Looking Back on Simpler Times

By Unknown - 03:52

With a few of my friends soon turning 19 I've been feeling exceedingly reminiscent. Around this week, seven years ago, it would be my first day of secondary school at Mullion Comprehensive, my brother would be in year ten and my sister in her final year - and at the time she was a pain in the arse to live with. I was some geeky year seven kid, long ash blonde hair, a little on the chubby side and with my two closest friends beside me - Charlie and Courtney - ready to see what trouble we could get ourselves into that year.

We'd come from Garras Primary School of about 40 something pupils - with exactly seven of us in our year. This is three of us out of the four girls that went to Garras - Alex, Charlie and I - on my 11th birthday!

When we arrived we heard a speech on 1000 days at secondary school and by year eleven, very few of us had actually attended our one thousand days.


My tutor group was brilliant - we were all not quite matched together and we had an amazing tutor. I saw him - and also 'Rombo' my Art teacher at school (Mr Rainbow) - when I was working the other day and I think that added to my nostalgia. I was a misfit, a closet attention seeker (as in, I was shy and unconfident but if I wanted attention I'd do anything - whether told to by another pupil, whether it was stupid, ridiculous - I'd do it to get it). I was a little on the weird side and I think people just generally found me quite strange and annoying. Which I totally accept. But, then again, that didn't stop me miraculously being voted as Yestin Girls House Captain - my thanks probably go to a girl who stalked me, she was in year 8 and licked windows on the bus. She's a strangely intelligent girl, and I'm pretty certain she managed to convince her tutor group to vote for me - because I certainly didn't make any speeches to them, or anyone that I can recall. But I won the pancake race for that house! The photo to the right is of myself, Charlie and my friend Michelle who I haven't seen since February this year. This must have been year 8 or 9!

My friend Charlie, whom I met almost 11 years ago now, is celebrating her nineteenth birthday in ten days time. We have an impressive collection of memories to reflect upon, from year three to now. I can still remember her as the girl with Harry Potter shaped glasses, wearing purple chords and some other dodgy clothes. She was also an amazing gymnast, runner and also did Judo. She's now the same old Charlie but has more time on her hands to play Sim's. Together we've helped each other out of tough situations - like the time I helped her out of her sleeping bag when we were on holiday in Bude - she climbed in upside down and couldn't get back out. I think I cried of laughter when I heard her whimpering from the other room. We've experienced traumas - watching her Mum's rabbit die at 4am because it shagged the other rabbit too much and ate it's hair, we tried to do something, even call an emergency vet. We also had to deal with the traumatic experience of her hamsters eye falling out...yeah I have no idea how that happened either. And we've most definitely had the most hilarious of times - ones that probably only the two of us actually find hilarious. I find it strange that she's almost 19, it doesn't seem like we've been alive for that long - 19 years, where did the time go?
One of the few photos we actually have of us at college. Photos of my boyfriend, Charlie and I are often referred to as the 'Happy Couple - oh and Issy' their running affair joke.

Going to college also seemed like a huge step two years ago - I remember a conversation my boyfriend and I had about whether we'd managed to stay together throughout college. 2 years later, we're now asking the same question about University, but it seems much harder to comprehend how this time round. We're extremely close, and willing to try hard to make it work, so, as we did with college, we're allowing our relationship to just go with the flow.

I made only one close friend when I was at college, and she's brilliant, but I'm pretty sure University will help me make life long friends like Charlie, well I really hope it will anyway. 

University to me feels like the true stepping stone to adulthood - even when you've graduated you're still not quite there. I've heard of people who meet the person they marry, the friends they remain so close to and create the most amazing memories, all at Uni. 

I, personally, am more excited about the end of University than the beginning, it's what I do. I look too far beyond things and get ahead of myself. Although, it's not like I want to skip Uni and get to the real job stuff - I'm still really excited. Of course, I don't look far enough beyond to know what I want to be, I still repeat the same words as if I were a small child 'I wonder what I'll be when I grow up'. 

What I've learnt from the growing up I've done so far is that I never truly hated school, it was the simplest times of my life that I have clear recollection of. The exams were easy, the people were immature and things were exceedingly fun, never remotely serious. I haven't done nearly enough growing up yet, I still take people for granted, expect things from people that needn't be expected. I can be rude, insecure, nosey, annoying and so on. I'm not suggesting any of this will change as I grow up, but I can only hope that my experiences throughout University - the beginning of less simpler times - will ground me as a person, teach me life skills for the 'real world' and point me in the direction I'm supposed to be heading.
MissIsGoode

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