#51 Home

Greetings from Dartford... yes, I'm back in sunny Kent after finishing my first year of university. After a long journey yesterday, everything is finally unpacked from the car, the box room is looking more like my bedroom again (rather than a cupboard), and I've got over the shock of being able to get some breakfast after 09:15.

It still hasn't really sunk in that I've completed a third of my university career, and it's strange to think of most of the people I know still revising for exams and enjoying college dining. This makes writing a look back over the last few months a little more challenging, but it does mean you're spared all the emotional gubbins.

First and foremost I should make clear that I've really enjoyed my first year of student life. Since moving to Sheffield, I've met some really fantastic people who I hope I'll keep in touch with; I've learnt a lot of things, not just in lectures but from being with people from all around the UK and the world. I used to think I was up on my knowledge of life outside Kent -- I watched Byker Grove, for goodness sake -- but I never clocked that life is at once totally different and remarkably similar.

I've done things that I would (and could) never have done if I hadn't gone to Sheffield: from football games and music concerts to picnics in the Dales and paternosters, I've got no regrets. Plus, the madcap memories: drunken running races, people throwing kettles full of water at other people, getting far too excited at the sight of ducks and squirrels, offending seminarers, teaching nursery rhymes to Cypriots... hopefully next year will be more of the same.

Favourite Sheffield sighting:
Walking past the newsagents in half term, and there's a group of kids outside. One jumps down off the wall he was sitting on, walks towards the shop, then -- remembering something important -- suddenly stops and spins around again. "What were they called again?" he asks his mates: "Old Holborn" comes the exasperated reply.

This time last year, I was still going through my A-levels and had absolutely no idea what I could expect in the next twelve months. This year I've just completed my first year exams, with a slightly nervous wait to find out if I'll be allowed back in next year but with an even greater sense of wonder at what next year -- more independent than ever, living in a house -- will be like.

To everyone who helped make uni life so enjoyable, thanks very much: I hope all your exams have gone OK, and I hope you have a fantastic summer. I'll see most of you next year, back in the city of seven hills... bring on the barbecues, house parties and informal gatherings!