The last week is a bit of a
blur if I’m honest! I can’t quite believe I’ve managed to get through the first
week at University. It hasn’t been without it’s hiccups, but I did it, and
that’s the main thing. If you follow me on Instagram (Jennycole1988 if you’re
interested) you’ll have seen my daily posts about my week – I tried to keep it
fairly positive there, but I think it’s important that people also know that
it’s been far from easy. There have been a lot of tears at home in the evenings
and I feel completely run down, in pain and unwell, but I knew this wasn’t
going to be without its problems. I’ve just been trying to get as much rest as
I possibly can, and am hoping that now I have my timetable I will be able to get
into a better routine.
My busy week started on
Sunday evening with an early night. I was determined to be in bed by 10pm, and
although I didn’t quite manage that, I think I did pretty well. I had planned
to snuggle under my duvet and read a bit more of my book before I went to
sleep, but I think I’d exhausted myself by worrying, so didn’t even finish a
page before I was nodding off! I’m definitely more of a night owl, so waking up
early is particularly difficult for me. But I’m hoping if I can be strict with
myself and stick to my early nights when I have Uni the next day, it won’t be
too painful being an early bird.
As you know, Monday was my
first day at University. I was beyond nervous, although actually managed to get
a good night’s sleep the night before, which is pretty unusual for me! I even
managed to get up on time – even more unheard of! I’ve pretty much gone the
whole summer without wearing make-up, so it was quite nice to have an excuse to
do my face again. My Dad drove me over for 9.15am and we met my support worker,
who will be helping me get around the campus for the next year. I’ve only been
there a week and I already know that she is going to be an absolute lifesaver!
This week has been full of induction activities, icebreakers, campus tours and
lots of information to take in. The staff have all been lovely – very
understanding and accommodating, which has made me feel a lot more relaxed.
I’ve chatted to a few people on my course so far and I’m pretty sure I’m the
oldest by a fair few years! I’m a little bit worried I’m going to find it hard
to connect with the other students on my course, but hopefully once we all
start working together things will get a bit easier.
On Tuesday I finished
university at lunchtime, after having a quick look round the Fresher’s Fayre
(lots of leaflets, food and sports clubs!) On our way home, we popped into my
old college to pick up my certificates. I now finally have proof that I somehow
managed to get through a year of college and achieved an Access to Higher
Education Diploma for Allied Health Professionals. Yes, it’s not particularly
relevant to what I’m doing now, but I’ve got that qualification now so that in
the future I may still be able to work in the health sector. Plus it gave me so
many other skills that will be helpful for whatever I decide to do, and I made
some fantastic friends who I hope to keep in touch with.
On Wednesday we had a
pretty long day, but ended up having a two and a half hour break around
lunchtime. My support worker asked if I’d like to go into the town to have a
little look around, which I thought would be great. Although this university is
local to me, I haven’t really ever spent much time looking round the town.
Unfortunately, just as we headed out of the university main reception, the
heavens opened and the rain started hammering down. We managed to get as far as
Starbucks before deciding we were better off going back to the warm and dry of
the university refectory. But before we turned back, we popped into Starbucks,
as I was desperate to get one of their pretty autumn takeaway cups! I decided
to try a Pumpkin Spice Latte, as I’ve heard so many people raving about them
recently, and I can now see why! It was just what I needed on a cold, rainy
September afternoon, and I will definitely be going back there for another one
very soon.
I can’t quite believe how
quickly Friday came around, but I was very grateful for a day off, which meant
I could have a lie-in! I spent the day just chilling out, trying to give my
body some time to recover from the last four days. In the afternoon we had a
social activity timetabled at a local pub for everyone on the Journalism
course. If I’m honest I could have quite easily stayed curled up on the sofa,
but I wanted to show may face and hopefully start to get to know some of the
others a little bit more. Our course leader very kindly bought us all a drink,
however unfortunately (or fortunately – depends how you look at it!) I was the
only girl there. It’s a shame, as it would have been nice to get to know some
of the other girls on the course, but it was quite fun chatting with the guys
about music (and football/rugby), even if I had no idea what they were talking
about!
If I was a sensible person,
I would have spent yesterday resting and giving my body a much-needed respite,
but it seems wisdom eludes me. Instead, I decided to go to a local garden
centre with my Dad and brother for a spot of lunch (my treat). Redfields in Church Crookham is definitely one of my favourite garden centres around
here. Since being completely refurbished, their café is hands down the best for
miles. They used to do some really great gluten-free options, but the last
couple of times I've been I haven’t seen anything, which is a real shame. I ended up
going for a cream tea, with a cherry scone, clotted cream, strawberry jam and
English breakfast tea. The scone was bigger than my hand and way too much for
me to manage, but it was all really yummy. They also do cheese scones, which I
really do need to try sometime, but only if they’ll warm it up for me, as
there’s nothing better than hot cheese scones with melted butter! As it wasn’t
gluten or lactose free, unfortunately I was pretty unwell for the rest of the
afternoon, but it was a risk I knew I was taking, so I’ve only got myself to
blame. My brother had a massive slice of very naughty looking chocolate cake,
and my Dad had a smoked salmon and egg wrap, which he said was delicious.
I mentioned this last week,
but just wanted to remind you that I recently started a second blog, which will
just focus on my health, in more depth than I talk about it here. I’ve mainly
set it up for friends and family to follow and keep up with what’s going on,
but if it’s something you would be interested in reading as well, you are more
than welcome to follow me over there. It’s called Unicorns and Floral Crowns
and you can find it by clicking here. I’m also trying to post on Snapchat a bit more,
so if you fancy following me, my username is Jennycole44.
What have you been up to this week? I
always enjoy hearing about your news and adventures!
No comments:
Post a Comment