The natural habitat of a socially awkward first year - hiding behind a glass of cheap wine.
I'm going to be honest. If this was a first meeting in person, I probably would have already dropped something by now. My hands would be shaking a lot (unless, prior to our introduction, I'd had a drink or ten, which does wonders for the nerves) and although I could probably make eye contract, there is no way I would be able to sound even half-way intelligent. We'd chat, both looking for a natural conclusion to the conversation, fail to find it, and then I'd make some awkward excuse as to why I should leave... only to end up walking in the same direction as you. After fumbling a few more goodbyes, I would then go home and wonder why on earth I can't just say "hello" and have a brief chat like a normal person.
Welcome to the life of me, Phoebe Montgomery, socially inept student extraordinaire. Currently, I am studying a Bachelor of Journalism and Law at UQ... and hating at least half of it, which half, you'd have to guess (I'll give you a hint, it's not the one where I get to run around interviewing people). I moved out of home about three months ago, and consequentially, learned a lot of important lessons regarding how not to completely fuck up moving out... by completely fucking up moving out. If you'd like to read a delightful account of said fucking-up, visit my other blog here and you'll get all the gory details. If you're disgusted by the way I'm shamelessly whoring out my other blog, or are frightfully lazy, I'll summarize the experience for you:
I wrote off my car, ended up moving into a place I can barely afford and still don't know how to correctly stack a dishwasher.
Judging from that statement alone, you may be wondering why I consider myself to be an authority on surviving your first year. After all, I've already admitted to making a few mistakes. Surely you should be taking advice from the perfect student; a super-organised, flawless gem of academia that cooks like Gordon Ramsey and can hold their liquor better than the entirety of Russia! Or at least someone who knew what they were doing from the beginning!
To this, I say, "What better way to learn than from looking at someone else's mistakes?"
I'll admit it, I am not a naturally practical person. Although I've been looking after myself since age 15, I still have a lot to learn about being a fully functioning, independent adult. I am also regrettably not the world's best student. However, there is one thing I am very good at, and that is learning from mistakes. So, in this blog, I am going to go through all the mistakes I've made and dish out the relevant advice so you can avoid doing the same. I'll cover everything from making sure you remember to buy cutlery for your first night in your new digs to how to have the occasional night out without blowing your weekly grocery money. Hopefully, you'll learn something, because trust me, making this many mistakes is a time-consuming and costly process.
So welcome to Socially Awkward First Year, the blog that gives practical advice from a non-practical point of view! Official posts begin next week on Thursday, with a rough guide on the many evils of house hunting, built up from my own anecdotes and the experiences of my close student community (read: my neighbors). Until then, I... um. Well. I've got this thing to go to, so... I'll just... Goodbye then! Oh, wait, we're going the same way? Haaaaa, great. Well. Um. Lovely.
OH GOD JUST WALK AWAY SO I CAN STOP TALKING
