Farewell, my friend…

Today is so freezing. And… My heart is freezing too. What happened? I don’t know. Just likes tears that flow in my mind. Farewell, my friend!

He used to be a naughty boy (^  ^). He was always kidding about everything. He has a face like Mr.Bean’s. He always wore headphones and listened to the noisy and pure music (I don’t know why, it’s terrible). He didn’t like studying and listening to the lecture (I guessed so). He was not an enthusiastic member in our Media group. He even forgot to read the presentation before presenting. And everybody thought that he was a bad student.

But he was also the only person who made me laugh everyday. He was the first person who taught me how to speak the Standard English. He always sat next to me and we had funny discussions in every class. He also made a wonderful poster for our short film. And. Above all, he is my friend, Nick.

Today, we meet each others after the holiday with a warm hold. I realize that he was totally different. Oh my god! No joke, no smile, no headphone, no ipod, no boy! In front of me is a true man. He has not only changed his hair but also his mind. He says with me that he is going to leave here next week. He thought about his life during the holiday. He felt regretful about time that he has wasted. He advised me that I should enjoy my life, my age. I should study hard, think thoroughly and never give up my way. Oh god! I couldn’t believe that he is Nick that I’ve known. He’s totally changed.

At first, I’m extremely surprise. But then I feel very proud of him because he was brave enough to change himself. After that I’m so sad that I’m gonna cry. But he says that I should enjoy myself and I am a friend of mine. And even we are friends, one day we have to be separated. Friends come in your life and they will definitely go one day. His voice makes me…

Now, I think about what he said a lot. It is unbelievable. I just think that he can change, why I can’t. It is very happy when you have a friend who can awake you in your life. I was extremely impressed by him. His advice will be a strong motivation for my studying. I’m just really regretful because I won’t have a chance to see a better Nick in the future. But I know that he will be the best.

Some words for my friend: My friend! Good luck and best wishes for u! I wish u always happy and successful. You have to be a good person. You, Sina Nick Churchil, will become a legend like Sir Winston Leonard Spencer-Churchill. I’ll miss you so much. I’m happy because in this strange country I found a wonderful friend as you. It is you, Nick, my friend. Good bye and see you!

Nick, My wonderful friend

Let’s start a new term with a thinking that…

Everyone makes mistakes…

It’s nothing to be ashamed of

Don’t let this mistake do to waste

Be able to smile as you walk

Yes, I breathe the quiet air

And raise my face towards the sky and jump in!

- Naruto-

Lessons of the autumn Term

Lesson number one: Do not fear school

I know as students, our number one fear is always: will I pass? Have I done enough…..it is almost all we talk about when we talk about school. We go.. ‘oh the term was fantastic but am not sure of a certain essay…I hope I do well…’ For me, sometimes I just try to suppress it, but the fear is ever present. I have learnt this term that, that fear is healthy because it helps you work harder. However, in large doses, it affects our work badly because we get anxious. So I have learnt to always remind myself that I am only human and there is only so much I can do. If I have done all there is to do, then that will have to be enough. So this term, every time I have been afraid, I have studied harder so that when I write my essays, I have given it my best shot and my best will have to do. If it is not enough then….hehehe…I will just have to set an appointment with the lecturer to see what’s wrong.

Lesson number two: be willing to learn from everyone

The other day, I had dinner at my place and I invited people from different nationalities. There were Malawians, Americans, British, Ethiopians, Japanese, Italians, Zambians, Tanzanians…etc and after a wonderful dinner, we all sat down and talked about things that differed in our cultures and made us unique…it was fun…we discovered we all had funny practices, beautiful ones as well. And I learnt about groups of people or places I might never go to in my life time. So next time, when I am talking to someone I will look well travelled or at least well read when I start talking about the wedding ceremony in Qatar or funerals in Japan…lol

International Dinner

Lesson number 3: do not be passive but assertive

The problem with me is that sometimes, I can just give up before I try. I always think there is a better person who can do it better than me. I have learnt however that in whatever sphere in your life you have to try it before you give up. You never know, you might be the lucky one…so this term, I did that. I applied to be an international student ambassador of the University of Sussex even though my mind kept telling me, they won’t choose you….I did it anyway, and out of the many applicants I was chosen to be one of the ambassadors!!!! I am so happy. So now as well as writing about my experiences, I will be able to talk about them…..that will be so much fun!!!!!!!!

