no roses, no frogs - a fresher's blog
no roses, no frogs; a fresher's blog.
~ * ~
Hello, everyone! I'm Jinkx Monsoon, but you can call me Sieg.
I spent way too long designing an aesthetically pleasing banner for this blog -- if you've seen my Summer Bucket List, you know I'm a real sucker for pretty visuals and banners. Cute things definitely motivate me, but they also sap a lot of time out of my day.
But Hi! I'm Sieg. I'm going to be a fresher come September. I'm scared out of my wits. I've been through everything - league table anxiety, cold feet, terrified googling, long nights laying awake doubting every decision I've ever made. But I really do think I'm going to be happy at uni. So here's hoping.
.. now, you might be wondering: Why no frogs? Why no roses? What did either roses or frogs do to you?
That's a secret.
~ * ~
Some quick-fire facts about me & my upcoming fresher's experience:
UNIVERSITY
Royal Holloway, University of London
COURSE
English and Creative Writing
OFFER
Unconditional (prev. AAB)
PREDICTED GRADES
AAA
ACHIEVED GRADES
A*AB
ACCOMMODATION
Wedderburn
ROSES / FROGS
None!
~ * ~
Thank you for reading! If you'd like to follow, I can add you to a taglist for each update. I'm really looking forward to getting to document my Freshers' experiences!
See you all soon! <3
(edited 6 years ago)
Scroll to see replies
love the banner!
Original post by hamzakalinle
love the banner!
(thank you so much!
)Here comes my first update! All aboard the freshers' hype train! Or, I mean.. the terror train. Whichever one comes into the station first. It's okay, I'll just buy my ticket from the conductor on the train.
... First off. Fear.
Honestly -- I know it's silly, but I still worry a lot about not going to a Russell Group university. I didn't apply for any RG unis, because none fit into my picky guidelines (mustn't be much further north than London, must do English and Creative Writing). But I think about my teachers in middle school, in high school, telling me one after another that I was smart enough to go to a Russell Group university. I think about my brother, who's at a RG university, and how flippant he gets about not just universities but even the type of degree you're doing. And I know that my intelligence - and the quality of my course - isn't measured only in whether my university joined an over-hyped research quality collaboration.
... I guess I just get cold feet, sometimes.
I haven't started my uni prep in terms of physical objects, yet -- though I've seen some great discussions in this forum so far. I imagine a lot of the cooking utensils, cutlery, and the like I'll be buying on moving day, so I'm not too fussed about much of that -- it's the sentimental stuff I'm going to have to wade through, and I'm a big ol' coward about leaving things behind.
To prove that I actually am EXCITED for university -- if excitement can be measured with a little bit more fear and horror -- I made a budget. (img attached below!)
Attachment not found
It's all very provisional and all a bit of a guess, honestly. My savings aren't in the equation, because I don't have a solid number for them, and I'd like to keep them well in reserve anyhow. You can also see my little reference table of off-peak singles and returns from Staines (nearest shopping town), London (London) and home, just so I know off the bat how much things are likely to be.
I'm expecting to spend much less on groceries than £50, but putting in a higher estimate means that I can prepare for the worst.
I won't be paying for my phone bill because we accidentally renewed the contract still attached to my mum as the billpayer, so she knocked off some of my parental support in order to pay for it and cutting out the middle man (me) - and I don't drink/can't stand alcohol, so those get to stay blank. (yes, I can't stand alcohol, I have an irrational fear of drunk strangers, and I work selling wine at a vineyard. Fight me.
)I think that's all I have for now. Hit me up with any thoughts, questions, or comments you have! I want to hear from anyone who's reading this little thing.
( On an unrelated note .. I'm sort of worried that my banner/blog name is a little pretentious. Honestly, I just wanted something that gave my blog a personal touch whilst still being hosted on TSR, and I really like trying out graphic design and little logos/banners like this. ;;; I hope it hasn't put anyone off! )
Good weekend, everyone!! It's me, Sieg. Your weekend forecast is of a significant lack of amphibians or florals.
