University life pt 2

Going to university when you are not 18 is not a new thing, many people do it. But still going to Uni when you are over 21 is a strange feeling.

I got into Uni on the back of strong work experience, I also knew that this was my last real chance of getting a degree. Because let’s be honest in today's world where everyone has a degree the job market is saturated by people a lot younger than myself with the same degree. I will be 25 when I graduate which scares the living crap out of me! I will have to go back to the land of the working and responsibility.

So what is it like being a slightly mature student? I would say the most notable difference between me and my ever so slightly younger students is that I want to make the most of my two years of zero responsibility. I mean I only have two years were I can get completely gazeboed on a Monday night and not have to worry about getting up early. 

I have been in the world of 9 to 5 and it sucks so so much! I tell my friends that they should make the most of the student times because you will never be able to binge watch breaking bad on a Wednesday again! By all mean you have to study, you really need to study because as I said before there is a saturated job market out there and you need to stand out.

Which also leads me on to my other point. GET INVOLVED! There is no point sitting in you room complaining about how rubbish the university is, or that you don't feel welcome. A students union is only as good as you make it, you will no longer be handheld into having fun. You need to just take the jump organize stuff on your own. Don't wait for other to tell you what to do.

I understand that some people are introvert and extrovert so have different opinions on what is fun. I'm telling you someone else will have the same idea, so start a society or join one. Like I said before get involved.

Id like to think that my willingness to get involved as come from working in an environment where if I didn't complete a job I found daunting done, I would be fired. Which has spurred me into starting societies, join clubs, making many great new friends. I see people at this university who are scarred that if they go out at least once a week they will fail, well I go out most nights and along with many of my friends and we are all in the 1st 2:1 bracket. I can imagine this will change in the coming terms. 

It is about mixing work and play equally. I treat Uni as a 11-7 job, so from 11-7 it is about studying and extracurricular activities, then after that I do the stereotypical student stuff. If you go to my Uni and are still in pre-lims try this aspect of life next term and I guarantee have a better experience than this term!

University life pt 1

I must apologise for my lack of content over the last couple of days, life has been hectic to say the least. People often think being a student is all about getting pissed and fornicating, but at Buckingham it is different. But that stuff still does happen.

I can imagine seeing my brother roll his eyes at the thought of me saying that, being a student is hard. I would have done the same thing seven months ago.
You see I was working a 9-5 job as a logistics manager before I came to Buckingham. I paid my taxes, I had business cards, I went on business trips to Dublin, from the outside it looked good, and to many people it was a good job. I never earn't as much as I liked but I earn't enough at one stage to rent a house and drive a nice car. 

But I was never happy, I knew that my life was not destined for this lifestyle, So I thought I'm going back to Uni. I had heard that at some universities you could do 2 year degrees, then found this place, got a place pretty quickly due to work experience. Left work at end of July and went to see my American brother for 6 weeks.

I believe this to be the best decision of my life, but I regret saying students have it easy. Only 10 weeks into my first term I was taking exams at a level I had never done before, I was having to read 10x the amount of books I had ever read before. Living on an income drastically lower than I was use to.

The whole concept of university is stupid in my eyes you are basically paying a couple thousand pounds a year for a Library pass and a small room which in any other profession would be classed and inhumane living standards. But I must jump through the hoops if I want to get the job of my dreams, but lets be honest University does not prove how intelligent you are just how good you are at taking exams.

Tomorrows blog will be on the social aspect of uni, and what it is like going to university as a "mature student".

  

Any colour but white!

I thought I would take a break from writing up essays to talk about Cars. Which at this point a lot of people will go to sleep. But for me cars are something of a hobby, I don't really know how they work and my level or automotive excellence is at the level where I can change a tyre and fill up my washer bottle.

Which lets be honest is the level to which most people are up to. But I still love them, I mean before I was a student I would happily pay 60% of my pay check on my car in some way or another. My current car is an Fiesta ST-2 which according to Top Gear means I should be Prime Minister.

I can wait till I am over 25 and the cost of insurance is something I never have to worry about, and picking cars becomes much more simple. I do find it funny why people pick the cars they drive, the obvious reason is finace, I mean not every one can go around in a BMW M3 but why would you buy a Suzuki Alto, when you can buy a cent second hand golf. 

Can manufactures have taken the fun out of cars, there are a few exceptions, but most cars are just built for people who own fleeces. For instance you want a buy a Seat Leon, a fun car based on a golf, you would think that it comes with a nice meaty engine that is made for the mountain roads of Spain (my geography of Spain is a little crap), but the base engine is a 1.2 petrol which is as about as powerful as the Green Party.

No one cares what they are driving anymore because cost has become the main driving force is deciding what car you get, I want a car which will sound amazing, give you butterflys every time you press the throttle. I want cars to be greener, I want them to be safer. But I should not have to give up the great thrill of driving. Companies like Tesla are doing that but companies like Nissan who created the Leaf are cheating and taking the fun out of driving.

Anyway back to the theocracy of Iran.    

Never again!

I have been thinking about how I should write this blog, for most of the morning, whilst I celebrated Holi Day, which if you are blonde wear a hat, after a 20 minute shower my hair is still pink. But last night was well interesting to say the least.