Okay…so now….since I have finally exhausted all I wanted to say….well actually, there is more, but am tired of typing…hahaha….I should say bye….but yeah…I still remember, I am supposed to tell you the third thing you may or may not know about me……I love music…if I am not working or in class….or reading, I have to have music…..so I really abuse my iPod…….I love the beats and the words…I swear, there is a song for every emotion….some songs just express everything you are thinking. The sad thing is, I can’t play any music instrument and I am an average singer…..so I can’t audition for xfactor…..but maybe that’s why I value it more…I can just admire it……:-)

Anyway, have a blast on New Year’s Day….I know I will!!!!!!

My favourite Christmas present

My Nephew's Snow Cake

A bit after midnight on the 18th of December, my flatmate and I discovered it was snowing in Brighton…..I don’t know about you but I love snow( when I can play in it). We couldn’t contain our excitement so we went outside and started to play in it. It was FUN!!!! It was also my nephew’s birthday so I sent him a snow cake…lol….I couldn’t do much else. The following day, we went to the beach and about town, it was snowing and Brighton looks lovely with snow…I think however, by the time the excitement ran out we were freezing and we just could not wait to get back home.

The following day, I went bowling with some friends. It was marking the last time we would spend together before we left for the holidays. I suck at bowling. Seriously, games are not my thing even though it’s strange that I learn all the rules and enjoy watching people play them… I lost quite badly but that is okay; I think because I accept the fact that games are not my thing, it never gets to me when I lose….I think I expect it..hahaha…

Anyway, on the 20th of December, I went to church and then came back and started packing……I hate packing but I had to do it…I was gonna leave on the 21st which was the next day. Initially, I was supposed to leave on the 22nd of December but I had had to change this. Earlier it had been announced that British Airways was going on a strike between the 22nd of December and 2nd January. I consequently changed mine to a day before even though later, it was announced that there would actually be no strike. When the day of my travel arrived, I decided to leave early knowing that the weather was bad so the bus would be slow. I gave myself two extra hours. So my plane was leaving at 12:35pm and I decided to leave my house at 7am. However, when I called the taxi’s, they made me wait for an hour and when I finally got on the bus, the pace it drove at seemed to be worse than that of a snail or is it a tortoise? I can’t blame them, the roads were bad. So a journey which was supposed to take a maximum of 2 hours took close to 4hours. When I finally got to the airport, I had missed my flight. When I told my friends they could not believe me….I am normally quite organised and time conscious and I had to tell them again and again just for them to believe me….Now, i can laugh, but on the day……I don’t have to spell it out……lol

Brighton in the snow

The situation at Heathrow was ridiculous. I know it is usually packed but I have never seen it like that. It was like a circus. After queuing for a while to change my flight again, I finally got my turn. The lady there told me that I could not be on another flight until the 24th so that I would get home on the 25th and actually not only miss Christmas but spoil it for my family. It was not planned and I had promised myself I would not cry, but the idea of missing Christmas when I was looking forward to it was saddening. Maybe it was also because I was gonna see my brother whom I hadn’t seen in over 2years…I started crying and she felt sorry for me and told me to come the next morning very early and queue for a standby ticket. Considering my experience when coming to the airport, I knew, if I went back I would not be back on time so I decided to stay. So for the first time in my life I spent a night in an airport…..believe me it wasn’t a great experience but I discovered then that even though I think I am not a Christmassy person, I think I am because I value the date, the meaning and the time I spend with my family. I was willing to spend that day there in those uncomfortable circumstances…..even though my family told me to go back and just arrive on Christmas. So I think for me, this experience helped me remember the value of Christmas…………and I might not be the merry Christmassy person but whether I agree or not, I think my heart knows I love Christmas.

Anyway, just so you know how it ended….I queued the following day from 5am till 13pm and managed to get a seat on a flight. When I finally boarded, it felt like a miracle. When I arrived in Japan, my brother’s plane had not yet arrived so I had to wait for 5 hours for him because my parents could not make it…it felt like though through-out my whole trip, I was just waiting. But it was a lovely reunion. And I got to spend Christmas with my family. For me, spending Christmas with them has been the best present ever……I hope you guys also had a great great time with family or friends.