So, this week I've managed to fluctuate between about fifty different levels of anxiety (from "blissed out" to "blowing out", I guess, if alliteration is your thing?) -- I've had multiple nightmares about results day despite having an unconditional offer, and my new laptop and course books have started arriving.
Let's start from the beginning.
The good stuff:
- My new laptop has arrived! It's an Acer Swift 3, and is replacing my HP Pavilion 15 from 2014 or so, which was starting to fall apart and crash every time it was lifted. Honestly, this laptop is running like an absolute dream - though the keyboard is a little noisier and shallower than my old laptop, I'm still able to type up to the same speeds as I was typing before, and it'll just be a matter of time before I get used to the positionings, etc. The battery life is brilliant, and I haven't had too many problems with it at all. Plus, it looks swanky as hell.
- I bought some of my Reading List texts from eBay (yes, I know everyone says not to buy texts and to get them from the library when you get there, but... I'm nervous, and I actually wanted to read them...) and they've started to arrive! The only one here currently is Doing English by Robert Eaglestone, but I ordered copies of The Accidental by Ali Smith as well as Room by Emma Donoghue. I've wanted my own copy of Room for ages, so the fact that it's on the spec for my course is just a bonus.
- I've earned over £300 from my summer job! If you want to know more about that, it's in my Summer Bucket List (linked in my OP!) but essentially I've been earning as much money as possible to give me a head start and some leisure at uni. Getting all of this out of the way and giving me a comfortable cushion to start off with has really put my mind at ease a little.
...and, then.
The bad stuff:
- Like a total champ, I managed to have not one nightmare about Results Day... but two.
In the same night, admittedly, but - in light of the fact that my offer is unconditional, my parents have laughed at me for it, and I can't really blame them. After all, my anxiety is more out of a) perfectionism, and b) fear of my friends not making it into university... but, still. I wish I could calm down, but on the other hand I know that if my offer wasn't unconditional I'd be practically comatose with anxiety by now. I really don't know how everyone else is coping so well. 
I keep being hit with waves of anxiety.- My brand new laptop is making worrying sounds. It's more of a nuisance, and likely just a fault with the fans, but I can't help but bemoan exactly how this had to happen to my laptop. At least it's got a year's warranty - we've already contacted Acer, and hopefully we'll have a fix or a replacement. I'm loving this little machine so far, and I guess I'm just glad that this didn't happen whilst I was actually working on anything, or away from home.
- My favourite bra is officially unwearable. Maybe this is TMI, but I'm really sad about this, legit. Old Faithful lasted over 2 years of nearly daily wear, hundreds of washes, and 2 lead roles in musicals... but it's officially puckered and warped too far out of shape to be worn underneath a shirt. Godspeed, Old Faithful. I'll be begging my mum to replace you in M&S soon.
- AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA ANXIETY. AAAAAAAAHHHHH. The feelings of cold feet have mostly subsided this week, but the CRIPPLING ANXIETY certainly hasn't! Like I said earlier, I've been plagued with nightmares, but it's the onset of tight-chested stress that really gets me. It's not so much that I can't function - this is a fairly normal state for me, my mental health has been in shambles for longer than Old Faithful provided chest support - but it's enough to be an active discomfort. The new Paramore album and dodie's new EP is helping to subdue some of the intensity, but only to an extent.
Sorry this wasn't so Freshery! Next week, I suppose, will be the real crunch; I'm opening my student bank account on Tuesday, results day is Thursday... If I make it through the week, I'll let you all know. Thank you so much for reading, and please share any thoughts or tips on the thread! I'd definitely welcome them - I am a bundle of pure anxiety.
Well, tonight's the night. No fancy banners tonight, because I'm typing all this from my phone, and my laptop is in the post back to Derbyshire for a full refund... I've already lost this post once (thanks, TSR app!) so this is my second attempt at putting my thoughts on Results Day into perspective.
I really don't know if I'll be sleeping tonight. It's silly, yes, but I just know the moment I put my head to my pillow my anxiety will go from simmering to cacophonous. To get to college for just after 8, I have to be out of the house by 6:30.... such is the wonder of a ridiculous commute. But sleep hasn't caught up with me yet, and for now I'm wondering if it actually will.
