At 23:40 on Thursday, May 31st 2012 AD, I finished my first year portfolio for my university course, a Bachelor of Arts degree in Product Design taken at Nottingham Trent University. This means that I’ve had an entire year at uni, which is crazy. I remember blogging about how much I enjoyed freshers’ week, and that felt like yesterday - but it wasn’t, it was in October of last year. Without being too corny, I’d just like to summarise my experiences during what has probably been the best year of my life. 

In first term, I really came out of my shell. Previously, I’d been pretty shy to be honest, and not really keen on meeting new people. All this changed at uni, I made some really awesome people that I’ll be friends with for life. I also had some fun experiences, a few of them drunken, and I actually enjoyed my work. There’s something about the social life at university that you just don’t get elsewhere - everyone wants to make friends, everyone is in the same boat, so to speak, and it’s just awesome. I can’t summarise this any further because I’ve had such a good time that the whole year has just snapped past in the blink of an eye, and I still can’t quite process the fact that I’ve completed a quarter of my degree. I love the freedom of university, the amount of opportunities, and basically the whole atmosphere. I can finally be who I want, and it makes me feel awesome. 

Without a shadow of doubt, though, the best thing to happen to me this year was meeting probably the most amazing person in my life. My girlfriend has given me something to work for, fight for, and wake up for in the morning. Without her, I see my time here at uni being unfulfilled. I’ve never loved anything before, other than maybe a phone or a song (!), but she puts my life in perspective. She makes me want to be a better person, in everything that I do. I’d be totally lost without her.

So here’s to a year of uni, roll on summer and second year! 

I’m typing this after one week at uni, and I’ve had an amazing time. It’s weird how freshers’ week sends one’s confidence levels through the roof without you even realising. During this week, I seem to have discovered my love for clubbing; it’s something that I previously didn’t care for but I’ve found that it really is an awesome way to meet people. 

I’ve also found out that making friends is a lot easier than it first sounded, because everyone else is in the same position as you. It’s exhausting, but purely awesome. 

Yes, the girlfriend Pista is coming with me to uni. In fact, it’ll be getting me around the place a lot of the time. Why sit on a bus when I can get to my destination faster, for free, and at the same time catching some fresh air? Although I have insurance, I’ve spent a bit of time preparing it. I’ve stripped the bike of all expensive stuff that will be easy to steal; I’ve put on my beat-to-shit Tritip saddle, cheap pedals with old-school straps (I can’t walk around the place with my race shoes on all day!), and I’ve also changed my gear ratio. 

I also picked up this awesome lock, which comes with a cable, too. The manufacturer of the lock actually gives customers £600 cover if the bike were to be stolen; add that to the amount I will get from my bank and I have well over £2000 worth of insurance on my steed. I’ve looked around Nottingham earlier this year and there’s actually a lot of places to lock up a bike, and I saw people locking up bikes that were way more expensive than mine, so I’ll be okay. 

Riding at night will be a certainty, particularly as the nights are drawing in at this time of year. I found a couple of these cute little lights which will ensure that I’m seen; don’t worry, I’m sticking to street lit roads. 

All I need to find now is a decent mudguard (like the one on this bike), a bike bag (to make hauling the bike on the train back and forth easier), and some shoes that can be worn both on the bike and off it. Other than that, I’m all set to go!

This is what’s on my list of stuff to take. 

Somewhat restrained for me, but other than clothes, shampoo, etc, I’ll be taking the following:

-Dell 15R

-Acer Aspire One netbook

-HTC Incredible S, Palm Pixi Plus, iPod Touch

-Bose OE headphones

-320GB HDD, USB hub

-Gear4 iPod Sound Dock

-Fujifilm S1600

-Bike

As I say, that’s pretty restrained for me; I was considering taking my 20” display, but I probably won’t have room for it and it’s a pain to transport there and back. 

Yep, next week I’ll be going to a university in Nottingham to pursue my dream career, or at least attempt to. I don’t talk about this kind of stuff on Twitter because I don’t want people to know every aspect of my life in and out. Anyway, if you really wanted to know why I’ve been talking about moving and money for the past month, then you probably asked me and I told you in private. 

I’ve decided to announce this because so many people are asking questions, and I feel that it’s easier to give you the honest answer rather than leave you in the dark. Overall, I am looking forward to going, but at the same time I’m pretty nervous; making new friends is hard, and probably the hardest part of joining anything new. I like to entertain the fact that I’m a damn nice guy, and I think this will work to my advantage at university. 

One of the main killers is the financial side, and it’s what’s really been annoying me recently. Not only will I be in horrific debt, but I will be getting little to no support money from my family; they seem to expect me to live the lifestyle of a tramp, probably because of my recent extravagant spending habits. No, my family aren’t strapped for cash; in fact, I would say the situation is the exact opposite, but I’m still having to fend for myself. I find this situation upsetting not because I’m not getting money for nothing (I hate getting money I haven’t worked for - ‘handouts’), but because the attitude that a certain family member has toward me is making me feel thoroughly unloved. I’m the type of person who needs to be taught things the easy way, not the hard way, and I resent the conflict of interests in this situation. 

But hey, I love a fresh new start, and I love meeting new people, so I think I’ll have a great time when I’m up there. Of course, I’ll still be getting posts up on this website; clubbing and raving really isn’t my thing. The amount of support I get from my fans is truly flattering, and some of the people I’ve met through blogging, YouTube, and Twitter feel like my closest friends, even though I’ve never met you. I thank you all for that, and in return I shall share my experiences with you even more.