Start of Student Life...
It's officially been a month since I moved into my uni accommodation in Edinburgh! I didn't think moving would be as hard as it actually was. I was so excited to move, to be able to gain more independence, and I was eager to start my journalism course, but for the first few weeks, I found it hard being away from the only thing I really knew, which was home.
Moving day came, on the 2nd of September, and with the car jam-packed with all of my things, Mum, David and I set off for Edinburgh. A wave of different emotions hit me, excitement, curiosity and the fear of the unknown. To be honest, I think we were all feeling like that!!
After unpacking and making my flat quite homely, it was time to say goodbye - even though I was coming back home two days later - there were still tears when my Mum left. It was hard leaving her and walking back up to the flat myself, as even though I am used to my Mum going away for a few days at a time, it was me going away this time.
I share a flat with five others; they are from Bishopbriggs, Dunfermline, Cupar, Kirriemuir and Kelso. They are all so lovely! We are all so lucky as we all get along so well, which is fantastic. Unfortunately, being the baby of the flat and the only one still 17, I haven't been able to go out to the clubs with them. Still, not going out and staying in Bainfield instead, I have met so many great people who stay here as well. I am also getting to meet people on my course, and it turns out one girl that I am friendly with stays literally two minutes round the road from me, which is so funny. It's a small world, after all.
Although there have been highs, there have also been a few lows. One night I was so homesick, bearing in mind I only went back to Edinburgh that morning. I ran from my flat to the train station at Haymarket at 8;30pm to get the train back to Uddingston. I got there just in time for the train leaving. I was so out of breathe, and I was phoning my Mum, crying down the phone because all I wanted to do was come home. One lady on the train had asked if I was okay because I was crying so much, which was embarrassing. Still, it made me feel safe knowing that someone cared, and her asking and smiling at me made me feel a lot better. But, when I came back home, there was a sense of relief, not only for being back in my own bed but to be back with Mum and David.
To be quite honest with you, I have been home a lot more than I have stayed at the flat, from being homesick to physically sick, as I gave myself food poisoning. It has only been this week where I have actually felt at home in the flat. Longest I've actually stayed in the flat as well! This week has been fab as I have had my Gran and Papa visit the flat for the first time; I went bowling with some of my flatmates, where I came second, and I even
got a STRIKE! Then we went to laser tag another night, where I was second last in every game, but that was because I was just hiding in a corner the whole time, really. Going out and doing things this last week has really kept my mind occupied and has made me less homesick as well.
Due to COVID, we are still doing online learning. Basically, we get to go to the uni one day a week for about two and a half hours. I think that this has also been a factor to why it has been hard for me to settle in, as when you are stuck looking at the same four walls for most of the day just made me think that I would be better off at home, and really made me question if I would just be better off moving back to Uddingston and travelling into Edinburgh when I needed to.
Before I moved to Edinburgh, I knew that I would need a job because I love working, and I need the money to keep up with my shopping addiction. So I handed my CV into shops in and around the area of Edinburgh where my flat is, and I was actuated offered two jobs. One in a children's shoe shop and the other in a clothes shop. So I took the job in the shoe shop, and after two shifts, I realised the job wasn't for me, but again I was still so grateful for the opportunity.
But on one of my visits back to Uddingston, I went back to Prepare2Party to see my old boss, where she offered me my old job back, and of course, I said YES! I was so happy, and I felt a sigh of relief as well. Also, my family could instantly see I was so much happier, knowing that I was going back to doing something that I love and missed so much. I was only away for a month! It also means that I know that I will be home on a Thursday night, work on a Friday, have the weekend with my family and then back to Edinburgh on a Monday. In the words of Hannah Montana, I now have "the best of both worlds".