I know it's silly to be so anxious when I have an unconditional. I //know//.
But my desire for high grades runs deeper than my university offers. I've been basing my self worth on my grades for as long as I can remember; my parents relay stories of how I was told off for trying joined up handwriting a year before we were meant to be taught it, how I spent most of Year One with Year Two and was everything but formally moved up a year for nine months, how I got the third highest grade in my school on my SATS. How I got a little trophy at the end of primary for being "the most consistent high flyer". How I got the fourth highest grades in my year on my GCSEs. I've grown up with my name with stars next to it on the register for each Gifted and Talented subject label I was given. I was "the smart child."
This isn't meant to be a brag. It really isn't. If anything it terrifies me far more than I know how to quantify. This has been what I've based my life on since I was four. What do I do if I show up to college tomorrow morning, head held high, and I'm handed my grades... and I have 13 years of high flying and expectations behind me, as I learn that all these achievements have added up to mean nothing in the face of three C's at A-level. Or a B and two D's.
... honestly, anything below BBB would disappoint me. I won't lie to you.
My brother worked harder than me for his exams, and he got ABCC. I know how upset he was that he didn't get into his firm. I feel guilty in a way for not having the same stresses put on me. But I would be equally devastated if I didn't get the grades that corresponded to what I feel I could get. Not because of my offer - I'm lucky in that separation, in a way a lot of people aren't - but because of my sense of identity and self that I have learned to derive from my grades over the years.
.... This got deep fast.
Good luck with your grades, everyone. I have so much faith in everyone here. Fingers crossed for me and for you. ❤️
I really don't know if I'll be sleeping tonight.
It's silly, yes, but I just know the moment I put my head to my pillow my anxiety will go from simmering to cacophonous. To get to college for just after 8, I have to be out of the house by 6:30.... such is the wonder of a ridiculous commute. But sleep hasn't caught up with me yet, and for now I'm wondering if it actually will.I know it's silly to be so anxious when I have an unconditional. I //know//.
But my desire for high grades runs deeper than my university offers. I've been basing my self worth on my grades for as long as I can remember; my parents relay stories of how I was told off for trying joined up handwriting a year before we were meant to be taught it, how I spent most of Year One with Year Two and was everything but formally moved up a year for nine months, how I got the third highest grade in my school on my SATS. How I got a little trophy at the end of primary for being "the most consistent high flyer". How I got the fourth highest grades in my year on my GCSEs. I've grown up with my name with stars next to it on the register for each Gifted and Talented subject label I was given. I was "the smart child."
This isn't meant to be a brag. It really isn't. If anything it terrifies me far more than I know how to quantify. This has been what I've based my life on since I was four. What do I do if I show up to college tomorrow morning, head held high, and I'm handed my grades... and I have 13 years of high flying and expectations behind me, as I learn that all these achievements have added up to mean nothing in the face of three C's at A-level. Or a B and two D's.
... honestly, anything below BBB would disappoint me. I won't lie to you.
My brother worked harder than me for his exams, and he got ABCC. I know how upset he was that he didn't get into his firm. I feel guilty in a way for not having the same stresses put on me. But I would be equally devastated if I didn't get the grades that corresponded to what I feel I could get. Not because of my offer - I'm lucky in that separation, in a way a lot of people aren't - but because of my sense of identity and self that I have learned to derive from my grades over the years.
.... This got deep fast.
Good luck with your grades, everyone. I have so much faith in everyone here. Fingers crossed for me and for you. ❤️
Original post by Jinkx Monsoon
Well, tonight's the night. No fancy banners tonight, because I'm typing all this from my phone, and my laptop is in the post back to Derbyshire for a full refund... I've already lost this post once (thanks, TSR app!) so this is my second attempt at putting my thoughts on Results Day into perspective.
I really don't know if I'll be sleeping tonight. It's silly, yes, but I just know the moment I put my head to my pillow my anxiety will go from simmering to cacophonous. To get to college for just after 8, I have to be out of the house by 6:30.... such is the wonder of a ridiculous commute. But sleep hasn't caught up with me yet, and for now I'm wondering if it actually will.
