It's really not healthy dwelling on the past, but seeing all these Facebook statuses and photos that are both cloying and enviable has made me rather sentimental. I have only just graduated and though three years have gone by as quickly as it came, it's not like I've been completely out of it. I can still relate. In fact, just last week NatWest sent me a Graduate Discount card through the post and a letter saying that they understand that coming off of higher education will always be an opportune moment to bury some student further in debt. See?
I do miss a few things from my past life as a Classicist-in-the-making, but surprisingly, not one relates to my course or alcohol-induced blackouts (I really do believe that unless you drink a case of Jagermeister and down a whole bottle of sleeping pills, 'blackouts' will forever remain as a petty cop-out to avoid dealing with the shame of last night's antics at the local Oceana.)
So here we go.
10. Academic S&M- I don't miss the cryptic tendencies of Plato and Heraclitus, but what I do crave every now and again is that bittersweet shot of stress over something scholastic, i.e. an essay due in 12 hours or a dissertation due for May that wasn't started until April. Nothing beats the high and low of having to write 2k+ words a day, only to cut it down to half, go to sleep and then write some more knowing in the back of your mind that this thesis can either take you up a grade boundary or completely erase you from the list of graduands come July. Obviously, things work differently outside that bubble and a career is on the line, but the truth is, sometimes I can't help but feel like I would rather go through the pain of final year again over my current day job.
9. The Refillable Bank Account- Pretty self explanatory. I don't know how the student loans work now that fees have skyrocketed, but in my time, I had enough to pay everything and eat my deliciously expensive cake. There were days when having to scrape the barrel and loading up on Asda Basics became a necessity but at the end of the day, there was always a promise of another payout by the start of the next term. NARS make-up? Not yet..but in two weeks, go for it! Posh dinner dates with my beard? Check!- but only after I've confirmed at 3am that the money has gone through via my bank's app. All of this and without having to work 8 hour days in retail, although the option was there for the more resilient and insatiable (or sometimes, actually the ones who need a job). I never thought I could handle a part-time job while studying so I relied heavily on my loan and the occasional phone call to 0800-PARENTS, and I think that's what I miss the most (I still have that number on speed dial of course) Nowadays? Gotta smile to earn that buck! It's more gratifying of course to know that hardwork pays off, but being taxed as a member of the non-student tick box? It sucks.
8. Cocktail Hour then Popina's- Admittedly, I'm not a heavy drinker, which would make me boring to some hardcore alkies at Uni. However having said that, I enjoyed the occasional (most times, well deserved) cocktail hour with my friends at Smokestack (one of the many fabulous cocktail bars in the hip gay street of Briggate). Motown tunes, young professionals and very few students? Take me there! For such a flat city, Peterborough holds no such gem of a bar nor one that plays actual feel good music so it's that aspect of the nocturnal events that I miss. The morning after, bearing in mind that I don't get hangovers, our breakfast joint was Brudenell Road's infamous Popina's where one gets hooked on the perfect cure- a real, honest to goodness English breakfast. Plus, in the spirit of Man V. Food, the cafe also offers a supersize challenge which triples the normal serving. If you can finish it, your single representative tally goes on the board. Now, THAT is an award worth chowing down for!
7. Catching Z's- Of course I miss the laissez faire tendencies of the student life! Who doesn't like taking sixteen-hour naps? I will have you know that despite my unacceptable sleep:attendance ratio, I never missed out on lessons nor lagged behind my work. How did I do that? Simple. My department recorded their lectures into podcasts! So whenever I got tired or overslept, there was always the comfort of knowing I will eventually listen to my lectures at the end of each week. This method is particularly effective and truly gratifying during the cold winter months when you are more likely to stay warm and cozy under the covers, or make snow angels down the slopes of Burley, right next to children who sled down- preparing the deadly slippery slope of doom for the next day.
