First Impressions & Educational Culture Shock
My first impression of Essex was, ‘well this is big’. I had no idea what I was getting myself into, I thought maybe it would be a few building and then the main educational campus. I was so wrong. The campus itself was the greatest shock to me as I’d never lived away from home longer than four weeks. This is the fifth week away from home and I'm still getting used to it. My accommodation is more than I could have hoped for; I had imagined almost a prison like situation, small rooms just bit enough for a bed and maybe a desk, and a kitchen that people would be fighting for use over the oven. However I was pleasantly surprised when I found that the rooms are big enough for two people, but the kitchen is not as bad as I imagined it, we still need to fight over use of the oven though.
The first week I can go into some detail, not much as I can’t remember much of it. The things that shocked me where the ways that people just went around doing their business as though they had been living here their entire lives. For me I had some trouble with this, it took me at least two to three weeks to find my footing and make my room feel like my new home. Once I’d settled in the next thing to overcome was, the cooking. I have cooked for myself many times but I had always been dependant on my father to cook dinners for me; pasta, pasta and some curry this is the extent of dinners. However my first impressions of just have the same meal over and over again was, ‘how boring!’ but it has definitely grown on me.
The educational cultural here at Essex is very similar, and yet different in so many ways. Back in the Plume Sixth Form we got given a taste of the life that we would have at university, a lesson being told things (lecture) and the lessons to build on what we had been shown. Even though this is exactly the same, we weren't living alone and had to think about our own well being quite as much. This has affected me in many ways in sixth form I could depend on other people to help me a lot, however at university we are all so much more independent meaning the only person that I can one hundred percent count on is myself. Another way that the culture to me by surprise is that everyone is from all over the world. For example Nigeria, America, France, Germany and these are only from my flat. It has changed my perspective on different cultures though what food they eat, music and so many more.
I have never been good with money. You can see where this is going, my bank account over the past few weeks has been dropping like someone free falling from a high altitude. I have had a good think about what is necessary, and what things i can do without. I came to the conclusion that eating is a good thing and buying new games, however necessary is still trumped by living. There are still temptations for me and I do admit that I have slipped up a few times since I made the decision to stop spending money unnecessarily.
For the time that I have spent here I have thoroughly enjoyed it, and I look forward to all thing ‘exciting’ times ahead. It will be an experience that I will never forget, hopefully.