I know it's silly to be so anxious when I have an unconditional. I //know//.
But my desire for high grades runs deeper than my university offers. I've been basing my self worth on my grades for as long as I can remember; my parents relay stories of how I was told off for trying joined up handwriting a year before we were meant to be taught it, how I spent most of Year One with Year Two and was everything but formally moved up a year for nine months, how I got the third highest grade in my school on my SATS. How I got a little trophy at the end of primary for being "the most consistent high flyer". How I got the fourth highest grades in my year on my GCSEs. I've grown up with my name with stars next to it on the register for each Gifted and Talented subject label I was given. I was "the smart child."
This isn't meant to be a brag. It really isn't. If anything it terrifies me far more than I know how to quantify. This has been what I've based my life on since I was four. What do I do if I show up to college tomorrow morning, head held high, and I'm handed my grades... and I have 13 years of high flying and expectations behind me, as I learn that all these achievements have added up to mean nothing in the face of three C's at A-level. Or a B and two D's.
... honestly, anything below BBB would disappoint me. I won't lie to you.
My brother worked harder than me for his exams, and he got ABCC. I know how upset he was that he didn't get into his firm. I feel guilty in a way for not having the same stresses put on me. But I would be equally devastated if I didn't get the grades that corresponded to what I feel I could get. Not because of my offer - I'm lucky in that separation, in a way a lot of people aren't - but because of my sense of identity and self that I have learned to derive from my grades over the years.
.... This got deep fast.
Good luck with your grades, everyone. I have so much faith in everyone here. Fingers crossed for me and for you. ❤️
I really don't know if I'll be sleeping tonight.
It's silly, yes, but I just know the moment I put my head to my pillow my anxiety will go from simmering to cacophonous. To get to college for just after 8, I have to be out of the house by 6:30.... such is the wonder of a ridiculous commute. But sleep hasn't caught up with me yet, and for now I'm wondering if it actually will.I know it's silly to be so anxious when I have an unconditional. I //know//.
But my desire for high grades runs deeper than my university offers. I've been basing my self worth on my grades for as long as I can remember; my parents relay stories of how I was told off for trying joined up handwriting a year before we were meant to be taught it, how I spent most of Year One with Year Two and was everything but formally moved up a year for nine months, how I got the third highest grade in my school on my SATS. How I got a little trophy at the end of primary for being "the most consistent high flyer". How I got the fourth highest grades in my year on my GCSEs. I've grown up with my name with stars next to it on the register for each Gifted and Talented subject label I was given. I was "the smart child."
This isn't meant to be a brag. It really isn't. If anything it terrifies me far more than I know how to quantify. This has been what I've based my life on since I was four. What do I do if I show up to college tomorrow morning, head held high, and I'm handed my grades... and I have 13 years of high flying and expectations behind me, as I learn that all these achievements have added up to mean nothing in the face of three C's at A-level. Or a B and two D's.
... honestly, anything below BBB would disappoint me. I won't lie to you.
My brother worked harder than me for his exams, and he got ABCC. I know how upset he was that he didn't get into his firm. I feel guilty in a way for not having the same stresses put on me. But I would be equally devastated if I didn't get the grades that corresponded to what I feel I could get. Not because of my offer - I'm lucky in that separation, in a way a lot of people aren't - but because of my sense of identity and self that I have learned to derive from my grades over the years.
.... This got deep fast.
Good luck with your grades, everyone. I have so much faith in everyone here. Fingers crossed for me and for you. ❤️
Hi, loving your posts, how did results day go for you?
Yesterday was pretty hectic - I got home and immediately fell asleep on the sofa at 8:30.
I'm currently stuck on my dad's clunky little Toshiba for typing this up (I miss my new laptop already, waaaah) so please bear with any ridiculous typoes or obvious lack of haste. So. Results Day was yesterday.
