Anthony Lawrence…

With the first (and only) term of semester 1 quickly drawing to a close, I figured it was about time to post another blog entry giving a good insight into what’s been going during the course of the past 12 weeks.

This first term at university has been extremely enjoyable.  I’ve met countless numbers of friends; learnt many new things; been to a vast array of different events; and much more.

Many people think University life is all about the work.  They think you get up, get dressed and have cereal; then start your work at 0900 (whether it be in the form of a lecture of self-study) going right the way through the day until 1800 in which your “official” work period ends.  They also believe that after the “official” period ends, the “homework” period begins in which you should review what you’ve done during your day and revise and learn what you’ve been taught.  Sadly, they are greatly mistake, misinformed and misguided.  University is all about meeting new people, doing new things, going to new places whilst learning a thing or two along the way.  All in all, it’s a crucial life experience that gives many people their first real “taste” of living on their own.  It is still entirely possible to come to University, attend all your lectures, complete all assignments and go over what you learnt in your lecture (all in the course of a day) whilst still having a good time and keeping time for yourself.  Those that believe working solid for the duration of you day, will quickly realise that they burn themselves out.

So, what have I been up to over the past 12 weeks? Let’s start from the begining.  NB: For those that haven’t read the “Fresh and Free” entry found here, I’d highly recommend it since events that took place in fresher’s fortnight are not covered here.

Zane Lowe, October 6th 2009 @ Oceana – Zane Lowe (aka ) was in town performing a set at Oceana.  The set started quite late however was extremely enjoyable.  This event was the first time we (as a flat) didn’t all go out together.  Since this event was quite a while back, I can’t remember anything specifically interesting to mention, therefore I’ll leave it at that.

Carnage #1, October 19th 2009 @ Swansea – Carnage arrived in Swansea!  5 clubs/pubs throughout the night from 1900! Lots of drink, madness and, well, Carnage! This night was one not to be missed (and anyone that did miss it, seriously regretted it the day after when they heard how good it actually was).  In addition to the general carnage event, myself and my flatmates managed to aquire VIP wristbands permitting us to Queue jump and access the VIP area in Play – ah, the luxuries of being a minor celebrity; I wish!

Halloween, October 31st 2009 @ Swansea – This day started with me and my flatmates heading into town to attempt to find something to wear as a fancy dress costume.  Alas we couldn’t find any “ready-made” costumes so decided to make our own – we went as scarecrows.  The evening then started on Floor 1 of Langland with a round (or two) of Ring-of-Fire before hitting town.

My Birthday, November 3rd 2009 @ Swansea – Since this day is a rather special one, it has been given it’s own blog entry here.

Beer Race, November 17th 2009 @ Swansea – The Beer Race is a charity event in which teams are to complete a ‘pub crawl’ in the quickest time possible.  The event kicked off at 1830 and ran throughout the night.  I wasn’t, this time around, participating.  Instead I helped steward the event and ensure all the rather drunk students were heading in the right direction and not drowning in the fountain!

Mr Hudson, November 24th 2009 @ Oceana – The well known artist of “White Lies” and “Supernova” was in Swansea’s Oceana for the night.  This was by far one of the best events so far and was extremely enjoyable.  There was the added comedy factor since one of my flatmates managed to touch Mr Hudson’s hand, hyperventillated and then fainted in a heap on the floor! Ah the joys of being young.

Ireland, December 4th – 6th 2009 @ Dublin – This event was rather ’special’ and not a general night out.  It therefore has it’s own blog entry here.

Christmas Ball, December 7th 2009 @ Oceana – This was the last ‘large’ event during term time for University, and it was a very good one at that!  This was far from a ‘bog standard’ event, however.  On arrival (before 2000) it was red carpet treatment with a free glass of champagne.  In the Bar Quarter, there were various casino tables.  As well as a Jaggermeister Grotto and other attractions, this was definately up there with one of the best nights out in Uni!

