Monday, January 09, 2006

Things I don't miss about being a student #1

This year, for the first time since 1998, I have no exams in Janurary.

People my age got known as the "Guinea Pig Generation", in that every major change in the exam system happened to us (Compulsary SAT's in years 6 and 9, AS Levels, Modular GCSE's), so we got tons of exams to do. They definitely get worse when you go to university. Late night sessions, past papers, last minute cramming and the eternal question of "Just what did the lecturer say for the last 4 months?" are a staple for the student diet. I've never done an all nighter, but I had a 4am finish once before (though that was because of the fire alarm not working, and beeping every 45 seconds, and me literally fall asleep on my desk. It's a funny story, as sat the exam, went to the pub with Sarah, got absolutely wasted and fell asleep at 6pm, was woken by Sarah at 7, had chinese, and then woke up hungover at 2am. Not good). These killed me, as you put yourself under so much pressure for two weeks, and everybody crams.

This year however, my evenings are spent leading the Welsh to total world domination on Civ 4, and the occassional blog, and I'm so happy.

I'm not completely unneffected. Living with two fun-loving students who have suddenly become workaholics is tricky, which meant my first weekend of singledom was spent either playing Mario Party, Darts, watching the FA Cup and a fairly quiet night out - which consisted of a few drinks in the Flute in Liverpool, and watching two fruity gentlemen carrying out perfectly choreographed dance moves to "Don't You Wish You're Girlfriend Was Hot Like Me?", with a girl (who's arse could only be described as "bulbous"). Don't get me wrong, it was nice, but I'd be lying if I said that was what I expected my weekend to be.

Nevertheless, I'm glad I have no more exams. That, and the fact that my bank account is slowly going up means that - although I miss my student days - I'm not entirely disappointed they're over.

In other news: I have toothache, and it kills.