Why Are You Reading This!?!? It's Not a Textbook You Know...

Well what an interesting first few weeks I've had with my course. I think the most important thing I should mention right from the top is that I'm loving the work I'm doing just now. Yes I've had a lot of reading to do and there have been times when I've just not understood something, but as I said to someone last night: "starting to study law is like learning something maths from the start". I couldn't do calculus when I first started to add and with some help from this analogy I've seen that it's going to take me time to find my feet - hopefully not too long because my first exams are only 9 weeks away! I felt that I should get that in before I go ahead and tell you what the last couple of weeks have been like otherwise you might get the impression that I am not enjoying myself but that is far from the truth.

So as I expected, studying law hasn't been a walk in the park by any means. In fact I think it's the case with most of my peers who are starting university that nothing has been easy so far. It's all very well turning up to all of your lectures and then having the majority of the day off but when you look at course handouts or tutorial problems, you begin to see that lectures are only the beginning. The hardest things from my point of view since I started my degree has been reading case reports which is something that I never really thought would be that challenging. I would say that the longer the case and the longer the speeches from the judges, the harder it is to decipher. But going back to my analogy about learning maths; I'm just learning to add and subtract at the moment so I certainly can't expect to be able to multiply and divide. It will all come together in its own time because, as big headed as this may sound, I'm very capable to getting this subject under my thumb. I look around me in the law library and see hundreds of older student, diligently thumbing through statute books and textbooks and I like to think that they were feeling the same way about not being able to understand cases and legal concepts when they started. I know that I'll find my way through this initial mine field simply because I can't think of doing it any other way or more to the point I can't think of anything else I want to do.

Now after that last sentence there you might be thinking that the way it was worded that I might be regretting my choice to study law. Again I would like to make it clear that although it was the biggest decision on my life, it was certainly the right one and I'm going to go on and prove it to everyone. The main reason that I decided to do law was because it was going to be a challenge for me; one that would have to be undertaken with the utmost sincerity and dedication. Now that I'm finally doing it I can see that it's going to be even harder than I first thought but that only encourages me to do better.

As for the small matter of being away from home for the longest period in my life (the longest being a 2 week holiday in Toronto quite a while back): well it's been getting better as each day goes past and as likely as there are to be challenges in this part of my life as well I'm fairly sure I'll reap the rewards. My room now looks like it did at home (dirty socks on the floor and football posters on the wall), I am almost able to make food like I would get at home and most importantly I've got my laptop which keeps me in contact with people from home. It's only really my address that has changed, nothing much else.

So I'll try and keep this thing going for as long as I see fit but I think that there will be long periods of silence when exams come around. I hope to be able to do it weekly or even bi-weekly but I'll see how things go.

Thanks again for reading and for those to whom it applies: get back to your textbook!

Cheers, 

Martin

One Week Down, Rest of Life to Go

It has been a week of ups and downs. I've met hundreds of people but only know the names of a couple of dozen or so and even then I more or less only know their names and what they are studying. My ability to cultivate friendship from this type of situation has never really been one that I've had to call upon as is the case with hundreds of fellow fresher's. Never has there been a room full of complete strangers from different parts of Scotland and beyond, where you simply start from scratch. It's nice to have the occasional familiar face but a phrase that I have coined this week is "it's nice to see some unfamiliar faces" - not something that you would usually think makes sense but the logic is there as far as I'm concerned. I guess that the hardest part of this week has been that aspect of things. As far as I'm concerned, I'm not an introvert: shy on occasion yes, but not particularly an introvert. Having said that, I am not a particularly confident person when placed in this type of situation. The best part about this week for me is the fact that I've not really had any other choice than to try and put myself out there a bit because if I hadn't then the next few weeks and months could have been a lot more difficult. Now those unfamiliar faces have slowly started to become familiar which will make the first week of lectures and the next few weeks of staying in halls that bit easier. 

