Disclaimer: I've been watching a lot of Taylor Tomlinson comedy clips recently, this and the fact I have a pretty naturally sarcastic tone has led to this being quite a black-humoured, transparent bitter article. Guys, I am generally enjoying my time in Bristol, this is mainly for you to laugh at, it is just another quippy article but the content is on a major life change so maybe I come across a bit more like a sniping arsehole. (Than usual.)
Hi, everyone, and welcome to George's venting space. I have been in Bristol for 10 days now and it has been....a lot. So I thought I'd make a blog post about it and talk about the shit that's happened since I've been here, and if it speaks to you great, and if it doesn't then....probably better! Anyway I would love to hear from people to compare experiences either way so drop me a DM or text or whatever.
So the most sort of quirky thing about uni is whenever you go to places where students and teachers intermingle, you have about a 50% accuracy at guessing which is which. It literally feels like one of those TV dramas set in American high schools where all the characters are 16 but all the actors are in their mid 20s, you know? Like I look at people and I'm like....are you a teenager who's just been out clubbing the night before or a 35-year-old with a mortgage and paycheck and children? Honestly, it's kinda funny.
Classes themselves-well, I just started on Monday and honestly it wasn't much. It was more, "this is what we WILL be doing" rather than "this is what we ARE doing". My schedule for Ancient History is sooo much better than most people I know because I have lectures or seminars Monday. Thursday and Friday and the rest I am OFF. Like, is that allowed? Is my uni experience even allowed to be that easy? I only have to show up 3 days a week (if that, because most shit's available online), get 40% each module to pass this year which doesn't even count and that's IT?
But honestly I don't think that's good for me. As you may have gathered (because this blog used to just be me fact checking a history musical for several months) I'm something of a nerd (shocking, I know). So I'm pretty sure for me to function properly I need to have a regular working schedule. I know this means I'm gonna have to read a bunch of shit in my spare time, but that's not really my method of learning. I need classes to function, I don't trust myself to learn independently, even with a bunch of free time, which I have, by the way. The second problem about being an introvert with so much free time is that I have discovered I'm fucking awful at socialising.
Look, last week was fresher's week, so if you're at uni, think about how much clubbing people are doing every night. Now imagine you're in Bristol...Bristol is one of the best cities for nightlife in the entire United Kingdom. Look, I chose Bristol because I think the city is really cool, it's a really good university in terms of academic ranking, and it's one of the better ranked ones to actually have an Ancient History program. But it honestly feels like some people came here solely for the partying. If that's your thing, that's totally cool! I'm not against that....well, for me, I am. I'm fucking terrified of talking to people I don't know, let alone going out with people I've only just met. Okay, in fairness I went out clubbing with some of my flatmates on Saturday and I really enjoyed it, but I mainly think that's because they were surprised I was cool enough to.
I'm actually being really harsh on my flatmates, they all seem like really cool people (guys if you end up reading this remember I was nice to you). It's just socialising is so weirdly terrifying to me, possibly because (as a friend told me this week) I may have some kind of undiagnosed anxiety disorder, so slay! I think it's honestly telling that my reaction to them telling me they think I have some form of anxiety wasn't "oh shit, I never thought of that", but inwardly I was like "yeah I honestly kinda hope I do because that'd explain a LOT". Like I was RELIEVED at the thought that medically there might be something I need to think about. I'm not one for going around stating that I have a mental health disorder when I in fact don't have a genuine reason to, but I feel like that's something I should consider.
Okay, here are some positives. My accommodation is actually super nice, it looks cool, my room's nice, I'm in a great location being close to the city centre and a bunch of cool cafes and restaurants, it's brilliant. I'm fairly close to the campus, this city has SO MANY HILLS but I guess early morning cardio is a good thing? Nice location is the point. I have a bunch of people at Graveney who are going to Bristol, which is nice, although I don't see them that often because I don't have classes with them it's still good to know there are people here (not mentioning names).
My course is....fine. I wish it was a bit more diverse, there is a lot of ancient history that isn't Greek or Roman but that stuff should be interesting.....um....
Guys have I missed something? Like, I am fully aware of the fact that I wouldn't have chosen my degree were it not for me watching so much Horrible Histories as a kid; this fueled an interest in history and in turn ancient history and eventually I stopped using a kid's musical historical comedy sketch show as my main source of historical knowledge. But still. What do you actually think of when you think of ancient history? Like, do you not think "cool philosopher dudes, beginnings of democracy, Athens and Sparta, really cool myths that prompt Madeline Miller to retell them better:)" when you think of Greece? And do you not think "cloak and dagger Emperor shit, the Empire, wars, bunch of stabbing and George's amazing reviews of an unknown documentary series" when you think of Rome? I'm kidding about that last part I think 10 people saw my final Roman Empire review. The point is, so far it hasn't been what I expected, but maybe it'll change. Is it too late to change degree? Probably a little.
I also got a job washing dishes for £8.50 an hour at a place literally a 1 minute walk from my accommodation (not saying where obviously) which should have been great except the three trial shifts I did ended up making me miss out on a bunch of different things I might've done. This, and the fact that I apparently cannot say no to people at all, made me drop a hasty email to the guy running the restaurant after I promised to work during the week. Literally I am such a fucking mess when it comes to this kind of thing, the idea of saying 'no' to someone's face is actually terrifying to me and I don't know why. It actually could've been an easy source of income and instead it is a cautionary tale on my blog about how you should not be like me, and just be fucking honest with people. Seriously! Just say "no, I can't do this shift, I'm about to start uni, I'll do a couple when I can but I'm a new student and you really shouldn't expect that much from a person who's main source of work experience is writing shit irrelevant to bar work and doing 6 months of paper rounds when he was 14." ....So now instead of a job I have nothing to put on my work CV but a nice red flag on my personality CV; "has trouble communicating".
What I have succeeded in is getting an unpaid role as a student journalist with this website aimed at university students, but I did have to write a sample piece on student broadband deals which I have no clue about and the person in charge told me I did great, so yay! My next article has to be on the background lives of this year's Great British Bake Off contestants, which I have to say I'm looking forward to, Bake Off is one of the things keeping me sane here. Side note: guys get back into Bake Off, I feel like too many of us abandoned it after it switched to Channel 4 and Mel, Sue and Mary Berry left-I get it, I did too. Then a certain friend who shall remain nameless took me to a live taping of the spinoff An Extra Slice where I got to watch the first episode of 2022 in advance and I loved it so get back into Bake Off if you aren't into it already, we love Sandro guys he's the best. (I may do an article on Bake Off reacting to the finale or another episode at some point because guys I only get so many ideas let alone good ones.)
On that more cheerful note I think that's everything really! If you're ever in Bristol in need of a (frozen) hot chocolate and have more disposable income than is enough for me to feel sympathy for you, go to Mrs Potts in Clifton they're unbelievable if super costly. I am feeling okayish about uni, even though I'm anxious I reckon I'll get through it and I have no doubt you lot will smash it whatever you're doing, uni, gap year, A Levels again, everyone I know I have a weird amount of faith in, which means I probably should have a bit of faith in myself? IDK. But next week I'm going home to watch Chelsea get their arses handed to them against AC Milan, so I have something to...look forward to, I guess?
Good luck for this year guys, you're all incredible.
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