Over the past month since I last posted in my little online comfort zone I have discovered many things about myself. The main thing that I have realised is that I am not somebody who was designed to live far away from home. I am without a doubt, 100% a home bird. No matter how much my parents piss me off or how irritating my little brother can get, I would take all of that tenfold to be able to be in my cozy little family home right now. I enjoy my own space, don't get me wrong, but honestly there is nowhere that I would rather be right now than with my parents and me brother.
About a month after I moved down to Glasgow I headed back up home for the weekend and I cried pretty much the whole time. I cried on the train going home. I cried when my parents met me at the station. I cried when I climbed into my very own bed for the first time in four weeks because my bed smelt like my bed and my pillows felt like my pillows. You get the drift. I was a mess. One week after this little visit I decided that the prospect of not going home again until Christmas was not one that I could face so alas I decided the forgo two of my lectures in the middle of November and go home for a day instead.
I feel like nobody really prepares you for the bad side of university. The whole way through high school it's spun as this amazing experience that you will remember for the rest of your life, but it has so many downsides. After the fun and games of freshers week is over, its really just like school but much, much harder.
I have a pretty full on course compared to lots of other people so I can fully expect to be in university from around 9am until 5pm all week, but that's not the end of it. I then have to come back to my flat to then go over lecture notes, write up lab reports, do further reading, prepare for labs/tutorials/lectures the next day... It goes on and on and on.
Add all that studying to having to cook or prepare every meal you eat, wash the dishes every day, washing your own clothes, having to go out and do a food shop and god forbid working all weekend... It all adds up to you having little to no time to yourself. How the stigma of uni students being out drinking every night arose I have no idea because I certainly don't have the time. My favourite part of the day has become the few hours I have to spare between finishing my lecture prep and going to sleep, and even that I have to organise to work out whether I'm going to use it to clean, shower, catch up on some missed sleep or relax with a movie.
Don't get me wrong though, I have had a good experience so far I just feel that in my constant daydreaming about moving to Glasgow for months on end wasn't exactly taking into account the practical aspects of university life. Some days are ok, other days I just want to curl up into a ball and drown my sorrows in Grey's Anatomy for 12 hours straight. But in the end I just need to keep reminding myself why I have to put myself through this right now as in the long run I will certainly be greatful that 18 year old homesick me decided to suck it up and get on with it.