I got the earliest boat I could, and on the bus after, messages started to appear from my friends who'd already gotten to college before me -- all good news, which both calmed and worried me, because yes, everyone's gotten their grades, I hope I won't be the outlier here.
Original post by happyy
Hi, loving your posts, how did results day go for you?
I got to college, trembled my way inside, picked up my envelope, and opened it back outside to find............. A*AB!!!!!!
After my anxious ramblings on Wednesday night, learning that I'd exceeded the grades I would have needed for my unconditional... it really filled me with so much relief. I finally feel like I really deserve my offer -- I was terrified I'd just coasted my way to uni, or that I hadn't tried hard enough in my exams -- but this really made my day.
...I sort of descended into a very relieved crouching ball on the ground while my mum read my results.
The A* was in Classics -- I managed 100% in The Persian Wars and 94/100 in the Aeneid, so overall this year I.. only dropped about three marks. That's absolutely insane. I can't even express how much this means, as Classics was the main reason I attended a college thirty miles away from where I live, separated by an ocean.
The A was in English Lit -- we weren't given a breakdown of marks or how close we were to either grade either side, but I'm perfectly happy with an A. Given the shoddy teaching resources and the disarray our classes faced, I couldn't be happier right now with knowing I succeeded, despite that awful Prose paper.
And the B was in Drama. I loathed Drama all throughout my A2 for various reasons - bullying within my class and my teacher being a prat, for two of them. I was 4 UMS off of an A, and ... well, I'm a little annoyed about that, but who cares? I never have to do Drama again. That's what matters.
All of my friends made it into their firm, bar one who's instead attending her insurance but seems happy about it. This called for a celebration!... but instead of going to Spoons to get wonkered at 10am with some of the others, I organised a little Nandos party for the evening, and went to go buy uni supplies with my mum. We don't get to go to the mainland often, so we took advantage of this opportunity to go to places like Primark, which we...sadly don't have on the island.
Outrageous, I know! We bought clothes, bedsheets, a cute Pusheen throw for my uni bed, a whole bunch of new bras to replace Old Faithful, and some really cute Harry Potter socks. I'll write up a full uni haul later on for my Summer Bucket List and cross-post it here, if anyone's interested!
TL;DR: A*AB, I'm beyond thrilled, and I feel less like a fraud and more like an Actual, Bona-Fide Fresher.
Original post by Jinkx Monsoon
Yesterday was pretty hectic - I got home and immediately fell asleep on the sofa at 8:30. I'm currently stuck on my dad's clunky little Toshiba for typing this up (I miss my new laptop already, waaaah) so please bear with any ridiculous typoes or obvious lack of haste.
So. Results Day was yesterday.
I got the earliest boat I could, and on the bus after, messages started to appear from my friends who'd already gotten to college before me -- all good news, which both calmed and worried me, because yes, everyone's gotten their grades, I hope I won't be the outlier here.
I got to college, trembled my way inside, picked up my envelope, and opened it back outside to find............. A*AB!!!!!!
After my anxious ramblings on Wednesday night, learning that I'd exceeded the grades I would have needed for my unconditional... it really filled me with so much relief. I finally feel like I really deserve my offer -- I was terrified I'd just coasted my way to uni, or that I hadn't tried hard enough in my exams -- but this really made my day.
...I sort of descended into a very relieved crouching ball on the ground while my mum read my results.
The A* was in Classics -- I managed 100% in The Persian Wars and 94/100 in the Aeneid, so overall this year I.. only dropped about three marks. That's absolutely insane. I can't even express how much this means, as Classics was the main reason I attended a college thirty miles away from where I live, separated by an ocean.
The A was in English Lit -- we weren't given a breakdown of marks or how close we were to either grade either side, but I'm perfectly happy with an A. Given the shoddy teaching resources and the disarray our classes faced, I couldn't be happier right now with knowing I succeeded, despite that awful Prose paper.
And the B was in Drama. I loathed Drama all throughout my A2 for various reasons - bullying within my class and my teacher being a prat, for two of them. I was 4 UMS off of an A, and ... well, I'm a little annoyed about that, but who cares? I never have to do Drama again. That's what matters.
