The title for this week’s post is inspired by a very popular student saying! There are so many things that I’ve come to appreciate more since we’ve been here, and as sad as it sounds it can quite often make my day. This week, weirdly, there have been several occasions where these moments have really made me smile. I thought it’d be something worth blogging about because in everyday life quirks of being a student may be a little trivial, but honestly it’s the little things like this that really count!

So, here we go! You know you’re a student when:

• You get way too excited about free laundry!
• I have never, in my entire life, been so excited to do my washing! We found on Friday evening that the washing machines in County laundrette weren’t working properly – meaning that they weren’t charging! My friend and I were just sitting down to watch a film when our flatmate came in yelling about free washing; I don’t think I’ve seen people run so fast to collect their laundry baskets. Admittedly, it was nearing 11 o’clock on a Friday evening, so we needn’t have rushed – most people were getting ready to go out on the town! Not us, though! House 105 turned into what looked like Widow Twankey’s laundrette! It was just so great (reading this back for editing, I can’t help thinking that I need to get some new hobbies…) but it was crazy that it was all free – what a bargain! I saved just over £10, which means more money for cake ingredients!
• You get lost in the library
• This week I spent around an hour looking for a book in the library. AN HOUR! I really do not know how I managed to do that! I’m currently researching for a history essay on Modern France and when I popped to the library I expected the books I’d researched to be in the History section, but I realised they were actually in the section for modern art and engineering. It did mean that I was able to go into the bit of the library that reminds me of Harry Potter because it’s underground and the bookshelves are like vaults; we have to turn a wheel to open them and the shelves move – just like magic (well, maybe not magic – but in my own little world it’s pretty cool). But, I found myself feeling very, very lost! I could only keep pacing up and down, up and down but with no such luck! When I returned the next day though for another go – there it was, right there…in the modern languages section. (Note to self: learn to differentiate between +V and V) While I did laugh at myself I couldn’t help but feel a bit stupid. I told my flatmate and she said that she’d done the same thing. So, getting lost is perhaps commonplace for students!

• You attend a careers meeting and find out about jobs you didn’t even know existed
• You may remember last week, that I said I was to attend a careers in museums meeting. Well, I did and it was fantastic! We had a PHD candidate from the History Department come and give a chat to a few of us and I never realised the variety of positions within the museum sector. There are curators, specialists, documenters, roles is display and interpretation, publicity, education co-ordinators – even careers in artefact conservation and archive work! I really had no idea how broad the options were. I realised as the talk went on that opportunities like this are invaluable. We have somebody with genuine experience and interest in the subject giving us advice on the next steps. I really enjoyed hearing about some of her experiences and what a variety of these roles will entail. We were even given some tips on routes into these positions and how to make headway from now on in. It seems really scary to be thinking about careers at the moment, because it feels like I’ve only just arrived at uni. However, it’s best to start getting some ideas together, I think – I wouldn’t have even considered display and interpretation had it not been for this meeting. Sometimes it’s worth going – there were some real gems of information there!
• You are insanely happy to hear the Skype ringtone  (Okay, so this may not be one that only applies to students, but this is definitely worth mentioning) This week I had a call from my friend who is working as a dancer on a cruise ship, travelling around the South American coastline and all the way down to Antarctica. (Amazing!) I was just sitting at my desk doing some notes for philosophy and my laptop began to sing the ringtone – I had to do a double take! It was so, so, so lovely to speak to him and hear what he’s been up to! It was so weird to see him sitting in a bar in Argentina in the sun and to look out the window in my room at uni and see it snowing, but I had such a fab chat! I’ve known him for a long, long time and it just seems so strange that I’m at uni and he’s off travelling the world. It was the cutest and I’m really looking forward to hearing more of his stories! I’m not sure if it’s because I’m away from home, or because I’m actually at uni, or even if it’s because I haven’t spoken to him in so long, but hearing from old friends (even if it’s just a text from my bestie living at home) is just the best thing ever. I’m sure it’s not just a student thing, but a phone call in the middle of some critical thinking formula can just make your day so much better.

So, there you have it! 4 things that are sure indicators of student-y-ness! To some,these may only be small things, but the small things sure make the biggest difference!.

I’m tackling three essay plans next week, so I’ll let you know how I get on with those in the next post!

hope you’ve had a lovely week! Thank you for reading.

History Hugs,Eleanor :0)