So, overall, this term has been amazing.  Obviously, amongst all the partying I’ve been studying hard whilst ensuring University remains enjoyable, fun and exciting.

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With the first week of fresher’s being over, lectures started.  This seemed like a daunting task.. juggling lectures and partying; is this even possible?  I guess it’s something I’d need to make possible if I was to successfully make it to Christmas without crashing and burning from either a sheer overload of knowledge of a complete and utter breakdown from lack of energy.

Fresher’s fortnight was extremely enjoyable – with Tooters, Glow, Fresh and Free, Tony Lee, The Safer Sex Ball, Freshbook, Skool Disco and the fresher’s ball.

Tooters – this is a weekly thing on a friday night.  It’s held in the University nightclub (Divas / DV8) and is £2, 2 drinks for £2 and strangely enough finishes at 2am!

Glow – this is also another weekly thing on a saturday night.  Basically there is a new theme every week (for example, this week it’s a ‘toga’ theme).  It consists of people turning up dressed in weird costumes getting drunk whilst glowing under the UV lights and waving glow sticks in the air!

Fresh and Free – this was the first ‘real’ night in which you could meet people.  Everyone had a specific coloured top (relating to where you are living for that accademic year – because of this, this was a fresher’s only event) and ended up in the fresher’s marquee.  The idea; to meet people!  Given that everyone had their own ‘house’s’ tee on, it made it very easy to meet people from your building.  I’m currently living in Langland, which sported yellow tees on this occasion.

Tony Lee – this was possibly one of the funniest nights of the year, let alone fresher’s!  Tony Lee is an “adult” hypnotist.  His show starts with him attempting to ‘control’ everybody and force you to keep your hands stuck together.   If after the few simple tasks he asks you all to perform, you can’t move your fingers apart; you are one of his lucky volunteers!  When on stage you’ll be dancing around, stripping, thinking you’re orgasming, imagining you’re hitting on your infanct school teacher and generally acting like a complete and utter prat!  Thankfully though, I wasn’t picked.

The Safer Sex Ball – now, I don’t really understand this event.  I don’t understand the name; the concept or the dress code (to some degree).  Nonetheless, it was a good night out; made even more amusing by some of the costumes that were being shown off by certain individuals.

Freshbook – for thos that haven’t quite twigged yet; this is a piss take on “Facebook”… get it now?  Basically, everyone wears a t-shirt with the options “Single”, “In a relationship” and “It’s complicated” on the front; along with “What’s on your mind?” on your back.  The idea; it’s simple!  You tick the relevant relationship status and write what’s on your mind.  How much simpler can you get?  This was an enjoyable night!

Skool Disco – so after spending 2 hours in town drinking coffee and deciding what to wear for this event, I actually settled on a plain white shirt and a stereo-typical school boy tie (stripped dark and light blue).  Everyone I encountered during that evening was dressed up; and all very “similar” too.  Whilst everyone’s personal flair varied from person to person; everyone did look like they were all from the same school!  This event was held at Oceana; at which Basement Jaxx played the same evening!

Fresher’s Ball – this was the official finalé to fresher’s fortnight.  This event was held in the fresher’s marquee and stared VV Brown, Greg James and Dr Karl.  Overall this was a really enjoyable event and was another chance to meet other fresher’s and get to know those that you’re living with (when they’re a bit more ‘talkative’ due to the alcohol) as well as those you’re possibly going to be in lectures with.

Week 2 started with a full frontal blow of lectures.  First thing Monday morning and all of the computer science students are crammed into a lecture room being assigned ‘buddies’.  There are more interesting things I can think of doing at 10 o’clock on a monday morning (such as sleeping and eating)!  After which we were promptly escored to our campus bar by our buddy, who then proceeded to kick our backsides our pool!  Soon after our defeat we were carted back to a lecture theatre for yet another talk! When was I going to be able to sleep or eat?!