The best way to start this story is to start with the ending, last night ended with me in the back of an Ambulance telling the lovely paramedics that I'm not pregnant.

It started out like a normal night out does, we go to the cellers (uni common area) play pool have pre-drinks and have a good time, we then wonder to a friends house do the same then off to the students union, my Girlfriend was working behind the bar last night so it was just me and the Gents ( we thought "lads" was to chavy), I cant even remember drinking that much, but as the night came to a close I collapsed on the bar Sofa, being the most drunk I have ever been! 

When I got back to my room, the GF tried to put me to bed but my stomach had different ideas, it rejected the alcohol, so vomiting started. You may be thinking this isnt interesting everyone vomits, but well it gets more interesting now.

I start getting intense pain in my abdominal area, I thought it was wind so I go sit on loo for a while, but the pain got worse and worse until the GF had to call NHS Direct. Now sober me would have been responsive and helpful, but drunk Dan thought his appendix was exploding or had ruptured his stomach, and was screeming at the top of his lungs to call an ambulance.

We went to the security hut because thats where the GF told Ambulance to go, once stepping into secrurity hut my first words were "IM IN SO MUCH PAIN BUT, FUCK ME IT SMELLS AMAZING IN HERE", which it did it smelt of Watermelon, I feel sorry for the poor security guard he was doing the nightshift and a drunk student barges in, screaming.

Then the ambulance came, and well I thought I was going to be carted of to A&E and be under the knife in a matter or hours. I was wrong, I had heart burn basically. A mixture of spicyfood, to much booze and medication, had caused my stomach to hate me, I was given two paracetamol and told to take Rennies, and guess what the pain disappeared.

So thats how I probably woke up the entire block and wasted NHS time and money for Heartburn, Sorry Mum.   

If you want a better telling of the story ask my Girlfriend as she can remember all of it and all the funny things I said.

Writing is hard!

As many people who have to write to a daily deadline the blinking of the curser is a constant reminder of time passing, as you search your brain for inspiration.

I know that sounds morbid but its true, I had to start this blog because of my degree, and I need to keep it updated everyday, which is difficult. Just think I write stuff that people actually read! I mean I have followers, I don’t want to just write any old dross just to fill the pages. I’d like to think that I have some pride in what I type, but at the moment I am having some sort of writers block.

As I type this I am hurtling down the M6 head back to University, I’m not driving, I cant multi task that well, my Girlfriend is driving. To be honest I think she regrets offering to drive, as I am one of the worst back seat driver. I use to get angry with my Mum when she would press for an imaginary break when I was driving, but I now find my self doing the same. I don’t know why I do it. My Girlfriend is a good driver, she has been driving just as long as me, so maybe I should man up.

We had nipped up to my parents for the night as there was a Stoke Home game, and being the loyal stoke fan I am I don’t want to miss a game, even though there was apparently a decent house party last night. The Girlfriend before she met me, had never been to a football game, she was raised on Rugby, Hockey and Lacrosse. But now she has been to three stoke games, and from what I can see she loves it, maybe because, all the three times Stoke have won, which means I’m in a good mood. But the other reason I think she likes the games is because of the guys in front of us comments, who sound like the old men in the booth from the muppets.

It has come to the point in the season that we have to renew our season tickets. We have always had three in the past; one for my dad, my brother and me. But now my brother is expecting another child and lives further south than I do, plus he is married so there for make every game. I would be going into the start of my final year of Uni When the season start, so I should really concentrate on the work, but should I really stop a hobby which I have been doing since I was 6? I believe I shouldn’t and I think we will carry on and just find people to take instead of my brother when he can’t come.

We always say that this season will be our last, as the commitment to life’s more important aspect take over, but I always said if I can afford to get to games I will always go, I have every game in my calendar so working around them in advance is easy. My Dad always books holidays around games so as not to miss games.  As the team has been getting better and better over the years I am incredibly reluctant to give up on the team, purely for the fact that sods law dictates that they will qualify in the top four and I will never get a season ticket again.

I shall end here by saying that we did discuss what the ticket options are and I think we will stick with what we always do, but as time goes on, each game to me seems more and more precious, as the time ticks away, to the moment I have to give up the ticket which as ruled my life for so many years, to things that are more important than football. 

When your legs don't work like they used to before...

So it has been two days since I decided to kick my self into gear about getting fit, and not drink beer. I have decided to call it the Ed Sheeran diet, because of his famous comments about loosing weight from cutting back on beer, and just replacing it with Vodka.

So it has been hard, normally on Mondays my friends an I go to the local bar, because we know the barman and also it's just a relaxing fun time, I walk into the bar and have to stop mid sentence because I started ordering Amstel. 

You don't get the first refreshing sip or gulp with a Tom Collins as you do with a beer, which I'm sure I will get use to.
But they are equally as nice. 

The fitness part has well already hit a snag, but I will get round it, I saw my physio yesterday as a follow up after my knee surgery over Christmas, and well the prognosis was not good! Because I am an idiot I played football 4 weeks before I should have and probably set my recovery back a couple of months, I am unable to do high impact training until further notice. 

My last blog inspired a friend to do the same, he has also started doing the Ed Sheeran diet, and has agreed to do Tough Mudder with me in September, along with my Girlfriend and another friend Jenny, this should be a fun couple of months.