Now I suppose is the time when I should really break the bad news to you all - fresher's week hasn't lived up to what I thought it would be; and it's not just me that feels this way either. I've spoken to countless people that have been having early nights and have avoided alcohol on particular evenings. I suppose if you asked the people in my flats how they felt fresher's week was then the majority would say it was "amazing" or "awesome" or even "the best week of their lives". Don't get me wrong, I've had a fantastic week but I've had my fair share of feeling down and out this week. I suppose that you are probably thinking that I've not made the most of fresher's week and that I should have been out doing more things because I will agree that they way I am describing it makes it sound like I've sat in my room staring at the walls every day. This is not the case because I have been out and about with people doing lots of different and fun things but when it really came down to it, it just wasn't what I expected it to be. I see all of these pictures of people in my position at Edinburgh and other universities and they look like they are having the time of their lives but I guess that a combination of trying to settle (despite being fairly close to home) and meeting all of these new people has made this week more difficult for me than I could have imagined.

I think that it is time I saved myself from a bottomless pit of despair (well not really because believe it or not, I have been a pretty happy person for most of the week) and tell you what my favourite things about this week were. For one the feeling of looking after myself is something that I've looked forward to for a long time. A challenge yes, but nevertheless something that I relish the thought of. As well as that I have enjoyed meeting new people from all parts of the world which is never really something that happens in high school. My favourite part of the week though has to be the prospect of starting my law degree. This week has come and gone now and it is time to do what I really came here for - to study law at one of the best universities in the world. Call me sad but I can't wait for my first lecture and the first time I do work in the library or the first case I'm asked to read. Things like that excite me for whatever reason and I'll be damned if that's going to stop just at the brink of the next chapter in my life (I've said that a lot in recent posts but it's the most apt way to describe it I think).

I'm aware that there is the chance that there could be people reading this that I have only just met this week and who don't really know anything about me. I can assure you that although I sound like a melancholic teenager, I really am a very happy guy who certainly knows how to smile once in a while. I don't need to tell you that in fact because you'll soon come to learn that under my shy and serious exterior is someone completely different.

I usually try to slip in a few jokes in my posts as you all know but I don't really have any that are particularly topical which is a bit crap. Instead I'll end with this: fresher's week was great fun and I will always look back on this week as being a good solid start to university life but the real thing starts next week and that's when I'll get my mojo back - just you wait and see...

You guys rock for reading as per usual so thanks,


Martin

Baked Beans and Beer - My First Few Days as a Student

When I was packing all of my clothes into suitcases last week it was quite possibly the strangest experience of my life. To have all of the things that you wear and use fit into a few bags really plays with your head; and not in a good way either. It really is a surreal thing when you see your DVD collection packed in beside underwear and socks - in fact it kinda sucks. But when everything was ready to go I was psyched because it looked like I was going on holiday (with a box of Cheerios). The funny thing is that I wasn't at all excited before I left or for the few days leading up to the move. In fact my sister was more excited that I was moving out than I was and she doesn't even live at home. So last week was a little crazy but if I thought that the process of moving out of home was weird then I was going to get a hefty punch in the chops when I moved into the other end. I'm not going to lie, I just laughed at that sentence for its innuendo qualities which can only be a good sign because it means that I've not yet lost my terrible sense of humour yet - university will never change that.

So this is the basics of what happened when I got here: you get your keys, you go to your flat, you unload your life into your room and then you realise that there are other people doing a similar thing - it's kinda weird to see these parallel lives crashing together in one big mash. So that's pretty much the way it has been for the last couple of days. Your basic plan of action has to be to ask three questions (What's your name?; where are you from?; what are you studying?). If you get through this part of the conversation unscathed then its a free-for-all thereafter. It's all about trying to find some sort of common ground (the subject of alcohol usually suffices) and then try and build from there if you can. Otherwise you just have to turn to your right and start the whole process again which it seems is everyones game. In fact the three questions are starting to become this sort of dogmatic approach to socialising which I can cope with I think. 

In three days I have been through the wringer emotionally (ok that's maybe a bit of an exaggeration but has been tough). I woke up on the first morning and felt crap then about an hour later I was all enthusiastic again and soon found myself up on top of Arthur's Seat. Nobody ever said it was going to be easy and if the truth be told, I didn't know what it would be like at all. Now I have seen a tiny slice of this new life I am starting to learn a bit more about it which is the only way to adapt. I am enjoying this new chapter in my life so far and as tough as I'm finding this situation, I'm relishing it at the same time. Bring on the rest of the week!!!