Now, I know I always analyse my year or term or whatever…and I am sorry if it bores you….I think it’s a side effect of being a law student…we are forever analysing stuff…..so then my next post will be “Lessons of the autumn Term”.

How I spent my Christmas……..

Dressing up at Christmas

Okay, so let me make a confession, I am NOT a Christmas person. I think the idea of eating loads of food, being all merry and seeing red everywhere is just too much for me. I do love the presents and everything, which is a bad thing to say but unfortunately, it’s the truth. I did once love it, when I was a child and there was so much mystery attached to it. But as I grew older, I lost that spirit. It became for me ‘oh its Christmas again…let’s do the shopping.’ This is the complete opposite of my mom…she loves Christmas…she fusses over it and makes the dinner…she is just so so merry….This year, however, I think she sent some of the merry dust my way…hehehe!!

At the end of autumn term there was much school work to be done, it seemed like I was just in books…if I was not reading them, I was thinking about them but I didn’t let this get in the way…This year, surprisingly enough, I was looking forward to Christmas and I think I spent the Christmas season quite well in all areas.

Let me begin with my time at work: At the bookshop, my boss noticed that I was so cheery, saying merry Christmas to everyone…hehehe… and whenever my colleagues would become serious, I would tell them to cheer up…it’s Christmas!!! It was not easy to maintain this. You can imagine there was a lot of shopping to be done so we had a lot of customers and thus one would get tired but I was determined. Before I left for the Christmas holiday, we all shared a cake and had us a lovely time.

Christmas Dinner

At school, they put up a big Christmas tree in front of our library. I think it’s to remind people that although there is much reading to be done, don’t forget its Christmas. On top of this, I went to the Christmas carol service. It was good singing and we shared some mulled wine and mince pies which seemed to be part of the Christmas carol service here that I did not know about. Loved them.

At my new house,…the season was just fantastic. We had two Christmas dinners. There was loads of food and we had us a great time, playing games and just being silly. We dressed up in attires and after the fun we had, I think one sure way to feel Christmassy is to dress for it. I felt as if I was a Christmas tree on which the lights had just been turned on. It was a beautiful experience. The bad thing that happened was however, that I dropped a mug in the kitchen and the handle of that mug fell off and hit the oven glass and it smashed it…I still can’t believe how a small thing could smash such thick glass but there we are. The result of this was that we could not roast our turkey so we had to buy an already roast one……

Shopping, oooohh boy, this was terrific!! My friends and I decided we would go to London for shopping. We knew it would be extra extra busy…but that’s part of the fun right (……and that’s a plus for choosing Sussex…you can go to London anytime……lol…that’s cheeky….but true…) anyway, London was beautiful. The lights were amazing and we had loads of fun.

I had more fun at my Church…I went to our church Christmas ball and had another Christmas dinner…gosh looking

Church Christmas Dinner

back…I have eaten quite alot, haven’t I? lol…but it’s Christmas and I think its allowed. Anyway, we had fun there, eating then dancing…too bad I didn’t have a date….but neither did my friends so that was cool. I noticed one thing we differ greatly between Africans and the British is the dancing. It took a while to get the hang of things but I think I finally got there……..at least I think so…my friends would disagree…..lol

…What else did I do…..oh yeah, I finally had to leave to go off to see my parents but that’s a long story on its own

CHRISTMAS DINNER

I’ll never forget today, the first time that I have chance to try a Christmas Dinner!!!!!

Ladies…

Tomorrow, all of my neighbours will come back their home, thus today we decided to have a Christmas dinner before my friends leave. In Vietnam Christmas is not a traditional event and we also don’t have the Christmas dinner. So today I’m really happy to try it with my nice friends.

Oh my god! At 5:30, the kitchen became very busy and crowded. All people joined in preparing the food and all kitchen tools were used to cook this dinner. Erin, the girl stand in the middle is the chief cook. Oh! She is so nice and her food is really amazing.

We prepared lots of food. We had 2 chickens instead of a big turkey! That’s fine. We also have many vegetable, sausages and bread. The work is so busy that we have to use all of the saucepans and oven that we have.

