There are times I hate it - like when one of the students next-door-but-one came home in the early hours after a night out and literally smashed the front door in 'cos he forgot his keys...or the piles of vomit in the town centre which mark the progress of a pub crawl...or the piles of rubbish which are dumped outside front doors at the end of the academic year.
There are times when I think it's great - as a guider I often benefited from new leaders, courtesy of ScoGui...when I'm watching the rag parade in October...and the sheer energy and variety of young people discovering real life and the town's market for the first time.
This year, I know several young folk who are Freshers - Laura (my illustrator), Ed, my nephew, Suze - and there are quite a few more who are looking to go to uni next year.
It made me reminisce about my own first year at uni - well, polytechnic as it was then - and I decided to write a few memories, in the style of Joe Brainard (used by Andrew Wille in the four elements of Creativity). Hope you don't mind me indulging...
I remember '2B or not 2B - that is the kitchen.'
I remember four piglets.
I remember my first pint of cloudy, flat Scrumpy at The Feathers.
I remember being scared of the football fans pouring through the underpass to get to the Molineux Stadium and watching them from the kitchen window.
I remember not thinking at all about how Mum and Dad must've felt, leaving me there.
I remember the black, red and yellow patchowrk duvet cover that I'd not long finished making being put on the bed: to make it feel like home.
I remember going to the Rocky Horror Show at the Grand Theatre and having to buy suspenders and stockings for the lads.
I remember being paranoid about avoiding an overdraft.
I remember thinking 'I don't need to buy all these text books'...until my first module's results came through.
I remember sobbing when my Grandpa died.
I remember making friends who are still friends.
I remember making friends with folk I've lost touch with and wondering now what they're up to.
I remember some friends who are no longer with us.
I remember eating steak and kidney pie with rice, because I was too lazy to peel potatoes.
I remember Norma, our wonderful Brummy cleaner.
I remember the wolf on my t-shirt for Wolves Poly.
I remember the four seasons postcards I picked up from a poster sale.
I remember singing along to the Eurythmics, with each of us taking a different harmony line.
I remember looking forward to a visitor from Newcastle every three weeks.
I remember...
Feel free to add your own 'I remembers'...
I remember that Flowers bitter didn't taste of flowers at all - it tasted like puke.
ReplyDeleteI remember puking a lot - but I'd rather forget that.
I remember getting tangled up whilst trying to remove my knickers and landing badly on the lino.
I remember playing pool. Like lots of pool.
I remember food raids.
I remember rice and veggies. That's what I lived on because I, too, couldn't be bothered to peel potatoes.
I remember a knight in armour clanking down the spine one Saturday morning.
I remember some poor kid jumping from Bowland Tower.
I remember Bill's Golden Nuggets and smoked salmon.
I remember munching on ProPlus as I worked on a project through the night.
Oh, I could go on forever.
I remember nothing about my uni days, because I only went there as a mature MA student MA, and the classes were all in the evening.
ReplyDeleteI remember child #1 going and me mourning for three years at her absence
I remember child #2 going, and ditto (but both were at uni for four.)
I remember child #3 going, me crying as at the end of an era, but recovering within two years and grabbing a life of my own.
I remember the moment I realised I had a functioning brain
I remember being told I could write (and a hundred pound best dissertation award) which enabled me to believe that, maybe, I actually could.
I remember living on mac n' cheese for about a month until my very gracious mother gave me a cookbook.
ReplyDeleteI remember having blue hair.
I remember my dorm room blanket being leopard print to evoke conversation.
I remember feeling like the dorm "mom" because I didn't drink, do drugs or anything else.
I remember eating a LOT of veggie lasagna from the cafeteria on my meal plan.
I remember being the roadtrip queen as I was the only one with a car!
I remember I missed you being at home.
ReplyDeleteI remember visiting you for my birthday weekend and you gave me the book of 'Oliver Twist'.
I remember your housemates eating your food from the freezer!
I remember writing to you.
I remember looking for letters from you.
I remember the black and white postcards we used to send each other (and still have somewhere in a scrap book!)
I remember looking after your mini for a year cos you couldn't afford to take it back with you!
Aw, sis! Bless you! I certainly remember looking for letters- daily!- and queueing up for ages outside a phone box with a pile of 10p's to talk to everyone at home. x
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