All of my friends made it into their firm, bar one who's instead attending her insurance but seems happy about it. This called for a celebration!... but instead of going to Spoons to get wonkered at 10am with some of the others, I organised a little Nandos party for the evening, and went to go buy uni supplies with my mum. We don't get to go to the mainland often, so we took advantage of this opportunity to go to places like Primark, which we...sadly don't have on the island. Outrageous, I know! We bought clothes, bedsheets, a cute Pusheen throw for my uni bed, a whole bunch of new bras to replace Old Faithful, and some really cute Harry Potter socks.
I'll write up a full uni haul later on for my Summer Bucket List and cross-post it here, if anyone's interested!
TL;DR: A*AB, I'm beyond thrilled, and I feel less like a fraud and more like an Actual, Bona-Fide Fresher.
Yesterday was pretty hectic - I got home and immediately fell asleep on the sofa at 8:30.
I'm currently stuck on my dad's clunky little Toshiba for typing this up (I miss my new laptop already, waaaah) so please bear with any ridiculous typoes or obvious lack of haste. So. Results Day was yesterday.
I got the earliest boat I could, and on the bus after, messages started to appear from my friends who'd already gotten to college before me -- all good news, which both calmed and worried me, because yes, everyone's gotten their grades, I hope I won't be the outlier here.
I got to college, trembled my way inside, picked up my envelope, and opened it back outside to find............. A*AB!!!!!!
After my anxious ramblings on Wednesday night, learning that I'd exceeded the grades I would have needed for my unconditional... it really filled me with so much relief. I finally feel like I really deserve my offer -- I was terrified I'd just coasted my way to uni, or that I hadn't tried hard enough in my exams -- but this really made my day.
...I sort of descended into a very relieved crouching ball on the ground while my mum read my results.
The A* was in Classics -- I managed 100% in The Persian Wars and 94/100 in the Aeneid, so overall this year I.. only dropped about three marks. That's absolutely insane. I can't even express how much this means, as Classics was the main reason I attended a college thirty miles away from where I live, separated by an ocean.
The A was in English Lit -- we weren't given a breakdown of marks or how close we were to either grade either side, but I'm perfectly happy with an A. Given the shoddy teaching resources and the disarray our classes faced, I couldn't be happier right now with knowing I succeeded, despite that awful Prose paper.
And the B was in Drama. I loathed Drama all throughout my A2 for various reasons - bullying within my class and my teacher being a prat, for two of them. I was 4 UMS off of an A, and ... well, I'm a little annoyed about that, but who cares? I never have to do Drama again. That's what matters.
All of my friends made it into their firm, bar one who's instead attending her insurance but seems happy about it. This called for a celebration!... but instead of going to Spoons to get wonkered at 10am with some of the others, I organised a little Nandos party for the evening, and went to go buy uni supplies with my mum. We don't get to go to the mainland often, so we took advantage of this opportunity to go to places like Primark, which we...sadly don't have on the island.
Outrageous, I know! We bought clothes, bedsheets, a cute Pusheen throw for my uni bed, a whole bunch of new bras to replace Old Faithful, and some really cute Harry Potter socks. I'll write up a full uni haul later on for my Summer Bucket List and cross-post it here, if anyone's interested!
TL;DR: A*AB, I'm beyond thrilled, and I feel less like a fraud and more like an Actual, Bona-Fide Fresher.
CONGRATS! Love your little blog, hopefully it continues through to freshers week at least.
Original post by happyy
CONGRATS! Love your little blog, hopefully it continues through to freshers week at least.
Thank you so much!!! It's a lot of fun to make. I'm hoping to continue it all year!! The pizza is a definite incentive, but honestly it's just been a great place to collect my thoughts and interact with people.
Original post by Amefish
Omg I love the idea of a banner for your blog!! I'm totally going to steal this idea (although obviously I won't pull it off as well as you do) 
I'm totally going to steal this idea (although obviously I won't pull it off as well as you do) Spoiler
Do it!!!