Erin with Banoffe pie

The most interesting is that I learned the way to make 3 types of cake he he. They are Mince pies, Banoffe pie and another I can’t remember it’s name. Oh these cakes are really yummy. Hopefully, in the future I can make them by myself.

Before eating, we decorate the table first with lots of candle and play the crackle. It was the first time I play this game. It is interesting and I won ha ha. And here is the dinner. Wow it is so nice.

The table before dinner

Oh! I’ll never forget tonight. Now I’m really happy not only because of delicious food but also the things that I’ve learn. I know how a Christmas dinner is, how to make yummy cakes. But more importantly, I realise that now I have a true family. When every people cooked together, ate together, took photos together, talked together, laughed together, I felt really happy. I know that I’m living in the love of all of my friends who are also my sisters and my brothers (because I’m just 17), like a real family. I just want to say thanks to all of my friends because they always take care about me. I really respect them. Mr. Farthing in the Welcoming International Student party said that: Welcome all of you to the Sussex family. The phrase “family” now I understood…

I’ll never forget this moment…

Meet Hank

Hi!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

International Student Hank from Vietnam

Hi everybody, I’m Hank. My friend Nick always calls me Tom Hank because it is easier to remember my name (^^). I’m really happy to become a member of this wonderful blog. Nice to meet all of u!!!!!!!!!!

I’m from Vietnam, a small beautiful in the south east of Asia. My country is so hot with many shining beaches and friendly people (like me > <). Believe me! Vietnam is really really great place to travel. Hope that u could have chance to visit my country. I’m sure to be a free tour-guide for u!

About me! I’m 17. I’m studying Media in the Foundation course. Oh I think this course is so interesting and this year I will make a short film. I certainly show this film in our blog when it is completed. I PROMISE! Uhm…

I’m funny and good at cooking and I hope to have more and more friends from all over the world!!!!!!!!!!!

About Sussex!!!!! I’ve just been here for 2 months, 7 days, 18 hours and 36 minutes. Everything is not easy for me. But I’m satisfied with my new life. And I just want to say: I LOVE SUSSEX!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Back to Uni….2nd Year..Yaaayyy!!!

Last year, when  I was in my first year and people told me that if I thought 1^st year was hard then 2^nd year would just be terrible,  I thought they  were just playing and trying to scare me!! I mean what could be harder than starting a new year on a course that was quite strange….. but boy have I been proved wrong! This year is so so hard.

After a lovely summer holiday, most of which I spent here in Brighton, working, I was quite excited to get back to school. The holiday had given me adventure through the visits and adventures I had had. I had had time to refresh and I was now looking forward to starting my second year. My results were really really good but I was now geared to further improvement.

Anyway, so you know I am living off campus now. I live half way to school and halfway to town. Anyway, on the first day of school, I was excited and even though it was raining, I didn’t feel it that much. I was so very happy. So, my flatmate, Funlola and I went to our bus stop to wait for the bus to Uni. Oh my goodness, the wait was long. All the buses passing by to go to university were full. We waited for an hour and still no available bus. We tried to call for a taxi and even for taxi’s they told us to wait 30mins. It appeared as if the whole city was trying to get to the university. Anyway, we finally got to class, thirty minutes late. I was a bit disappointed but I didn’t let that get me down. The next day though, I left much earlier!!

My new family!!!

My first week was hectic! Not only was I trying to establish a new routine, but I realised as well that this year was going to be different.  I got this impression after I sat in a lecture room and literally got nothing from it. I mean, I could understand individual sentences but to make sense of them was just another matter entirely. I am now having to go through my notes a lot just to keep on top of things. Thus, I think it will not be hard to achieve my resolution of studying throughout I have to read whether I like it or not!

