A busy September

Following on from what was probably the best month of my life so far, enjoying the splendid festivities going on up in Edinburgh (the last time I’ll mention it on here – promise!... okay, well maybe not!), I was fully expecting the classic ‘post-show blues’, ever the nemesis of a performer in the form of the indisputable fact that a show is over and won’t return, to hit, and hit hard.

But in keeping with what has been a frantic but wholly memorable summer, I simply haven’t had the time to even think about it!

September opened in a whirlwind of activity as I found myself beginning to look at material for my proposed Third Year Project, the Electronics and Computer Science equivalent of a dissertation. Much like Edinburgh, this blog post is most definitely not the last time I’ll be mentioning it this year, as with a grand total of 10000 words to write at the same time as producing a fully functioning ‘artefact’ (in my case, an automatic show filming-and-editing autonomous agent) and then demonstrating it at an end-of-year ‘Project Viva’, I’ve got quite the prospective workload on my plate!

As the youngest of four siblings, I’ve seen my brothers and sister go through it all and come out with great success, so no pressure, then! Like GCSEs, A Levels and moving out of home and into Uni, it’s always one of those things you witness people around you undertaking, but never imagine will ever get round to happening for you, so it’ll probably be a shock when it finally does. Unfortunately, this philosophy doesn’t quite apply to assignment deadlines!

After a few days of using this research largely as an excuse to catch up on the sleep lost in Scotland (at the Edinbur- agh!), I was whisked back down to Southampton to participate in the recent Open Days in a similar manner to those which took place in July, taking part in the Pro Vice-Chancellor’s talks on the Nuffield stage on the themes of our stories in the city and our goals and ambitions for the future.

We were joined by fellow Life at Southampton blogger Jo again, who was as articulate and inspirational as ever, as well as Biology student Sophie Watts and Mechanical Engineering student Harry Morley, both of whose experiences were not only astounding in their own right, but also vastly numerous – I have no idea how they’ve managed to find the time to do it all, let alone the great deal of skill! Through having this opportunity to talk to visitors on the day about just how much the University of Southampton has offered us since we joined, we all had a superb time and received a salient reminder of how fortunate we’ve all been to attend such a great institution and be part of a brilliant set of people – and how much we’ll miss it all when, at our various stages, we’ll have to depart!

After the talks, we took the chance to make full use of the free photo booth outside! 

(Credit: University of Southampton Law School)

And that time may come quicker than I imagined, as, following a quick train journey back home to the North-West, the milestones came thick and fast within the space of my final week before returning to Southampton for the semester, so much so I began to feel very old indeed! First up was the chance to celebrate my sister’s birthday, and although it was a low-key affair as she was, at the time, in academic lockdown putting the finishing touches to her own Masters’ dissertation, the family had a great time together on a relaxed day, and we made sure she was well set up for a celebration when everything was handed in a week later!

This was quickly succeeded by a spontaneous day trip to the theme park Alton Towers with some friends from home, if only because we all wanted to give its new roller-coaster a try (it was epic!), and then the chance to meet up with my aunt and uncle from New Zealand and spend some time out, including a delicious meal out in a swanky venue, with them.

Hoping to take advantage of the early return dates for schools as well as the warm weather, we made an impromptu journey to our favourite theme park!

This is actually my favourite of all the rides there – though you might not have guessed it from this photo!

To put the cherry on a hectic but hugely enjoyable week, it ended with my 21^st birthday and a couple of celebrations of entering the world of adulthood (if only in age!), including another meal out and a meet-up or two with long-unseen friends, during which we went bowling and had a curry (not to mention a few drinks!) – a fantastic time was had by all, and it was a fairly quiet and chilled celebration to accompany the grey hairs I found in the morning!

Another year older... but probably none the wiser!

Finally, it was back down to Southampton for a third and final time this summer to kick off rehearsals for Theatre Group’s next show, Peter Shaffer’s Equus, as one of its co-directors. Having put a great deal of time into trying to think through every aspect and plan as much as possible in advance (for once!), it’s mildly terrifying to think that the show opens in just under five weeks’ time, a relatively short timescale for a show of such magnitude.

But both of us directors are very excited by the promise of the early work that everyone has put in so far, a testament to the dedication and sheer levels of talent that the actors and actresses here possess, and we’ve enjoyed working on the play by ‘blocking’ scenes, building characters and, most of all, taking part in and running the warm-up games – including incorporating dance routines from YouTube as physical warm-ups! We can’t wait to see the final product of the rehearsals – it should be spectacular!

Of course, it’s not all about hard work, and, as we reasoned as a production team, what better way is there to encourage strong inter-cast team building than by unleashing our inner warriors at Southampton’s “Sector 7” arena for some extremely competitive (if sweaty!) and exhilarating laser tag? Although the scoreboard didn’t end up quite as flattering as the green team I was on might’ve hoped, we all left feeling quite drained by the experience, suggesting the evening was well-enjoyed!

And to cap a busy month, the Theatre Group committee have been making preparations for welcoming freshers into the society, including manning a stall at the recent Students’ Union ‘Bunfight’ where all student groups are offered a post from which to recruit new members! Although it was a long day, the atmosphere and excitement generated by the occasion made it tremendous fun for all involved, and with over three times as many sign-ups as last year, we’re already wondering just how we’re going to fit all those people into the room should they opt to come along to our first meeting of the year!

So with the new academic year starting in just a few days and a flurry of activity having taken place, it’s been a summer, and September, to remember! As Jo rightly pointed out in her final blog post, time flies when you’re having fun, and although it seems strange to think that I’ve been lucky enough to publish my writing on here for a year and a half, alongside her stimulating articles and those of the vivacious Flo and adventurous Rohit, and that I’m the last of the original blog team, it’s just further proof that things in the student world really don’t stand still. I wish them every luck in the future and it’s been a real joy getting to know them all, just as I’m sure it will be with the new Life at Southampton writers – and the incoming freshers to the University to boot!

It’s safe to say that, being back at University, things are as busy as ever, but I wouldn’t have it any other way! Now, what was I saying about catching up on sleep...

Robin