Banners are so much fun, and they make me feel all swanky. I can't wait to see yours!!Ahhh good luck in freshers, Im **** scared too literally. Trying to play it cool though. If you want to keep up with each others experiences please add me to your tags list and check out my blog too 
https://anonexeter.blogspot.co.uk
A fellow fresher
https://anonexeter.blogspot.co.uk
A fellow fresher
Original post by ExeterAnon
Ahhh good luck in freshers, Im **** scared too literally. Trying to play it cool though. If you want to keep up with each others experiences please add me to your tags list and check out my blog too
https://anonexeter.blogspot.co.uk
A fellow fresher
https://anonexeter.blogspot.co.uk
A fellow fresher
Hey! I'll absolutely add you to my taglist, and your blog's on my bookmarks bar!
One of my friends is going to Exeter to do Psychology -- it looks like a fantastic uni, so I hope you have a great time. We can do this!!!
This is the cutest blog ever
Original post by GoldenLotus
This is the cutest blog ever
Awwwh, thank you so much!!!
It's official as of today: three weeks until I move in!
I don't have anything too exciting to share regarding my actual week, but I am really excited to share some new subheaders I made for blogs! They'll replace my typical "no roses, no frogs" for specific entries.
"culinary quests" is to detail my ongoing struggle with existence, and by that I mean learning to cook. If I can, I want to post recipes and updates on that sort of thing!
"frog in my throat" is to denote when things... aren't going so well. I mean, in an ideal world I'd never have to use this, but that's not the world we live in.
Debugging bad social situations, bad grades, all that.And "weekend roundup" is what I've been doing for the last few weeks -- a summary post of the whole week, good and bad!
I have a few others planned, but those are only plans for now. I'll see you on the flipside, once I've actually used these in a blog post!
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I already typed this up once yesterday, but my browser decided to refresh, killing me instantly.
So! Welcome to my first weekend roundup! What have I done in the last week to help me prep for Freshers?!(While writing this, "Year 11 thread 2017/2018" has been in the latest discussions tab to my right, and it's making me feel incredibly old... Was Year 11 really almost three years ago?!)
I've bought a lot of essentials ready for halls. My full haul was detailed in my Summer Bucket List, and I'll quote it in after I post this because I totally forgot to earlier, but since Results Day I've bought a bunch of other essentials, meaning that I'm almost ready! We went to ASDA and bought a winter coat, white-tac, and a big extension lead.
Less cosmetic stuff and far more active survival gear!! My Results Day haul was much more clothing and pretty things, like duvet covers and cute shoes with Mickey Mouse ears on. All I need to get now are things I'll be getting on the day - like cutlery and plates and the sort. I finalised my Student Finance details. The form has been completed since last week, when I got my student bank account (HSBC, in case you were wondering!) but we've just kept on forgetting to post it...
It got put in the post at the beginning of the week, and the SFE website now says there's nothing else it needs from us, so it looks like I'm all set on that front! Thank goodness, as well, knowing what a mess SFE is. I've got my eyes peeled in case of any issues, just because I've seen plenty of times how awful they are. I mean... they only miscalculated my friend's maintenance loan by £5000, not too much.... I enrolled. I got my enrolment email on Monday, but the Campus Connect website wasn't compatible with my phone, so I had to wait for my replacement laptop to arrive in the post before I could start properly enrolling. The online signup was a very long list of details I had to give; I need to upload a photo for my campus ID, and make sure my finance stuff went through, but I'm just excited that everything is official now!
My replacement new laptop arrived. After sending back my previous one for some seriously suspect noises coming from the fan, I just reordered another one of the same brand after getting the refund through. This one seems to be completely fine wrt the fan, and I'm just monitoring it for a few weeks before I start properly making it mine with stickers and the like. Honestly, for the price I got it for, I'm absolutely stunned by how well it functions. I'd totally recommend an Acer Swift 3 to any other freshers who needed a new laptop!!
I've had a full MOT, health-wise. Over the last few weeks, I've had all the vaccines I needed to top-up on, had a haircut, went to the opticians and the dentists, and generally tried to sort out any health problems I've had or might have in the future. I'm officially fighting fit! (fight emojis) All I need to do now is work out how to switch my GP over to the closest clinic in Egham, and then I'm properly all set. Bring on whatever weird shoite my body decides to throw at me next!
