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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

Does anyone miss being a student?

100 replies

Sammy900 · 09/09/2018 00:38

I know I'm not being unreasonable because I love being a mum ;p and I love my job, family life (stop me if I'm wrong) but I do miss it...

It's that time of year again, new pens, new folders :) new learning - my little one is experiencing this now which is awesome and it's her turn....

Aaah Uni - remember the procrastinating, the cramming, the not sleeping or eating properly for 3 days, living off coffee and fags to get an assignment finished. Not being able to even nip to the shop because essay time was critical at that point. My mum used to send me food parcels up in a taxi so I didn't have to leave the house sometimes (lucky)!

The relief when you finally got to the end and just had references to do so you could open the vino and play some music (at 4am), 50 research articles and books spread all over the floor.

Hallucinating or going numb from the lack of sleep required to do so ha...walk of shame at the end finally handing it in and zombie central on the way home- main aim BED!

I had a grand finale when I realized that I had 8 days to re-write my whole independent study as I had gone off on a tangent with two of the chapters - waaaahhhhh ...I also had a last minute binding breakdown when I accidently chopped my project up once

aaah those were the days

OP posts:
LoniceraJaponica · 09/09/2018 00:41

No. I was a student in Leeds during the Yorkshire Ripper years. It was scary and impacted on our social lives significantly.

chitterchitter3322 · 09/09/2018 00:46

Oh my god, YES!!!

Especially Y9, 10, 11!!!

Y9 was personally the best, I had a lot of friends the year above and we always hung out and I had just begun some GCSE classes, I had some great teachers and a lot of friends.

10 was the year my husband came to school and I instantly liked him. Look where we are now, married!

11 was GCSE year but was a great laugh, I went to Lanzarote for 3 weeks in the Easter Holiday with my family and best friends family, was bloody amazing!!!

purpleme12 · 09/09/2018 00:49

I miss being at uni yes. It was brilliant. I had the most friends I've ever had. I was accepted and liked by people. Yes I do really miss those days

Original poster
Sammy900 · 09/09/2018 00:50

LoniceraJaponica - wow scary times!!! Sorry you had to live through that -he went after students didn't he

OP posts:
Original poster
Sammy900 · 09/09/2018 00:53

chitterchitter3322 - sounds like you had a brill time at school - I loved school but I was a right skiver! I knuckled down more at college and Uni evidently hehee - wasn't into the socializing and parties at all nope!

OP posts:
LemonysSnicket · 09/09/2018 00:54

@chitterchitter3322 year 9 is not a student ... a student is 16-grad, year 9/10/11 are school children or pupils ... not students

LeighaJ · 09/09/2018 00:56

Don't miss it at all.

Original poster
Sammy900 · 09/09/2018 00:57

purpleme12 -a massive amount of Uni was about new life skills, meeting friends, mucking about with kindred spirits and having fun - I loved it too :) fond memories. I hope my girls go to Uni when they are older and love it as much as I did

OP posts:
chitterchitter3322 · 09/09/2018 00:57

Oh well then.
I went to Uni in Lincoln. It wasn't really far from home! I enjoyed it there, it was great. I made a lot of friends - enjoyed myself. Would def do again

BunsOfAnarchy · 09/09/2018 01:03

Ahhh. The joys of sitting in the University on site Costa for 7 hours studying and drinking hot chocolates....footlong subway after morning lecture...pizza just before afternoon lecture...pub food after the afternoon lecture....takeaway in the library at 9pm...then all crash at someone's house and be making chips and nuggets in the oven at 1am..
Those were the days!
Spent my whole fucking student loan in 1 month purely on food!
But those were the best days. I met my now lifelong best friend while at uni (we both had the same ridiculous fetish for 5 meals a day) and also met my husband in the town my Uni was in.

I do miss it. But at the same time i dont. I miss the freedom of spontaneity that comes with being a student. The random nights out at the drop of a hat. Zero responsibility and the likes. But now i love being a mum and homeowner too!

I hope my daughter one day gets to have as fun a University experience as i did.

