Summer Sunshine, Silly Names and the End of Exams!

As you'll know from my previous post I'm leaving beautiful Exeter. It's scary in itself but it's also my friends and I have realised that we haven't explored Devon properly and only have a limited time to do so! 

In that vein, I was roused from one of my many post exam naps (genuinely, it's the novelty of being able to sleep at any time that gets me) to be told that a pub lunch and country walk were on offer. How could I refuse!?

The NoBody Inn was our lunch spot, in Doddiscombsleigh, a name which caused great entertainment. Lots of people around Exeter had spoken about it as a great pub in the countryside- it has the most amazing collection of whiskies (not really my scene, but it might interest you). If anyone knows how to pronounce it then please do let me know. We ended up mumbling it a bit when trying to explain where we were. 

Feeling a little sorry for myself, I went for the ham egg and chips, but their burgers also look incredible and Katy won the ordering game with her brie tartlet and sweet potato chips. It wasn't too busy and we just basked in the early summer sunshine, enjoying our freedom! 

The friendly staff there gave us directions to Haldon Forest Park for an afternoon stroll in the sun. We promptly forgot what they said and managed (with the help of a satnav) to find it. 

It's the perfect place for families to spend a day in the sunshine, with bike hire and even Segway tours (though I personally think they're a little strange for a forest walk). It's part of the Forestry Commission and has a butterfly conservation area that we walked through. It's not challenging walking but ideal for those prone to getting lost on footpaths (like me). Also when we arrived it looked super busy, but fortunately we barely saw anyone on our walk. 

stolen from insta. Thanks Merryn! 

The best part was definitely the view over Exeter; sometimes it's easy to get caught up in the uni bubble so physically getting out of town was so refreshing. Cracking views, sunshine and of course the usual suspects made for a rather lovely day. 

Thoughts on Leaving University

Fresher's Ball- my halls corridor

As you know, I have finished university (hence the sudden reappearance of blog posts). I'm writing this from my bed in my tiny room in our, if I'm brutally honest, crappy student house. Bizarrely, despite all the stress and frustration of this year I'm feeling a bit nostalgic. So I thought I'd share it. 

When this post goes up I'll have literally just moved out of the house, only to come back for my graduation, assuming I haven't failed all my exams and then I'll be back for another year. So this post might be a bit embarrassing actually...

Hopefully not, but still I thought it was worth talking about. 

I know there are a lot of people at the other end of the university experience, trying to decide if they even want to go, so I thought I should share what I think of university as a way to provide an (totally unqualified and maybe you should ignore me, but maybe not) insight in what I have loved and hated about it. 

You will always think it's too expensive
Ok, so I was part of the first generation to pay the new fees for university. I study history, which has some of the lowest number of contact hours out of any degree. It's embarrassing when people have 20+ hours a week in labs and I have 5. Someone worked out how much each hour with a tutor cost and it was a disgusting level. Do I still think uni is worth it? Of course, but ironically enough not for the teaching. There are always exceptions of tutors that put in so much time for me, but in all honesty I have taught myself my degree. Which I'm annoyed, but also proud of. You realise pretty quickly that the lectures are only a tiny part of the whole shebang. 

19th Birthday

aaaaand my 21st! 

You will meet friends for life
This is probably one of the biggest pulls to university. Everyone says it and now at the end of my time here I can see why! Some of my closest friends I met back in first year and our friendship has gone from strength to strength. Of course, there has been drama, but it's not what has defined my experience here, thank goodness. At the end of it I remember the good and the bad, but the former far more than the latter. 

One of the more embarrassing fancy dress nights. I'm supposed to be giraffe.

You will cry. A lot. 
I'll admit, alcohol for those who drink may have something to do with this. But I have cried, from laughter as well as sadness while at uni a hell of a lot. Homesickness was the biggest culprit for a lot of my friends, but it's natural, don't let it hold you back from going away from home! I don't know why, but I became so much more comfortable with not feeling ok all the time at uni. It's important to know you can be upset, even if it's totally ridiculous. Get it out of your system and then move on. Living with close friends has certainly sorted that out- funnily enough hiding away from friends when they live in the same house as you is the clearest sign that something's wrong and friends suddenly become family. Embrace it. 

Beach holiday an hour away from uni. 

It's not all about the boys! (or girls)
So my parents met at university and they're still married over 30 years later. Exeter is known for being a marrying uni and I can say with no regrets that I have no future husband lined up right now. The boys I've met here have become some great (and sometimes idiotic) friends and that's not something to be annoyed about. A lot of my friends have fallen in love at uni, but I haven't and I am so glad that boys haven't defined these 3 years. In fact it's given me such perspective about knowing what kind of relationship I do and don't want. I must admit school just doesn't seem like the place where you learn that...

Ok, now I've been totally soppy and sound like an old lady, to conclude (as I have done in too many essays)...university has been some of my best and worst times so far and I haven't regretted a single bit of it.