A whole day older...

Me again, signing in for the first time in a long time.

And right now, I'm stressing - exams are just a few days away!

So this will be a really quick blog, just to check in.

It was my birthday yesterday, and I'm feeling old. 19.

And some of you may well cry out in protest at this - "19?! And she feels old? She needs to get some perspective!" - but I have my reasons.

When I was 17, someone I was really close to died, just a week before his 20th birthday. Hitting 19 has shown me that soon I'll be older than he ever was, and it doesn't feel right, not one bit.

Of course, I had a good time (thanks to all of my amazing flatmates and uni friends!), but some things just play on your mind.

Why do I miss you?

Recently, I've been thinking more and more about my friend who I met through university applications and talked to all last summer.


We used to talk for hours on Skype every day, only stopping if one of us had to go out or do something. We spoke from about April up until August without stopping.


Here's the thing: we both applied for university in Sheffield. He got in, I didn't. Cue, him deciding not to bother talking to me anymore.


But it's not as easy as all that - I still really miss our chats that took up entire days, and I wish he'd visit me again, or even just start a simple conversation. Not that he believes that.


Why do people miss each other? I mean, it's not like I don't have any other friends... I just want to speak to him again. There's something about this one person that makes me want to talk to him. I just blew my chance with this by not getting the grades I needed.


And don't get me wrong, I absolutely love Lincoln, and my university now. I have the best friends anyone could ask for. I do a brilliant course. I'm enjoying my new life.


I just wonder what my life could have been like if I'd done something differently.


So, really, this is a "what if" blog.


What if I'd done something different, gone a different way in life?


But I'll never know that, and I guess it's time to stop wondering - I need to look to the future.


It does make me wonder though: how many other potential students go through this every year, all because of universities and UCAS? 

Open days

Ok, so all universities have open days, just like schools. What I want to know is this: why does the University of Lincoln have so many?


It seems like every few weeks we have new "potential students" looking around.


As an average student, I'll establish right now that I have had no contact with next year's intake. But, bearing this in mind, surely I should still have some contact with future students?


You can only get a real feeling for the university you're going to if you actually have some experience of living there. That's why I decided to come to Lincoln - I stayed with a friend here and experienced how it really is to live as a student here, if only for a weekend.


But, really, that's what university is all about - living away from home and learning about how to live on your own. Fair enough if you want to live close to home, but in my opinion it's better to learn how to stand on your own two feet.


I feel that living four hours away from my parents has really benefited me, and I've learnt more about myself as a person (as well as learning how to cook for myself!)


For a start, I've become more independent. Then of course, there's making new friends - I know that I can completely rely on my closest friends here, because I live with them and know everything about them.


This is something that open day students don't completely understand. Living at university is completely different from living at home - living in close conditions with other people you don't know (at least to start with) and gradually learning about each other. It's part of the whole experience.


In summary: come to uni for an open day, yes. But talk to real students, not the reps. Talking to real students gives you a real idea of living at your uni. Fact.

Why do students do what they do?

It's 4am.

Right now, the average student is either sleeping, partying, or is on the Internet for some reason.

But why?

Obviously, everyone understands the need for sleep.

Partying? I think everyone can understand that too, to an extent. I mean, everyone needs to let their hair down once in a while. And with the growing list of student offers of today, why not?

Photo: Hannah O'Brien

A large part of the student culture of today involves clubbing as the main form of socialising. Well, actually, clubbing has become a central focus in socialising for young people, whether they are students or not. But drinking and dancing seems to be a good way to meet new people – if the example of fresher’s week is anything to go by.

Drinking seems to relax us and make us all more open to meeting new people. So, obviously this is ideal for a first-year student who is hoping to meet more friends.

But now I’ve come to surfing the net – why do we do it?

Quite simply - it's an escape from reality.

On the internet, it's easy to not only be someone you're not, but also to let go of the stresses of real life - but then again, I guess you could say that drinking has the same effect.