As of this week, I’ll no longer be a Hampshire resident, and as of 14th July, I’ll be a fully-fledged graduate of the University of Southampton. Scary, yet encouraging stuff.
I started my time here in September 2013, and over the past three years I’ve encountered a lot, and all supposedly for a shiny piece of paper and the ability to put a few extra letters at the end of my name.
Well, that’s what a lot of people see a degree as anyway, but weirdly enough, not me. Not anymore.
Going to University just feels like the next logical step for a lot of people, especially those who find themselves powered by education and academia from a young age. It’s only when you get here that you realise that it’s so much more than simply just another qualification.
There’s a fairly standard psychological understanding amongst a great deal of the general public (which may be in actuality, very wrong, so apologies in advance if it is) that as a human being, you learn and experience more new things in the first five years of your life than you do over the entirety of the rest of it. In the grand scheme of adult life, university is essentially this early learning period.
Freshers week era Ben, pre-beard and so full of energy. A lot has changed!
When first moving in to Montefiore halls in Freshers week 2013, I barely knew how to cook, clean or even simply just manage my own time. Within weeks I was quite the opposite. Within months I was even, dare I say it, more comfortable in my new life than my old one. Now I can very happily state that within years, it’s been the biggest positive change in my life to date.
It wasn’t just about waking up every morning and doing the bare minimum either. Once you have basic survival down (usually in a matter of hours/days), life at university becomes just as much about embracing every opportunity given to you. It’s a hotbed of activity, and your mission (should you choose to accept it) is to ride every wave possible.
In the last three years I’ve had articles published online and in print magazines for several different publications. I’ve launched original TV and radio shows alongside friends. I’ve made films, interviewed Hollywood superstars, created my very own annual student film festival and even managed to spend a week standing in the background whilst some insanely talented and important people shot scenes for the latest Mission: Impossible.
That’s not forgetting the crazy-amount of lifelong friendships I’ve formed whilst studying here, or the First Class Honours degree I’ll be walking away with either.
My heartfelt farewell to Avenue Campus was soewhat obscured by scaffolding, but I guess the sentiment remains
My life at Southampton has been irreplaceable, and I honestly couldn’t imagine a better way to spend three years. Obviously though, as I feel that I must point out in almost every single one of these blog posts; this won’t be the same for everybody.
Over the past year I’ve enjoyed sharing my university experiences with each and every one of you. Blogging has kept me sane during deadlines and helped to put a whole bunch of big-picture things into perspective, but I am fully aware that I am just one person, leading one particular path.
To quote a very famous wizard from a very famous trilogy, ‘All you have to decide is what to do with the time that is given to you”. If you’re an explorer, explore. If you’re not, you really don’t have to. University is one of the first times you can really just embrace your personality: just be you, whoever that might be.
A degree is not just a piece of paper, it’s an induction into adult life, and it’s entirely what you make of it.
Now, before I start rambling on even more, I should probably just save us all a bit of hassle and be on my merry way. Southampton, it’s been an absolute pleasure. I guess it’s finally time to turn and face the strange.
So long, and thanks for all the fun.
Ben
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