Well, I am drawing close to the end of my time in Lincoln and to the end of my life as an undergraduate. So I thought that is was probably time to evaluate my situation or whatever.
As many of you know I moved for my final year of study after the breakdown of a long term relationship and to be honest this has been one of the major contributing factors to how I have experienced Lincoln (how could it not be?).
When I moved to Lincoln I knew two people (and only one of those well) but given their work and school related time constraints I have spent very little time with them and have had to go and make my own fun. This is actually unbelievably easy (especially if you show little or no signs of discrimination between different people; German, French, English even Portuguese!). I consider this to be the best part of Lincoln, of course I have enjoyed my studies more than in recent years but the people I met more people in my first month in Lincoln than I managed in 3 years in Cambridge.
Other things that I will remember about Lincoln are Steep Hill, the fact that there is always some club offering a "student night" and illegally living in my house (it should not have been sub-let without the express permission of whoever owns it!). These things, however cannot really be evaluated. So they won't be.
Studying has been much better this year, much to my own amazement I have regularly attended class and even know my tutors names. This is a completely alien experience for me especially as I have so far to walk in to university this year (10mins, compared to being able to see when my classroom was filling up from my bedroom window in Cambridge).
One of the key ways being recently singled in a new town has affected how I approach life is that literally every girl I have met here has been seen (initially at least) as a potential long term life partner/soul mate. This is exactly opposite to how I approached life in Cambridge where any girl I met would be treated with caution and then, if I decided I liked them, she would be rushed away to safety before my girlfriend got her hands on her or myself! (I want to point out that they were in no actual danger, it just felt that way sometimes!). This "everyone could be the one" approach has not only been massively counterproductive but has also landed me in a little bit of trouble on the rare occasions I have been showing any (sort of) signs of success. Probably best to wait until I'm sure and then pool all my resources rather than willfully throw my eggs all over the place and leaving myself with an empty basket (not a disgusting euphemism). Other people my age (friends and non-friends (whatever that means?!)) seem to be settling down and having kids, I find this (without a hint of irony) unsettling. I worry that I am being left behind as I pursue the impossible dream of a life less ordinary (perhaps I want a life more ordinary?).
The problem is not that I haven't enjoyed myself, quite to the contrary, I think I have had more fun than ever before. My grades have improved immeasurably (that is a lie, it is perfectly possible to measure the rates of change in my academic success) and I have met all sorts of great people from all over the world that I can now happily count amongst my friends. The downside is that after so many years of banality, under achievement and comfort it is very difficult to properly adjust to a life where I do not have a definitive plan. Where will I be this time next year? Who will I be with? What will I be doing? (most importantly) What do I need to get there? None of these questions and less had to be answered less than a year ago. To be perfectly frank it is terrifying (albeit exciting to).
As it stands I am looking to be in another new city next year, which means having to do all this "friend-making" over again, but hopefully the lessons that I have learned about single life will come there with me, as I really don't fancy doing them again.