Original poster
Sammy900 · 09/09/2018 01:06

Remember using the Word Thesaurus to edit clever sounding words into your assignment haha. My mate used to be able to write her essays when she had been drinking (I could never do that) and we used to crack up about what she had wrote the next day. I think once she wrote something along the lines of " the deepest darkest sublime corners of emotion" pahaaa DELETE

OP posts:
Original poster
Sammy900 · 09/09/2018 01:10

BunsOfAnarchy - exactly!!! just lounging around chatting rubbish I miss doing that with my mates!! We are all too busy now. I too have met some of my best mates at Uni :) All the random stuff that happened when you have free time to dick around. I came home from a night out once and all the furniture from my living room was in the garden haha

OP posts:
SemperIdem · 09/09/2018 01:14

No. I did a degree I was bullied into by my parents and spent the entire time hating it whilst supporting my much older partner through his mums terminal illness and death.

I’ve subconsciously blocked most of it out. It was a horrible time.

Original poster
Sammy900 · 09/09/2018 01:21

Oh no sorry to hear some people had an awful time x

OP posts:
SemperIdem · 09/09/2018 01:22

Sorry op! I didn’t mean to piss on your parade Blush!

Original poster
Sammy900 · 09/09/2018 01:25

SemperIdem - hey it's o.k I asked the question

OP posts:
toffee1000 · 09/09/2018 01:30

I didn’t absolutely love my university days but I didn’t hate them either. The year abroad was shit (personal reasons), but I’d be happy to do another degree in a subject I was interested in if I had the money.
I found it difficult to make friends, but I had suspected (undiagnosed) ASD at the time. I would’ve probably had an easier time socially if I’d had the diagnosis and accessed proper support. It wasn’t like the university were crap at providing support; I just didn’t ask for it!

delphguelph · 09/09/2018 01:32

God not at all.
I didn't like the people, took the wrong course and basically felt uncomfortable for most of the time. And. All the forced drinking, ugh.

delphguelph · 09/09/2018 01:33

Sorry, op, I was super negative.

I made some good friends and enjoyed coffees, lunches etc out with them.

I should have taken a different course though.

SemperIdem · 09/09/2018 01:37

I should say - whilst it was all in all a difficult time, I have made friends who will last a lifetime. Doesn’t matter how many time we try and fail to meet up, the people I met when I was a student are the ones I call, when I admit to myself I need support. I love them all dearly. They’re the best of the entire experience

Graphista · 09/09/2018 01:40

Uni is the only place I've ever felt like I truly belonged.

Everywhere else I've been mocked and derided for my interests, for enjoying lively debate, for being passionate about politics.

I miss my friends from then SO much.

I also enjoyed extra curricular stuff, I was a student rep and I actually really enjoyed helping other students, even attending committee meetings!

I loved the challenge of trying to do better with each assignment, the reading, not just primary texts (English student) but the theory and research too.

Modern media and drama were also elements of the course and u thoroughly enjoyed having that creative outlet too.

The closest I've come to similar is MN.

thegirlanachronism · 09/09/2018 01:40

I'm another one who misses it! I miss the spontaneity, the social scene and even the studying. I remember my course friends working out how many lectures/ seminars we could skip per semester and still not fail for attendance. It was always good to know for when you were debating an extra hour sleep vs a lecture.

GretchenFranklin · 09/09/2018 01:40

I cannot believe your mum sent you food in a taxi OP. Blimey.

Yes I do have massive envy for students starting courses right now, I bloody loved university.

GoneWishing · 09/09/2018 01:42

God no, personally!

Crappy flats, dodgy housemates, stress, no money. Living over 2000 miles from my family for the first time in my life. Culture shock and a language barrier to getting mates.

I did meet future DH during my studies, though, and we had plenty of fun times in those early years. But always surrounded by the crappy flats, dodgy housemates, stress and lack of money...

bananafish81 · 09/09/2018 01:44

I had an amazing time at university, absolutely loved my student days. But my regular stress dream is having to do finals!

The dream is pretty much always the same, it's present day, but I'm in my college tutor's study, and he's insisting I have to redo my final year and take my exams - I'm freaking out because I can't remember ANYTHING I studied. I plead that surely I don't, because I did them 14 years ago, and have the graduation photos and degree certificate to prove it - but in the dream I'm told this doesn't matter, I'm given the keys to the same room I had in my final year and told to move my stuff in

It's an enormous relief to wake up and realise I never have to take an exam again!!

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