Looking back on first year: A sea of opportunities (part one)

So hopefully over the previous four posts I’ve given you a few handy anecdotes, pointers and reflections on my own personal experiences during First Year, but what did I actually DO with my time? The simple answer is: enjoy University!

I’ve already written about the vast plethora of activities you can throw yourself into, but what perhaps isn’t clear until you’re a part of them is just how much time they can eat up. I can’t recall a single week during the year where the days blurred together (well, okay, maybe exam periods!); nigh on every single day brought new opportunities, new experiences and, frequently, new people. I found sitting still to be a rarity this year – and don’t even get me started on sleep patterns and body clocks. I’ve developed the ability to fall asleep at any time under any circumstances, which isn’t such a bad skill to have sometimes!

So rather than try and write about each event individually, a task I probably wouldn’t finish before the end of next year, I’m going to try and remember as much as possible – I certainly won’t be able to recall all of it (for various reasons)! – and present them below chronologically. Southampton really is a sea of opportunities!

September:

- Moved into Montefiore 4 halls of residence.
- Attended Freshers’ Welcome Party, meeting a massive number of people I’ve not seen since.
- Cooked for myself, did laundry, and shopped for myself for the first time.
- Attended the Students’ Union (SUSU) Bunfight and Freshers’ Fayre – the latter providing me with a lunch of popcorn, candyfloss, pizza and Haribo!
- Took part in ECS’ (Electronics and Computer Science) ‘Jumpstart’ introductory programme, including enrolment, a pub quiz and an Apocalyptic Defence Plan competition – a great way to kick things off with the coursemates!
- Got the first instalment of my student loan – cha-ching!

October:

- Went along to welcoming meetings for SUSU Theatre Group (little did I know how much I’d engage with it over the year!), Showstoppers (the musical theatre society), Computer Games’ Society, ECS Society (yet more free pizza!), SuSingers choir (singing Take That’s ‘Shine’ amongst other things) and SUSUtv (the Student’s Union television station, which I also went on to do a fair bit for).
- Played Dodgeball at the introductory sessions – sadly, as it turns out, Vince Vaughn I am not!
- Started my course, completing my first assignment (81% – decent!) and getting used to the lecture style. In particular, wrote my first object-oriented programs in Java.
- Met an uncountable number of new, friendly and welcoming faces at events including ‘Wonderland’ and the Freshers’ Ball.
- Got to grips with the surrounding areas, both on nights out with the societies mentioned above, and through some good old fashioned exploration (the Uni-Link bus system is fantastic for this too!).
- Successfully auditioned for the Theatre Group’s Freshers’ Play, You Can’t Take it With You – henceforth referred to as YCTIWY for obvious reasons! - a zany 1930s comedy in which I got to play the uptight Mr Kirby, a real privilege. The early cast bonding sessions will live long in my memory.
- Got out the fancy dress for a Halloween/flatmate birthday party to remember!
- Went live on SUSUtv, one night mummifying a complete stranger in a competition against Cardiff’s equivalent station, then another acting as a stream mixer (changing between the feeds from the various participating stations) in the epic nationwide broadcast that was FreshersTV 2011!

“Why so serious?” (Because I had to take that makeup off very late into the evening, that’s why!)

The gallery for FreshersTV – the couple of days I spent there certainly boosted my appreciation of how much time and effort goes into live broadcasting!

November:

- Continued rehearsing for YCTIWY by learning lines, blocking and characterisation techniques – for example, I went to ‘marriage counselling’ with my on-stage estranged wife, which wasn’t helped by the chauvinistic nature of my character!
- Acted for a SUSUtv production, The Committee (coming soon!) - there’s nothing that can make you quite so self-conscious as a close-up shot!
- Took part in a flash mob pillow fight outside the SUSU building. Why? Well, why not?!
- Tried out for Southampton’s University Challenge team; the questions were just as hard as on the TV show, which was reflected in my pretty awful score.
- Played laser tag with SUSUtv – the lime green shirts gave some people away, unfortunately!
- Made all the coursework deadlines, although because assignments were electronically submitted, a couple of pieces were handed in with literally last-minute alterations!

December:

- YCTIWY Production week: a tech rehearsal, a dress rehearsal and then four performances to be proud of! It was the highlight of my University career so far, and it was a personal success too, with a mention in the student press’ review. Next year’s Freshers’ play, Shakespeare’s A Comedy of Errors, is being directed by some of the YCTIWY cast, and they’re brilliant; I really recommend giving auditioning a go. YCTIWY went from strength to strength and grew into something the diverse cast, crew and directors could all be hugely proud of, as well as generating some firm friendships with wonderful people.
- Managed to somehow balance all of the above with three imminent coursework deadlines.
- Went house-hunting with the flatmates and found a great property which we’re looking forward to moving into next year.
- Enjoyed Theatre Group and SUSUtv Christmas meals, an appropriate excuse to have loads to eat.
- Won the ‘Santa Elections’ voting in SUSUtv’s live Christmas Broadcast in the Student Pub, playing the role of ‘Inappropriate Santa’ – don’t ask!

Well I enjoyed You Can’t Take It With You, even if Mr Kirby didn’t!

Spot the odd one out!

And that was only the first semester! There was, of course, more to come...

Robin