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Daniel’s first two weeks at University

We went to visit Daniel in St Andrews yesterday to see how he’s doing. It has been two weeks since he moved down there and he’s got one fresher’s week behind him and now a week of lectures. We couldn’t be happier for him as he’s enjoying it all so much.

His accommodation is super – it’s just a 5-minute walk through this little patch of trees down to his lectures each morning.

A small thicket of trees with a path through the middle

He gets three hot meals a day and there’s a trove of social activities he can participate in. So far he’s enjoyed beach walks and bonfires, table tennis, monopoly, and even a formal “high table” dinner in which he got to wear his red robe. Unlike school it has been very easy for him to make friends because everyone else there is also new and doesn’t know anyone, plus there are plenty of like-minded students who are a bit geeky and introverted like him.

He’s enjoying his lectures too. He says they’re a bit basic so far but I imagine things will get more challenging as the weeks progress. He says he’s ended up in the best halls of residence and it is really nice. It won some design awards. Here’s one of the common areas.

A common area in Daniel's halls.
Daniel in his room

His wing is modern part of one of the oldest halls with some magnificent old wings like this one.

The old wing at University Halls.

We had lunch together then roamed around St Andrews a bit. Here’s the castle ruin.

A castle ruin on the cliff with sea off to the right.

We went down to the beach where there were people swimming.

A wide angle of the beach with sand and very little in the way of waves.
Beach scene with a small group of people in the water. Cloudy, grey day.
Selfie of four of us at the beach.

I went for an obligatory run with music from Chariots of Fire. Young people today don’t get the reference.

The only downside is Daniel is so happy that I can’t see him coming home any time soon. I did think he might come back on weekends but so far there have been social engagements he’s wanted to stay in St Andrews for. But although we miss him we know it means he’s happy and we can’t complain about that.

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3 responses to “Daniel’s first two weeks at University”

  1. Denise Avatar
    Denise

    When you posted about taking the train to St Andrews to show Daniel how easy it was to come back, I did think that he might not be back that often! I thought this because your family life has given your children a lot of resilience, and you’ve modelled a lot of making the most of the what you have and the opportunities you have.

    I felt this very much at the weekend, as one of our young relatives has given up University after their first week. It made me feel very sad, as their immediate family doesn’t model resilience, and there is little that our branch of the family can do to model a different way.

    Reply
    1. Rachel M Avatar
      Rachel M

      Oh I am sorry to hear that. I know the university experience is different for everyone and Daniel has been extremely lucky. Was it the being away from home or the actual course that your relative found difficult? I can see that living in halls of residence where there is a very active and supportive community has been very good for Daniel. I don’t think he’d have had quite as good an experience if he lived at home and commuted to University each day.

      Reply
      1. Denise Avatar
        Denise

        There has been a pattern of “other people are being nasty to me so I want to withdraw from this experience”, reinforced by a message of “we are such victims and can never recover from this injustice”. I used to see it a lot when working in a school, people consistently interpreting others’ behaviour in a really skewed way.

        I don’t think they’d actually started the course yet :-/

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