It’s been three weeks since I began my 5 year educational journey towards my dream of becoming a professional writer. Although I’m not in college at this precise moment. I’m actually sat in Costa in Bath. Pouring a vanilla latte down my neck and soaking up the unlimited free wifi.
I seem to be spending a fair amount of my time in Bath these days. Whether it’s time spent in college – either for a lesson or setting myself up in the library with my revision books – or time spent at various favourite places within the city centre. Green Park Station and all that it offers is one such place that springs to mind. They have regular markets full of local produce and kooky items of interest to browse through, as well as one of the best coffee houses in the city and an eclectic second hand record shop.
But this post is supposed to be about my life since returning to the land of the living. And I’m pleased to say that it’s going very well. In fact, I wish I’d done it years ago,
I admit I was incredibly nervous on the first day. I’d gone from spending the majority of my time in my own company to being surrounded by hundreds and hundreds of students of all ages. Bath is certainly a busy place, and the college is no exception.
However, I soon fell into the swing of things and so far I’m really enjoying myself. I’ve already met and made friends with a number of people on my courses in a mere 3 weeks, and both my tutors are lovely. Very aware and supportive and able to teach the course material in such a way that the lectures are never dull. It’s certainly a far cry from when I was at secondary school and most of my classes involved copying seemingly endless blocks of text down from a dusty blackboard. No wonder I never learnt anything back then!
The good thing about my courses being part time as well is that I’ve not gone from having all of my time to myself – to having every waking hour taken up with classes and activity. I’m still able to strike a good balance between education and leisure. I can fit in a few hours of revision one afternoon and still find an hour or so to play Overwatch.
I think the biggest thing for me these days though is that I feel like I now have a purpose. A reason to get out of bed in the mornings if you like. No longer am I an unemployed, benefit scrounging nobody with a mental illness. I’m a part time student and freelance blogger, and I’m proud of what I’ve achieved. Even it it might seem insignificant to others.
Chris Hack 