This is definitely not something we as students are happy about! Many of my friends find themselves missing being a fresher! There is just so much to do and everyone’s attitude in class seems to have changed. Everyone is working and this just adds on the pressure! It has not been easy honestly, school on its own even. I feel like I am not where I am supposed to be but I am trying to comfort myself by telling myself that I can only do my best. I can’t do more. What is more challenging, however, is that I have to juggle it with work. The fact is, I can easily give up my job to concentrate on school but I am so attached to my work buddies and I enjoy working, so I don’t know what to do seriously. Right now though, I am trying to find a way to make both things work for me….we will see …

Anyway, that all for now…I will leave with the second thing you may or may not know about me. Well here is another one:

I am a bookworm. Once I curl up with a book, I can’t move. I love reading so much. Lately, I don’t even find the same satisfaction in movies. A lot of people around me think it’s boring but I don’t care…I think I learn so much!! So if you add the fact that I am currently studying a lot and I do wear glasses….I might just be called a nerd…hahahaha….and yeah…am proud to be a NERD!!!!

Later!!!

My 22nd Birthday

My flat mates and I in our house, after my dinner!!!

I think it is surprising or strange that I felt more excited about this birthday than I did when I was turning 21. Everyone places so much importance on the 21st birthday, for me it seemed quite ordinary, but this one, this one felt like that special one!!! For me, it sort of marked so clearly the fact that I am now a woman. I felt so hyped and I think I spread the virus because all of my friends were just saying how exciting this year would be…

I wanted to dress up for the day. Usually in my country, I used to dress up a lot, for church, weddings and just because I felt like it. But since I came here, I am mostly in casual wear. I decided to finally dress up. No one here had ever actually seen me with any make up or anything…so maybe the excitement was called for…lol!!

My Birthday Party

Anyway, when the clock struck midnight on the 9th of October, I was in our living room and my flatmates were singing happy birthday to me. It was good start of the day. I went to bed rather reluctantly shortly afterwards because it was going to be a busy day. In the morning, my flatmate Yukako made me a cup of spiced chai tea which is my favourite hot drink. I was so so happy. Later, I went to university for my two classes. I had crepe for lunch which once again is one of my favourites. The only hiccup in the day was the fact that the weather was really horrible. But we didn’t let that put us down. We went shopping and thereafter to the pier for a few games. I really really suck at games but I at least won one so that was okay. It was so much fun. After this, we had to have our dinner. We got home to get prepared. I can’t believe it, still, that I wore heels. I hadn’t worn heels in two years. It was a wonder I did not fall down. But I would like to think it was worth it cause we did look nice…cheeky, huh?! ..lol

On my way to the restaurant, guess who called. One of my very good friends from Malawi, Priscilla Mvula! AAAAAHHHH!!!! I was shocked because it is really expensive. I was dazzled and for me nothing could go wrong and it seemed nothing would top that. When we finally got to days restaurant, it was great. We had so much to eat. I mean Days Restaurant is just like a food mansion really. Then I had my surprise cake….that was definitely at the same level with Priscilla. The whole restaurant was singing happy birthday. Oh and I forgot, when I got there, my friends got me to wear some birthday things….I really did feel like a birthday princess!!

My Surprise Birthday Cake

The presents were amazing! My friends know me quite well and I am glad I loved them all! When we finally got home it was midnight. It seemed to me this was my best day this year! My friends are seriously a rare treasure to me and I thank God for them!

After all this happiness, the next day it was time for a reality check. School had started on the 5th and I had not been paying much attention because I was so hyped about my birthday. Now it was time to face it all……….(sigh)

 

Home Sickness

If I didn’t write this, I would give any international student half of the story. If I am not honest about this, I would call myself a liar…

Home sickness! Yes, I want to write about homesickness because I think every international student faces it and tries to deal with it! I don’t know how others deal with it but let me take you on a journey into my world and how I handle it. In doing so I need to state firstly, how I feel when I am home sick?

Well, when I am home sick I feel a yearning for my family, the love we share and even the arguments. I miss my friends, mainly the conversations with them-I don’t know about you but my very close friends and I have developed a way in which we speak to each other which just makes things extra funny!- So yeah, I miss that!

I hunger for the food. The funny thing about this is that even if I cook a Malawian dish here, it still tastes different from that in my country. Even if I mix everything as I did back home, something still seems to be missing. I also generally just miss my life in Malawi. It is different the way I live here and the way I do in Malawi. Sometimes, I even want the silly things that made my life irritating like the really bad heat in summer in my country..

What triggers home sickness?

