Having to hit the ground running

Last September I turned up 13 minutes late on my first day at university. Forgetting I had moved to one of the biggest and busiest cities in the country, I assumed that 30 minutes would be more than enough time to travel no more than three and a half miles by bus—I was wrong. So as some form of cruel punishment, I had to do that mortifying half-run-half-walk we all know and hate. Luckily for me, I was not the only one on the course battling the concrete jungle that is Manchester city centre.

The first few weeks were mostly awkward and somewhat intimidating. Trying to make friends as an adult is not as simple as it was at primary school, however, having a ‘spoons’ (Weatherspoons) only a few minutes walk from campus never fails to initiate conversation. The nervous smiles and nods exchanged—that translated to ‘I have no idea what your name is but we are 3 weeks in and it would be far too awkward to ask you your name now’—soon turned into conversation and laughter.