Stepping From The Known To The Unknown

Where do I begin? Welcome week has been a little bit of a roller coaster. Together with the sheer awkwardness of making small talk with strangers, the painfully long lectures going over the "housekeeping" of the course, the tiring daily commute...it's been a little too much to take in.

I miss Leicester. And by that, I mean Leicester uni. I miss its huge and lovely campus (Aston is tiny in comparison and nowhere near as pretty), I miss its awesome library (Aston's couldn't even begin to compare), I miss its students' union (it puts Aston's SU to absolute shame), and I miss my course mates (yes, my Leicester course mates were/are a Godsend and only now am I appreciating just how much...). I miss my course. I JUST MISS BEING AT LEICESTER UNI AND I WANNA GO BACK *sobs*

Okay, I'm done. In a nutshell though, those are my first week thoughts. Happy, no?

The lecturers (touch wood) seem pretty good. The course...well, I don't know. I'm overwhelmed by the info overload but we're being thrown into practicals first thing tomorrow morning so that should be fun! Here's hoping the course exceeds my extremely low expectations. Although they're already drumming into us that we need to be searching for summer placements and be on the hunt for pre-reg places and boy is it damn early to be placing that kind of pressure on us. Oooh but they do have this research scholarship program where we can apply for eight weeks of research that's salaried and we work with lecturers to research eye-related science. Naturally, that awakened the biochemist in me so I've noted that info in a little space in my brain for when the time arrives.

Oh and check this; we're expected to wear formal clothing at all times. Be that to lectures, clinics, or tutorials. It's to, and I quote, "build our professional development". I mean, as much as I live in my jeans, it kinda makes it easier for me to have some kind of "uniform" and I don't have issues with wearing smart clothing, but I literally just did my huge winter haul in prep for uni. And by haul, I mean frickin' haul. Also, I'm extremely cold-blooded so wearing formal trousers and blouses year round whilst being a commuter doesn't really work in my favour. Not to mention I had to emergency-shop this weekend to build a professional wardrobe. God, the struggle.

Not the best start to my degree. The temptation to quit before I've even started is all too real. I actually don't really know why I'm putting myself through this for the second time. I should take my freebies and get the hell outta there before I come home mentally screaming every day for the next four years of my life.

There is the one highlight; I have Fridays off. Score.