My family held a barbecue to celebrate my leaving for uni. It's become a bit of a tradition -- I remember doing the same for my brother two years ago. Just about everyone I think I've ever met family-wise and then some showed up.
It was really lovely to have so many people there, enjoying themselves -- and I somehow got £70 and a bottle of champagne out of it, so... hell yeah?! What do I want to do this week? Hopefully I'll be finishing off my Summer Bucket List this week, and in doing so I'll be beginning to sort out what books, films, etc. I want to take with me for my first term.
It's also Ryde Illuminated Carnival on Saturday, so we'll be getting fish and chips and watching that as a proper send-off to summer - it's a little family tradition, because the Illuminated Carnival always symbolises the end of summer for us. I also want to give a new recipe a go, so I can kickstart my "culinary quests" subheader! I've been Sieg, you've been you, and you've hopefully not been a frog or a rose. See you soon!
(edited 6 years ago)
Hello hello hello! I'm absolutely starving right now and waiting for dinner to finish cooking, so now seems like an excellent time to type up my very first "culinary quest" !!!! This was also a totally improvised recipe -- I didn't follow one online this time, so I'm quite chuffed.
What I made: Garlic butter prawns and rice.
How long it took to make: approx 5-6 minutes.
The ingredients:
50g butter or margarine
100g prawns (I used 100g, but next time I'd probably try 80g or even less, because there were a LOT of prawns... not that this was an issue, though, I love prawns.)
Half a sachet (125g) of Uncle Ben's long grain rice (a perfect amount for 1 person, though remember to put the other half in the fridge if you're only cooking for one!)
2 tsp garlic granules
How much it cost:
Marge 500g = £1. 50g = 10p
Prawns 250g = £2.50. 100g = £1
Rice 250g = £1.50. 125g = 75p
Garlic granules 56g = 70p. 2 tsp = approx 5p.
Cost of meal = £1.90
Recipe:
•
Melt the butter and garlic together in a frying pan.
•
Pour the prawns into the pan.
•
While these are sizzling, put the rice in a separate bowl and put in the microwave for 90 seconds.
•
Keep nudging the prawns around in the pan to make sure they're all cooked through.
•
Cook for about 3 minutes or so, then pour the two into a bowl together, stir with a fork, and serve. Add salt if you want a bit more taste for the rice.
... I'm not exactly a genius chef, but I think this was a fair attempt at something fast and simple.
It could easily be stretched to a two-person meal, or a three-person even, by using the whole packet of rice and a few more prawns! It just depends what ratio of prawns:rice you'd want for each serving.Thanks for tuning in again! <3
Spoiler
Hello, everyone! Welcome back to no roses, no frogs.
Today I said a sad farewell to my Summer Bucket List, waving it off with a white hankie and a tear in my eye.
I then promptly felt a profound emptiness in my soul that happens whenever I finish doing something and can't go back to it, so I decided to go fill that hole with some more Freshery preparations!Having taken the world's ugliest ID photo for my student card yesterday, I now have full access to my student email address, so I used that to go sign up for the free trial of Amazon Prime that we as students get! I'll get a full free year's worth when I redeem my Amazon vouchers I got through getting a HSBC student account, but until I use those... I just like free things, okay, get off my back.
I'm also going to get the Uber app so I get a free ride, though the idea of Uber is slightly terrifying to me as a country bumpkin, and a Tesco clubcard so I get stuff for my weekly shop.
... Am I a student, or a middle-aged soccer mum?!
But yes! Free things! I'm now going to spend the next week signing up for free things I get as a freeloading student. I got myself a Nectar card, and I've got loyalty cards forrrrrr... Costa, Nandos, KFC, Hobbycraft, The Works, and Caffe Nero, as well as a Blue Card for the Hovercraft. Are there any other schemes I should look out for? If you guys have anything you can recommend, please let me know! I'm a stingy student who loves free things.
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