It's my third weekend at Keele and we're still trying our hardest to live like we did during freshers week. We cough and announce we're 'dying', but we stay up late and continue to visit the infamous SU shot bar.

I make life as a student seem pretty easy going - drinking this much is far from glamorous but it sure is fun. In the thick of it, I have a lot of reading to do already and it's been called a 'light load'. This is realisation dawning. A degree is referred to as a full time job - meaning you need to do about 40 hours of reading a week, yes I said 40 hours of reading, on top of a pretty easy 8-10 hours class time a week. Basically, we shouldn't be going out Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday, but hey it's only the end of the second week...

The second years who have been unlucky enough to be dumped in a block with us freshers are telling us we'll regret the way we're drinking in year two, and have no choice but to calm down. We sneer at these remarks because - well we're normally drunk when they say it - but because we can.

I'm still having the utmost fun here at Keele with the work and the social life. The walk to the Keele SU from Hawthorns has become a burden when drunk, but the cheesy chips we seem unable to resist make the whole night so worth it.

When we go to the SU we seem to be instantly drawn to the shot bar, this is heaven and hell itself. £1 a shot is wonderful, but we can tell we've had too much when we say 'give us a mixture of everything'. This phrase has caused me to have very many weird dreams, Friday night I woke up and hugged my mirror because I thought my friends boyfriend had taken it because it was better than the one she had. I'd advise taking a full length mirror to uni with you, just don't let people steal it (he didn't actually take it, I'm just protective and wary now).

So far I'm also spending my student loan quite wisely, only about £40 of it has actually been spent. That may seem like I've had about a £1 shot each night and then haven't eaten, but working at Sainsbury's really bulked up my finances. I also couldn't help but finally buy myself some Vans. I'm already far too attached to them, at 4am this morning I decided they were too good for the floor, called them God and sat them upon my computer chair. The shot bar didn't even make me do that, it was just a high level of respect for my shoes.

Work wise, I'm getting my head round tutorials, lectures, seminars and workshops. Having to speak up and give your opinion in tutorials and seminars is hard to get used to, there's no right or wrong answer when it comes to literature. It's your analysis of the passage from a book or the sonnet you've interpreted in your own way that's going to start a class discussion, and starting a debate is always good.

The teaching at university is also exactly how I wanted it to be, though they have wisdom and knowledge beyond our years they come across as on our level, they'd much rather hear what we have to say than sit and talk at us whilst we remain silent.

Overall, my first real week of my degree - though still very basic and dealing with introductions - hasn't scared me away. I'm intrigued and I look forward to my 2 hour workshop on Tuesday - I'm not even joking, I actually am. I hope everyone's feeling that their degree and their university is living up to their expectations, as so far I'm completely satisfied with Keele - except the events...why is fancy dress on a Wednesday and not a Saturday?!

MissIsGoode