With Monday out of the way, I figured things could only get easier! How wrong I was!  By Tuesday I was already feeling pretty tired from not sleeping very much (late nights, early mornings) and it wasn’t going to get any easier.  Wednesday night I had a 9 o’clock lecture and neglected to realise that an early night would’ve been beneficial to me.  With only 5 hours sleep, I was on my way to my 9 o’clock lecture half asleep!  As the week went on, it began to get easier – the whole ‘partying and studying’ thing seemed to make more sense afterall!  By the weekend, though, the lie-ins were much appreciated and full advantage was taken of them.

So, that’s a brief overview of my fresher’s fortnight.  This isn’t much of a blog post in terms of giving ‘cold hard facts’ about what I’ve been up to, but should give those of you that do read my blog, a look into what I’ve been up to so far!

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t’s 0645 and the alarm begins to ring – I do my usual thing of slamming the snooze button into the alarm with an almighty force before curling back up into my douvet and nodding back off.  Today is the start of a new chapter in my life; a large one at that.  Today is the day that I move to university and move away from home for the first time.

It barely feels like yesterday when I was sat in one of the college computer rooms with my (then) new tutor, Ann, writing the start to my personal statement. Between starting my personal statement and today, I’ve completed my UCAS application, awaited responses, visited open and induction days for the courses I applied for, chosen my firm and insurance choices, applied for my accomodation, and had about 6 weeks worth of food purchased for me.  Today, that all serves it’s purpose.

I eventually get up out of bed at around 0720 (having said we’ll set off for the University at 0730) and stumble downstairs to get some toast and a drink.  Barry is finishing loading my computer and my other electrical items into the car and running out of space, whilst my mum is preparing the food they’ll need for the journey up and their first night in Swansea – my family had planned to stay the weekend in Swansea so that the 10 hour round trip wasn’t too much.  It was now approaching 0745 and Barry was struggling to fit everything in the car; so “tools down” until my grandparents arrived!  Once they had arrived the last few boxes were packed into the car and off we set!  At this point, I put my iPod in, my head back and went to sleep… Goodbye Newquay, see you in 10 weeks!

It’s now just gone 1300 and we’re 1 mile from Swansea.  Just looking around us we could see many other cars packed to the brim with boxes, clothes, bikes, pcs, food and anything else they could fit in, all seemingly heading to University.  Eventually we arrive at the gates along with a few hundred other cars; we patiently wait our turn to get through the barriers and then find a parking space next to my residences.

Whilst mum and barry park up, I hopped out and headed over to the key collection tent to pick up my keys, receive a freshers bag and have an insurance company try and take me for every penny I’ve got; needless to say, they only managed to squeeze £29 out of me!  After collecting my keys, it was back to the car I went – we only had 60 minutes to unload, we needed to make it count!

Barry and I take the first boxes up to my room, with my mum and nan in tow.  I’m one of the first people arriving at my flat so the place is fairly empty and extremely quiet.  Into my room we go and both mum and nan set to work unpacking boxes (not that I’ll find anything once they’ve “put it up somewhere safe”).  The unloading takes around 45 minutes however the unpacking was going to take me far, far longer.  I said my goodbyes to my family and kicked them out of my room whilst I finished unpacking and awaited the rest of my flatmates.

Whilst unpacking I could hear the dim sound of the student radio playing from the key collection tent, I could see students transporting things back and forth between their car and their rooms and parents looking around their kid’s room and attempting to unpack as much as they could.  I was soon done with my unpacking and at that point I heard the sounds of the cupboard doors in the kitchen opening and closing – I went to investigate and meet whoever it was that had just arrived!

After meeting the first 4 flatmates (and Andy, our “Virtual Flatmate” that doesn’t live here but spends everyday here), I returned to my room to shower and get ready for the evenings fun and games.  By the time I’d finished getting ready it was getting on 1900 and everyone was gathering in the kitchen for some pre-drinks.  After finishing half of the beer fridge, we set out to the Universit’s nightclub (DV8 / Divas) to continue the party.

So, that was the big day.. over and done with.  I did it – I successfully “crossed the border” and am now living on campus.

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