That Girl from Derwent dwells on the value of religion this Christmas.
That Girl from Derwent has learned a few more things about prejudice since moving up North.
That Girl From Derwent reckons if you're going to be offensive, you should find a better reason.
That Girl from Derwent considers why it is that some words have wider implications than others.
1. I think the first “best” moment, and perhaps the one that paved the way for all the others, was the moment I realised I could do anything I wanted. Absolutely anything.
I actually remember this moment. I was sat on my bed. The parents had finally gone and I wasn't quite sure what to do with myself. Through my open window I could hear the shouts of some lads up uncharacteristically early. They seemed to be having fun and I was a little bit jealous.
Then I realised – wait – what's there to stop me having as much fun? Who's there to say I can't go out and introduce myself to these people? Maybe suggest going to the pub later, or into town? For the first time in my life, I could do exactly as I wanted: no strings, no disapproving parental presence: just me.
And I loved it.
2. Secondly, is a moment that came surprisingly late on in the year.
Concerning my degree.
As in, when I realised I actually loved my degree.
Before this term, I had always mildly enjoyed my degree: I could work on what I wanted to work on, and while everyone else seemed to have to learn massive, horribly expensive textbooks, my only work consisted of the reading I loved. But it wasn’t really until half way through a particularly interesting seminar around week 5 that I realised that there was nothing else I would have rather been doing.
Oh, and realising that two guys arguing over Wordsworth is pretty damn sexy.
3. Number 3? This has got to be Roses 2010.
Not only was it a brilliant weekend, but it was also so out of character for me. If someone had told me, this time last year, that I would be spending a weekend in a strange place for a sports tournament I would have thought they were crazy. But I did. And I reckon that it was the crazy start to the summer term that I needed.
Everything about Roses was excellent, even the frustrating and annoying bits: at the risk of sounding horribly cliché, they all taught me something about myself – and about teamwork.
4. Number four on my list is probably tied in to #2, and that’s the meeting of likeminded people – and the meeting of them in the oddest of places.
There comes a moment in every adolescent’s life, in which they have the horrifying thought that they are alone. In their likes or dislikes; their neuroses or their apathy. There also comes a time when they meet another, or more than one person, who completely refutes this feeling. Over the last two terms, this has (thankfully) happened to me.
It has to be a best university moment when you a) realise that everyone’s a little crazy, just like you; and b) late night discussions of poetry are an excellent way to spend time post-Ziggys. Whether you meet these randomers (that become friends) at train stations or in lectures, the best thing about university is that you can feel free enough, or confident enough to get chatting. Nothing’s fixed at uni, everything is fluid, and you really can change the course of a term just by being brave enough to say something.
5. Finally, for this half of the countdown, I have to say that getting good comments on my writing would have to be up there with the rest of these epic moments.
A blogger always takes a risk when putting their opinions out into the public domain. There is always the fear that someone will disagree with you, and do so vocally. Sometimes their criticisms are justified, sometimes not, but the first thing a writer has to learn to deal with is bad press.
Yet this doesn’t mean that praise isn’t appreciated. In fact, good comments, like those of commenter #6 and commenter #7 on my last blog, are made all the more poignant by previous criticisms.
So thank you, guys, for all the support. Everyone who has read my blogs this term, I’m taking this fifth point to thank you – even more so if you commented. Without your support, my first year wouldn’t have been half the ride it has been.
That Girl from Derwent, in the last of her blogs this term, will present her final five best York moments later this week.
Yay for good comments. /undermining
I like this also
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