Unbelievably, my first year of university finished last week.
After a long, eventful thirteen year wait to attend higher education – during which time I: opted not to go to college (to do English and creative writing) back in Ohio, moved 4,000 miles to another country, lived in four very different areas of said country, got married twice, got divorced twice, gave birth to three children, and arrived full circle at studying creative writing at Sheffield Hallam – the last eight months feel like five fleeting minutes.
I’d like to find some kind of analogy for all of this, but my brain is, understandably, still feeling a bit spaced.
This first year has been better than I’d have ever expected. Every single one of my classmates (I’ve been hanging out with surnames A through Ha – so it was totally luck of the draw) has become a friend, and I’ve learned so much about writing in only a few modules.
Thinking about second year makes me feel a bit nervous, mostly because I have a grand plan (read: ‘actually slightly vague plan, but it’s a plan at least’) for the first time, but I’ve been reassured with strange mystical metaphors from a tutor or two that it’s nothing to worry about.
Well, that’s why we have creative writing tutors – because we need Jedi masters, or something.
So I’m not worried.
I’m excited. For summer, such as it is (I’m in Sheffield – it’s May and it feels like October). Excited about doing lots of writing, spending time with friends, hanging out with les enfants (from July anyway – my summer is longer than theirs) and reading a zillion books.
And I’m allowing myself the feeling of having done something well – my first year – even if these experiences also tend to leave me with the feeling of ‘wtf just happened?’
It’ll do.
I’m also less stressed because thanks to Yahoo news, I now know the Earth is surrounded by 6,000 asteroids. The asteroids are unlikely to cause “immediate danger”, but hey, if they did, my second year of university wouldn’t matter as much. There are so many things to potentially worry about, they end up cancelling each other out.
Anyway. I’d love to have a lot more to say right now – and believe me, in the coming weeks I will – but at the moment the title of this post says it all.
Have a rad weekend, blog-reading-type-people!
Hang in there Kid!! My summer classes start tomorrow. No rest for the wicked they say. Hoping I can fit three surgeries and rehab therapy into one year with full-time classes before I have to do my Practicum next summer. Yeah, just a bit stressed….
Love ya!
Mum