It can seriously be anything. Sometimes, the feeling just creeps on you when you are chatting with friends and you remember something similar. Sometimes it’s even caused by a silly thing like a song you are listening to or a thing that happens. Sometimes, it’s a big thing like the differences in culture. You just feel like no one really gets you and even if they do, you need to explain it so much; it’s too late when they finally understand! Actually the culture thing is really big because it is principles that are well embedded in people that seem to be clashing. At other times, it is the language barrier. I am quite fluent in English to the extent that I might call it my first language because I have been speaking it since I was in nursery school. However at other times, you just want to express yourself in your language because you think the words will be better related in it and even if you try to say it in English, you feel as if the meaning has altered. This may be frustrating at times.

Language is also really a big thing. It can really be intimidating to speak in the midst of people who have English as their mother tongue. Especially if they are as confident as many British. For me, it took a while to finally start participating in seminars. I think it is more a psychological barrier than anything else because once you get over the initial shyness, you realise when you start speaking and don’t care about the different accent, that people do not laugh at you at all but even if they were to comment, I have a reply in my head all made up….I haven’t had a chance to use it..lol…but anyway here it is…I would say, “ I don’t have an accent, you do.” Because really everyone has an accent and whose to say which one is right??

Anyway, how to handle homesickness:

Honestly, I don’t think you can ever handle home sickness. As long as you are not home or somewhere like that, you will always miss it. . At times, when I feel like this I brush the feeling off and other times I nurture it…..hahaha…sad isn’t it. Yeah, I play songs that remind me of home or just really sad ones, I look at photos and just become gloomy!

At times it feels worse than other times and all you want to do is get out of here and go home. Today is my one such day and hence the blog… in most cases like these, I call home just so I talk to my bunch of favourites or I find talking about Malawi with other Malawians I know here often helps because then I realise either

a) I am not the only one being home sick or

b) my brain is amplifying everything to heights that are unreal thus making me remember things in a much better way than they were.

But other times, it’s a mild throb you can brush off by doing anything apart from having an idle brain!

This all sounds pessimistic! And even when I look at it myself, I’m like: Oh gosh…is it really that bad?! But whatever it is I just want to say, if ever there was a person who could not have handled all of this, then it’s me. The funny thing about me is that there are some areas I am sssooo ssoo strong and others am as soft as they come. Home is my weakness. Family is just that soft in me. Growing up, I can’t say I was spoiled but I grew up in a close family with a lot of love. When I was going to leave, my mom could not picture it being a success. My whole family’s concern was: how will you manage being so far with no one? And for me I am really alone. No aunts, or cousins or whatever. I remember once I got really sick and my teacher had to take me to the hospital. So I am the worst case scenario. This should give anyone hope really. If I manage to live a happy and rich life then surely anyone can manage. Plus, I know I sound like a broken record because I say this often but it’s because it’s true. The people here are nice and I think if I didn’t have such people around me it would be worse. I may not have my family here, or Malawi nearby, but I like to think I have another family now and my birthday was evidence of that fact!

My decision to come to Sussex University

I know when a person reaches 18 or ‘that age’ it seems like there is a chain around the throat that parents seem to be squeezing tighter and tighter. You just want to breathe and be free and the best way to escape is to choose a university that is as far away from them as possible so that you can only see them when you want to and in most cases just to ask for money. I understand this because a lot of people around me feel that way…I think it’s called adolescence by adults…and ‘I am now a grown up, Mom!’ by us!! Lol…

For me however, I loved being close to home. My parents have never been strict so distance was the last thing I wanted. So when my dad told me he was going to be looking for a university that had a great reputation in United Kingdom, I wasn’t exactly jumping out of my chair. For me, it seemed at that time as the worst thing that would happen to me. Suddenly, I would be trying to settle in a new place, make new friends…it seemed at the time to be a disaster.

When we found Sussex, I liked the idea that it was near the beach as I like water and it had been voted the best place to be by students. We also had to look at its security which is quite high! Believe me, if I was going to move to a place far from home, I wanted some place safe and nice so that fitting in would not have to be a struggle.

Its a beautiful place to be as well!!

