I thought the best way to finish my two years of blogging would be a quick trip down memory lane, hopefully giving you an idea of why I have come to love the University so much. I came up with the idea of picking one highlight to put down for each of my four years here, which proved harder than I thought, but I think I’ve nailed it!
My Highlight of First Year: Living in halls
It’s hard to describe the experience of living in halls to someone who hasn’t done it themselves, but within a few days of arriving you soon develop a love for it. There is a great sense of community and diversity, as you begin to mingle with a variety of different people. The great thing about living together with other students is that no matter who you are, there will be always be someone who is similar to you and any worries about making friends are quickly banished.
On my first day at University I arrived at the Glen Eyre halls complex and was led to the New Terrace block. After the first day I was already attached to my room and halls, and it didn’t take long for me to join in with the traditional ‘my hall is better than yours’ debate! The people were lovely, the rooms were excellent and the ducks that used to hang out outside our block were very friendly! I have many great memories from halls, but perhaps my favourite is the invention of a sport we called Corridor Cricket – played responsibly of course!
My first day at University – the beginning of an exciting journey!
My Highlight of Second Year: Starting a band
When I think of second year, I think of the summer holiday in which I spent a lot of time in Southampton. I was originally here to work as a University tour guide during the Open Days, but it quickly became an opportunity to finally form a band! We turned the living room in my student house into a practice space and took any chance we could to crank up the volume. As fellow musicians will tell you, there’s nothing more exciting than creating and playing music together!
The Open Days themselves were also enjoyable. I was a little nervous beforehand, but I had no need to be as everyone I showed around were eager to listen and were genuinely interested in what I had to say. It was also very rewarding, especially when parents came up to you afterwards to say thank you! I hope I had the same effect that my tour guide had on me five years ago, as I can still remember him!
I think this is how all living rooms should look!
My Highlight of Third Year: The Grad Ball
Whilst my girlfriend will want me to write that “meeting her” was my highlight, I feel I should go for a more University related topic here! I think the day that stands out most from third year was the Graduation Ball, partly because I was lucky enough to win a free ticket to the event, but mainly because it was an amazing night out!
The Grad Ball was a chance to say goodbye to all the students from my year that were graduating, but it was also an opportunity to dress up smart and enjoy ourselves, with exam and coursework pressures well behind us. The night was Hollywood themed and with three different dance floors it was easy to dance all night. I remember it was starting to get light again when the event finished – morning had come! It was my favourite event of my university life!
Did I mention the Grad Ball had rides!?
My Highlight of Fourth Year: ArtSoc
My fourth and final year has been filled with many great things, including the process of completing my Master’s project, graduating and securing a graduate job, but the obvious highlight for me was joining ArtSoc, the University’s Art Society.
It took me three years to discover the perfect society for me, trying out a whole array of different things, but finally this year I joined ArtSoc and I loved every minute of it! One of the reasons I felt so at home is that it didn’t matter how good at art you were; it was all about having fun and learning some new skills. I experienced life drawing, oil painting and Modroc sculpting for the first time, all whilst making a whole new friendship group. I think out of all the things from University, I will miss ArtSoc the most!
Finger painting proved to be harder than it sounds! Nevertheless it was still great fun!
There’s one thing that all of my highlights have in common: they have all involved new friendships. I think when people talk about the ‘University Experience’ that’s what they mean. The qualifications you work towards are, of course, of great importance, but what makes university different from anything else is the friendships that you forge and the memories that you create together.
Thank you Southampton for the last four years and thank you for reading all about my life at Southampton.
James
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