Happy New Year everyone! (I’m not too sure if it’s a little late to be saying that, but seeing as this is the first post of the year it seemed an apt salutation!) I hope you all had a lovely Christmas, full of smiles and other wonderful things! I trust you’re all refreshed, relaxed and ready to take on 2015!
It was absolutely fab to have a break, even though I enjoyed my first term so much! I don’t think I’ve slept so much in my entire life – I mean if I wasn’t at work or the library, with my friends and family or eating I’m pretty certain I was asleep! It was like I turned into a little hedgehog! I’ve been told, though, that this was a pretty normal habit – most of my housemates seemed to do the same! Being home was really odd to begin with, but as soon as I went back to my job in the shop it was like I’d never been away! As sad as this sounds (and please feel free to guffaw and giggle) I love my job and it was so fun to be back, everybody is so lovely and there was a constant supply of cake (yay!). The Christmassy vibe in retail is something to behold, I’ve never seen so many smiley people, stressed people or novelty Christmas jumpers in my life and it was amazing! I also had a really relaxed time with my family and friends. After being here for 11 weeks it was just the best thing ever to have a cuddle from my grandparents and my best friend and spend some quality time with my mum and dad. I’m sure for any potential students reading this you’ll know the feeling too when you get to uni!
But, we’re back! It’s been such a busy week! Even though it’s first week things are full steam ahead! I have vowed this year to be a little more structured with my routine and I’ll be honest with you… as hard as I’ve tried this week it’s been tricky to stick to a regime. It’s been a case of getting settled back in to the uni lifestyle and trying to hear everyone’s Christmas and New Year stories whilst trying to get my head around new course material, which I’ll come to in the next paragraph! So, we’ll begin the routine in the upcoming weeks…hopefully! No, seriously, I’m sure it’d be good to be a little more structured, I’ve been told by so many people, so I should probably take their advice!
So! New Year, new course material, new challenges! We’ve moved on to the Modern period in history this week and I have been looking forward to this since I applied to Lancaster! The fact that these somewhat recent (depending on what your conception of ‘recent’ is) events have made such a valuable contribution to the shaping of today’s society is something really important to me. I love to see how the development of societal systems has impacted today’s class structures and the way that revolution has broken and re-built a nation and its civilisation and how this is a part of history’s advancement……. Having read that back for editing, I do apologise; I’m digressing with my little ponderings! Anyway, the upcoming material for history this term looks great! I was becoming quite fond of some earlier periods, having branched out into the Medieval and Early Modern eras last term, especially looking at how religion played its part in history, but I cannot wait to get into the depths of this historical period! (Okay, I will stop rambling now. Promise!)
EPR and Philosophy both have some thought-provoking content this term too! We’re looking at critical thinking in philosophy and it is proving a challenge, especially as I’m still adjusting from Christmas mode! We’re given exercises to do in our seminars and it is the weirdest thing to see how other people’s logic works in comparison to my own: we can be given the same question and come up with totally different answers. I look forward to a good brain workout this term! We’re covering science and religion in EPR for first few weeks of term and it’s something that I’ve never looked at in detail before. So with a little more knowledge, I look forward to participating in those debates!
Aside from the goings on in my course we’ve had quite a bit going on in the Land of House 105! My flatmates and I have had a lovely week of catching up and hearing each other’s stories from the holiday. We’re planning some outings for this term already! We’re hoping to go and see Into the Woods and go for Chinese food afterwards next week! Perhaps the biggest event for me in the house this week, though, has to be the fact that my friends and I now have a lovely little flat for next year! I felt so grown up contacting the landlord (who, I must add, is really sweet!) and saying that we’d like to take the flat. I’m sure, for those of you reading planning on uni, you will get the same enjoyment of going to viewing after viewing and finally finding ‘the one’! I’m so, so excited, partly because it has a gorgeous little kitchen with big windows and a nice high ceiling (You must think I’m very strange!) but it’s right in the centre of town and is just so cute! There’s only one word to sum up my happiness: YAY!
So, that’s Week 1 of Lent Term! I still can’t believe, even though I’m sitting in my room in halls with my radio on, surrounded by files and looking out on to the campus, that I’ve done a whole term at uni and I’m now taking on another 10 weeks of lectures, seminars and new memories. It’s going so quickly but, as I said in my very first post, uni is an open book and I can’t wait to fill its metaphorical pages with more essays, lecture notes and memories! Lent Term here we come!
Thank you for reading, guys! I hope you have a lovely week!
History Hugs,
Eleanor :0)