At first when I read all the good things people were writing about it , I thought this was all talk, everyone said nice things about it…I was like… ‘this can NOT be seriously true.’ So while everyone around me seemed to be excited, I dragged my feet throughout the whole process of application. When I was told I had to do a foundation year so that I ease well into the community, I thought it would be a waste of time. I just wanted the whole thing over and done with. So I never really appreciated the fact that all my correspondence with the ISC was efficient…I didn’t care. But somewhere along the way I had reached an understanding with my parents that it was the best thing for me to do and I had decided to give it a go!

So at the airport, I cried buckets. I couldn’t believe I was leaving. My flight was a blur, all I could think of was the family and friends I left behind and I wondered what would happen if the people in Brighton were mean and I hated everything…I had sssoooo many fears. When we got to Heathrow I cried again….In my head I was thinking, ‘I cant believe this will be my home for the next 4 years.’ It seemed like forever!! My taxi driver however, was really friendly…maybe he saw my gloomy face, and I swear my heart was in my stomach.

Sussex offers a friendly environment to all!!

I think my fears started fading when I got to the entry way of Sussex University and saw they wrote welcome in different languages. For me, this was a sign that this was a campus that was used to having a lot of international students and wanted them all to feel welcome. And then I met the residential advisor who was really nice…in fact I don’t believe I met someone who was mean. I don’t really care if they were trained to be nice; the fact is you actually feel welcome and that I guess is what matters. But still, I had not gone to the ISC and that’s what mattered.

When I got there I loved the teachers, the administration…and believe me I know I sound so positive and you think this can NOT be seriously true, but it is. What started out as a nightmare was turning out to be a good deal. In fact I ended up having a wonderful year at ISC and made a lot of friends!! The staff was not biased but truthfully strove to find ways to help you reach your potential. I remember Paul Lovegrove, my head of department said, if you work hard and attend all classes you will pass….so that’s what I did.

However I will say this: A lot of people have been writing to me asking about ISC and Sussex University and I will say what I always tell them: you have to be willing to do some work. The teachers do their best but they can’t pass for you. If you do some work, you will make it. Your nationality does not matter…what matters is your attitude. The questions and fears you should have is whether you are willing to learn, because if you are…it might be not so hard because the teachers will easily guide you through! However, if you just want to have fun (because there is a lot to do for fun), then you will have fun but then you might fail. The trick is to work hard and have a good time!!

The thing I have discovered however after one year as an undergraduate in the University is that one never really appreciates the foundation year until you get into university. For me even, I just wanted to get through with it…in other ways it was a means to an end….however, ever so often in my first year of Law, I would think: ‘ Gosh if I had not done my foundation, this would have been harder!!’ I guess more so now than ever I thank the ISC for what it gave me!

I have asked myself a lot of times whether I regret coming here!! Well, Obviously NOT!! I feel privileged that I have graced the campus of Sussex. Before I came here I was always so goal oriented. I wanted to be a lawyer and I worked hard to get there. I doubt I enjoyed the whole process much. I kept telling myself that I would enjoy when I finally got to be a lawyer.

A glimpse of the Uni

Being at Sussex has taught me that learning is an experience. It is not just about school but all that happens on the way.-The finding of houses, paying of bills, having fun with friends and so much more. When I look at what I have learnt in the past year, it is sssoooooo much to put in words. I learn more even when I do my part time job at a bookshop…the environment there gives me an opportunity to relate to other people who are not students….It is amazing. When I talk to my mom who I very much look up to…she always says she is happy about all the different areas I am growing..She believes this is making me a fully rounded person…and I agree with her. Honestly, I don’t know what the future holds but I am currently enjoying my way there.

I am not saying I don’t get home sick or moan about some things, but I am learning of ways to live happily with all this….Life can not be perfect but if I have a happy life that is all that matters!!

I know I haven’t talked much about my summer holidays…I will…just watch this space!!!

And I know I said I would write the list of 25 things you may or may not know about me…well I’ll do it slowly….for today here is one:

I LOVE earrings sssoooo much!!!!! I don’t think it’s healthy anymore! It has reached a point that if I forget to wear some, I have to stop somewhere to buy a pair before I reach my destination! My mom thinks by the time I’m 25 I will actually have a whole suitcase full.. hahaha….I know its vain…but just as chocolate is some people’s weakness…earrings are mine:)