Saturday 9 March 2013

"Life Is Like A Camel's Back..."

Okay, so I made that quote up. But it definitely applies to my life right now. Hopefully you'll understand my little analogy by the end of this post!

The past few weeks have been quite exciting. If my life was a newspaper, the headline would be 'DURHAM OFFER!' with a tearful picture of me holding my acceptance letter in a very Bridgend-Gem-esque manner. 

In other words, I could potentially moving up North (and I mean proper up North where they say 'rate' instead of 'right') in 6 months. Writing that has given myself a slap in the face from my good friend Reality. Ouch. Better get revising!

In Durham, you are sorted into a college (where you live) after you have been given a place to study your desired subject (mine being English Lit). I like to think of it in Harry Potter terms, Hogwarts being Durham and the houses (Gryffindor etc) being the colleges.

As I waited for the e-mail telling me which college I had been allocated to, I genuinly felt like Harry when he has the sorting hat on, and is begging it not to put him in Slytherin. Seriously, I had a nightmare the day before I was allocated where I was put into Trevelyan (the equivalent to Hufflepuff in my head) and woke up in a state of panic.

Thankfully, this was not to be. No offence to any Trevelyan people out there, I'm sure your college is lovely really (!)

I was allocated St Hild and St Bede, which I am pretty happy about after researching it about, so I thought I would share a couple of pictures with you. Alternatively you could be even nosier and google it yourself, whatever.






Despite the lovely surroundings, I was quite upset when I found out that St Hild and St Bede is one of the only colleges in Durham not to wear gowns (basically Harry Potter cloaks) to formals. Since I have to buy a gown anyway for matriculation (big word for officially joining the uni) I may as well get some use out of it. 

Maybe I should walk around in it all the time anyway, humming the Harry Potter theme tune as I go. I'll be known as the Crazy Cloak Lady. That has a ring to it, don't you think? 

My other slight concern is that the college is known for its intake of 'rah's' and its sporting prowess. Since I am not a 'rah' and certainly have not been blessed with sporting ability, let alone balance, I wonder if I will be a bit out of my comfort zone.

However, they stressed on their college video that they encourage everyone to take part in sports, no matter their ability. They might want to retract this statement after I join, as I fully intend on joining the rowing team as the 'cox' aka the person that tells everyone else to row whilst they enjoy the ride. Watch out Rio 2016!

This is where my little 'Camel's Back' analogy comes in. Hopefully, you would realise that my Durham offer made me happy. However, as I have experienced in the last few days, disappointment rears its ugly head just when you least expect it to. To make this part slightly less depressing, here's a picture of a camel smiling. You're welcome.




I don't want to go into great detail about my trials of life, as they are completely trivial when you think about people in developing countries, but nevertheless, I will briefly summarise them.

Thursday was results day. I had resat my German AS after being convinced by my teachers that you always improve in a language. I still think this is true, and have definitely seen a big improvement in my attempts to 'spreche Deutsch', but my result certainly did not show this. Somehow, I got 14 marks less than before, which was a bit of a surprise and a knock.

Then, that same day, I had my driving theory test. I went up with two friends from Bridgend, Morgan and Tom, and they passed whilst I failed by one mark. I didn't even think it was possible to fail theory, but apparently so. 

Since I had already foolishly made a deal with the other two, that whoever gets the highest mark gets their meal paid for by the others, I then had to fork out for half of Morgan's meal. When it was time to pay, my card was rejected at first, and I told the waiter that the world was against me. Evidently thinking I was being dramatic, he asked why. Bad move.

After ranting at him whilst he desperately tried to work the card machine, he concluded 'well I haven't passed an exam in my life but the one I have passed was my driving theory!' Ever heard the saying 'rubbing salt in the wound'? There's the definition.

Then, after enduring never-ending mocking on the way home ('Sarah, what does that sign mean?' Hahahahaha.) I realised that the Eisteddfod was the next day, and I was meant to be playing piano, and hadn't practiced my piece in about a week.

So, in short, I came last. Not because I played badly, as despite my lack of practice, I played it quite well. To put things in perspective, someone playing a grade 3 piece beat me playing a grade 8 piece. 

When I asked the judge after why I placed where I did, she responded that she's played the piece, thought I interpreted it wrong, and told me to do a more clinical aka boring one next year. Except there won't be a next year. Thanks a lot, judge-that-shall-remain-nameless.

This is why life is like a camel's back. There are ups and downs, but that's just how life is. If a camel didn't have it's humps it would be like an ugly horse. 

I'll leave you with that strange mental image, and the song I've been listening to one repeat whilst writing this. Whenever I hear it, I immediately think of The O.C. - loved that show! Enjoy.


2 comments:

  1. I bet you are feeling better after writing about all this. Yes, this trials are nothing compare to the rest of the world, but they are important to you. At least you are able to do your driving before having children - don't recommend it =). About the exams& tests:it is insane sometimes, I've passed my music exam with OU on sheer prayer, didn't have much clue what I was doing. All the music teachers were cursing & smoking nervously, prior. I could not be bothered to stress out at that point. And I did pass. However, I was a really good driver & I kept failing one driving test after another. Go figure! I hope these trials will make you stronger & better... thank you for sharing.

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    1. I do haha! Yes, I really just want to get it over and done with before I go to uni. Yeah, its funny how things work out! All part of God's plan though! :) Thanks for reading :)

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