Catch the other parts here: Intro, Part One, Part Two, Part Three and Part Four.
Like all students my age, August brought with it the results that would affect the next few years of my life, would I drag my A Level results out of the ground far enough to get into university. Well no at first they didn’t I stood in my Mum’s dining room and called UCAS Clearing. They’d call the university and see what could be done. In the mean time I just had to wait while my Mum told people my results or responded to the requests for results.
I got a call a bit later that day and I was going to be accepted anyway (Praise the Lord!). In my brain this was good – once I got there I could work my backside off pass with at least a 2.2 and prove that A Levels aren’t the end of the world.
September rolled round and I went to university. On the first day of term, I met the class that I’d be with for the next three years (or two depending if you left after the two years like some did). Having only just stepped off the bus between campuses I met my first friend who would be my best friend, also called Hannah. In our class there were three Hannah’s. There was me, Hannah K and Hanna G. Everyone gained nicknames – hence why Hannah K is referred to as Kewey in most of my posts. I was so excited about going to university – I thought I’d finally feel like I fitted in somewhere and that the friends I would make would accept my quirky. Some did more than others but in the end I think they realised that my quirky was part of me and it wasn’t going anywhere!
Unlike a lot of the class I lived off campus at home with my parents as they were less than ten minutes from the local campus and it was a bus ride to the other campus. On the first day I didn’t know whether or not I could park my car at the campus and also why pay for a bus to town if the university bus would take me for free. I stood at the bus stop with my headphones in – I wanted to blend in at least for a little while and not really talk to anyone until I found my place. I was terrified that people wouldn’t like me for who I was and that I’d still not fit in. I got onto the bus and sat at the back where I thought I’d be out of the way.
A Physical Education (PE) student sat down and started talking to me. It would have been rude for me to ignore her so I took out my headphones and we chatted most of the way – actually looking back, I think she did the talking and I nodded, smiled and responded when required.
I think my butterflies were creeping up my throat and heading for my tongue! What if I said something dorky and that was it she stopped talking to me, the bus trip wasn’t that far but the tension would have been too great. Everybody on the bus were so excited that university was starting. I was scared and worried.
We talked about which courses we were in and where we were from. I remember very little about that conversation now, but that PE student started a massive chain of events. If I could do a Marty McFly and go back and tell her how much she’d change my life for the better, I don’t think she’d believe me.
We arrived at the bus stop and headed for the exit. I knew roughly where I was going, having studied the campus map sent in my new student pack. I heard my name being shouted so I turned round. There was the PE student again.
“Hey I think this girl is on your course,” she said, introducing me to a tall brunette girl who looked about as nervous as I felt. “Maybe you’re heading to the same place?”
“Erm, cool. Hi,” I spit out. We chatted as we headed towards the Dance Studio.
We didn’t hit it off straight away but I put that down to the nerves and generally not wanting to upset or annoy anyone to start with. Now she’s one of my best friends. Clearly, we were meant to be friends. We’ve had our rough patches like some friends, too, but we’ve also been there for each other in the good and bad times. I am so excited that Kewey is still part of my life.
Work wise, I buckled down to get on with work and decided that if I got at least a 2.2 for my assessments then I was on a good path. I managed to score a first on one assignment but that was a multiple choice quiz about theatre law so I’m not entirely sure that it counts. In the end I left univeristy with a 2.2, I was kind of gutted as I was about 4 marks away from a 2.1 but I got a pass which was the main thing.