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| Goo Goo Dolls @ O2 Academy |
6. The Music Scene!- How deliciously varied and deep! The music scene in Leeds in one of the best- obviously since one of the three major music festivals in the country take place in the city annually. However during the festival downtime, students have often enjoyed intimate gigs at the legendary Brudenell Social Club, scene-y concerts at the O2 Academy or the Student Union, or alternative nights at The Cockpit. I've been to all places except for the latter, watching a few artists from a couple of metres away such as 90s fave Goo Goo Dolls, Josh Radin, Lissie (before she was famous) and the folk sister-trio The Staves (again, before they got big and reached the pages of Vogue). Hell, i even dipped into a bit of South African drumming! Nowadays, I face the prospect of listening to a group of middle-aged Sex and The City wannabes hit the karaoke joints and to the boogie at Flares. The joy.
5. Friends are Family- While I missed my friends from home badly while away up North, now that I'm back South the tides have turned. Since graduating and getting on with our current agendas, I can't help but miss my Uni friends dearly. Obviously the phones are there, Skype and such, but nothing beats girlfriends and boyfriends coming over for an impromptu BBQ or sleepover just because we felt like it. Now that school is over, everyone has dissipated to various parts of the country, and though it's that big of a deal and meeting up can always be arranged- I miss the fact that for the last three years, I didn't have to synchronise diaries with Tash and Leanne, et al. I even miss the crazy Italian trio who came and swept us away with their purple spaghetti! It's a different kind of family that is really missed. *cue the tear and palm-fanning*
4. Boys.- I now live with my parents. Enough said.
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| Child Modelling, Fashion Awareness Issue; Leeds Student Volume 42, Issue 11, pg.16 |
3. Leeds Student- I may not be the next Suzy Menkes or Hamish Bowles, but writing for the award-winning Leeds Student Newspaper was definitely my Vogue moment. It was great and seeing articles and musings that I wrote printed on a student publication was definitely one of my top achievements at University- that and having to giving a little presentation in front of a very awkward group of sixth formers at the local Academy. The year I started, Eight London's Imogen Roy (@imogenroy) and Louise Donovan (@louisedonovan_) were my fashion editors and it was a fabulous encounter. I learnt a great deal on fashion writing and how to keep an eye on what would please the demographic. On my final year, Nina Keshmiri (@ninakeshmiri) took over with Louise and it was also a great dynamic. The whole team was very helpful and open (even printing a Fashion Awareness Issue after my pitch) and being a part of that was just wonderful. I got a double page feature once on Menswear Trends which I have framed somewhere in my room. If you ever saw a a very loud Asian gay parading the halls of Roger Stevens handing out copies of the paper with no shame of self-promotion? That may have been me.
2. Independence- I had my own space, I managed my life down to the penny, I made my own rules, I did what I want whenever I wanted and it was the best time of my life. CANNOT wait to do that again in the big bad world, although I have a strong feeling it's going to take a while and a great deal of hard work. The good thing is I've now had a taste of what life could be- what my lifestyle could be, sans books and essays, and so I have something to look forward to in the near future.
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| Okay, I know that's not Leeds but Ilkley was only 20 minutes away from the centre. It's practically suburbia. |
1. The City- Where do I even begin? The wonderful red-brick campus? The refreshing air of the North? The diverse and exciting fashion and music scene in Leeds? The mixture of rural and metropolitan vibes of the city? The fantastic people (minus the gang of balaclava-d youths)? The picturesque countryside right up the Yorkshire dales? They say that the years you spend at University will be the best years of your adolescent life, and it's true. I've made a second home up there where there's a Gregg's around every corner, and it's definitely comforting to know that I have a city of my own, one that I know like the back of my hand. If I could turn back time, would I go back to being myself three years ago? No. I would rather go back up with a new sense of self- fresh from the realities of life outside the student bubble, and a hefty dose of nostalgia in my pocket.
Lots of love,
Loved reading this! :)
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