Over the last seven days I’ve gotten a good dose of all kinds of emotions – from extreme excitement, to raging nerves. I began my week with a great deal of optimism, which came about from the realizations I announced in my last blog – “Whoa learning is great” and “Studying rocks my life”. Sadly, the high that emerged from my first week of Uni did not last as long as expected. Monday punched me with my first difficult lecture, and I took the blow right on the chin. The whole time I sat there thinking “What the heck is this?”, “Is that even a real word?” and “Who came up with this stuff?!”.
Monday was a struggle and a half.
It then dawned on me that the first two or so weeks were only introductory lectures, which laid the foundations for the rest of the course, yet here I was already wallowing in self pity at the fact that a preparatory lecture went straight over my head. It was at this point that the raging nerves revealed themselves. I discovered an inkling of fear within myself, and as a result I got my first taste of what University was probably going to be like for me – a fatty rollercoaster. In all its bends and loops, I would find high points but also low points. Last week I was taught my first life-lesson of University, and I’m sure I will continue to come to learn the small life-hacks and life-teachings of University until the very last day of my degree.
Big City views and Big City lessons to learn #thatcheesylifeisme
Like a cruddy commercial, the feels did not stop there – “BUT WAIT! There’s more!”. By the time Friday came along, my demeanor had changed and I was pumped for my first ever Family visitor – my Aunty. She brought love, hugs and all that good stuff that felt like home. She also spoiled me to the point where I felt like pretending to be a pre-adult in Auckland, just didn’t feel like my thing anymore. At 9o’clock on Friday night, my boyfriend and I ditched the St Patty scene and headed to Sky City to live like the King and Queen we thought we deserved to be for one night.
The excitement of being in a queen size bed, in comparison to my small King Single at UH, was just tew much.
Our time with my Aunty not only consisted of tasty food, but it was also a great break away from study. As Saturday came to a closing, and we parted our separate ways after an overly satisfying breakfast, my boyfriend and I agreed that Auckland is a suitable replacement for home, but being away from our family is definitely a challenge.
Tasty food…
Tasty food continued…
I guess homesickness is a key aspect of the “University experience”, but knowing that everyone else is in the same boat of missing their family, adds a bit of comfort to a situation that can be quite scary. In saying that, after being here for almost 3 weeks and meeting with family for the first time in a wee-while, I appreciated moments that I wouldn’t normally if I were still at home. So in other words, when you don’t see your loved ones and the physical distance is there, it is a bit tough, but when you finally get to see them and dish out a couple of cuddles, the time is quality and it’s easy to moosh 3 weeks of lost time into 24 hours.
Missing home, because where else do you get views like this?
For now, the excitement continues as I count down the days to Saturday/the night of the queen/Adele’s concert! My mum, sister and my cousin’s partner are all on the bandwagon and I am absolutely pumped! So pumped that I’m prepped to study like a crazy woman this week, in order to enjoy a studyless-Saturday!
So in summary of this mix-matched blog:
- University seems to be very up-and-down, but it is best to take each small lesson as it is, and to just appreciate the challenges as they come.
- Being away from the fam-bam is difficult, but being with them will feel just like old times – if not better.
- My life is going to be great on Saturday night. #bless
Until next time my fellow blogies!! xx
-Rebekah