, but this post is about my first day at Bournemouth University back in September!
So, on the 17th September 2016, I packed my bags and left the comfort net of Surrey, the comfort net of my family and friends and the comfort net of everything I was used to. I have always been a very family-orientated girl, so the idea of moving nearly 2 hours away from my family was the hardest part for me. However, as much as I was dreading the idea of moving away, I managed to keep it together for the sake of my family – I knew if I started feeling emotional, my parents certainly would – especially as I am first born in my family, and therefore first to ‘fly the nest’. It was a miserable, wet, gloomy day in Surrey as we left and my mum turned to me in the car on the way to Bournemouth and said ‘pathetic fallacy’ but again, I tried to ignore the fact that my mum was dreading dropping me off. As we approached Bournemouth, the sky cleared and became brighter. The air was warm and I felt a sense of relief that even if I felt miserable once I was dropped off, at least I would feel miserable in the sunshine.
We eventually got to Bournemouth University, I collected my keys from Poole House for my accommodation and I was preparing to move in. When I was applying for accommodation, I wasn’t able to get into the accommodation halls I wanted to at Purbeck house, so instead I ended up in the Student Village – known to all as the quieter accommodation of Bournemouth University. I am quite an outgoing person when I am comfortable with people, and I enjoy the party scene, so the idea of being stuck in a quiet accommodation didn’t help the anxiety, as I developed the mindset that I would miss out on the opportunity to make friends that the other students would make in the more ‘wild’ accommodation halls.
However, after a couple of hours had past, I had met the other 3 people I would be living with for the next year. I had already spoken to 2 of my housemates via Facebook a couple of weeks before we moved down, but there was always that fear they would be nothing like they are online – in person. Writing this blog post in November, I can now say that my housemates have come like a family to me. Every single one of them have their own individual character traits that make them a joy to be around.
Kirstin, has become like my sister. We have so much in common and she’s always there to offer the support if it is needed. She’s so kind-hearted and innocent, but she always has this dark side that comes out once she’s had some alcohol and that’s the best thing about Kirstin. We influence each other to do things (we probably shouldn’t..) but I couldn’t imagine being at university without her.
Elliott, has some of the most controversial views of anyone I have ever met, but everyone knows that his views are never intended to offend anyone, and everyone considers his views as just a dark sense of humour – and I think even he considers his views a dark sense of humour. He isn’t like Kirstin, Joe and I in the same respects but we couldn’t imagine the house without the irritating comments in the Brum accent made by Elliott.
and Joe…well Joe and I have had the up’s and down’s people would have over their lifetime, in a couple of months. I now understand why they say ‘don’t sleep with your housemates at university’ because it truly is like shitting where you eat, but now, he is my boyfriend, so how much easier going out with your housemate is, I don’t know, but I guess we’ll see where that goes in the future, but I couldn’t imagine my life without Joe now, not just university. He steals the last packet of cheese and onion crisps, ponces cigarettes, hogs the aux cable and deliberately tries everything within his power to annoy you, but he has a heart of gold, and anyone can see that.
So within 2 hours of being at university, my housemates and I were already pissed – to put it bluntly. Joe arrived to the house with a litre bottle of vodka, and none of us wasted anytime ‘living the true uni experience’. It was the first night of freshers and all of us were eager to get out. We made the effort to get dressed, get out to meet our neighbours and to get drunk (as quickly as possible – which resulted in some vodka shots that I painfully regret doing). We all went out to Old Firestation – the univeristy’s nightclub where there was a queue an hour and a half long to get in, which gave us the opportunity to speak to new people. The night ended in a house of very drunk people making a racket and a very angry sounding security guard who wasted no time in telling us to shut off the noise. I ended my night in Joe’s bed with a bottle of wine. To say the least, I already had a pretty good idea what university was going to be like based upon that first night’s outcome.
Thanks for reading!
Charlotte x
Charlotte 