Guest Splodge

Ladies and Gentlemen, Splodgies all, good evening!

So if the intro didn't already give it away, I'm guest blogging tonight for Rosa, because why not, eh? Anyway, about me. I'm Jeanette, and I don't run a blog (yet!), but I usually go as turbochargedhysterics, that in itself an insight into my insanity. Yaay alliteration! ANYWAY. Theatre and film, currently third year in Aberystwyth, and I'm here to talk about growing old in a Uni setting.

I say I'm in third year, I've been in lovely Aberystwyth for more than three years now, finishing off my fourth. And that affects the mindset a bit.

I'm in two mindsets right now, actually. There's the mindset of wanting to actually leave the cocoon and fly off to pastures new, but there's also that thought of leaving home. Yes, home. For those who've gone to University, by the time you leave, it feels like leaving home all over again. You have all your friends here, you've grown to know the town and the Uni inside and out, every nook and cranny explored, in my case anyway. You have your old haunts, your favourite places, and it just feels wrong to leave at this point. But you know you have to, because let's face it, Aber is a small town. Not fit for someone with a degree as specialised as mine. It's a student/family town, and I'm now in the demographic of “working woman”. I have the three-piece suit and everything. I just need to get a clipboard and thin-framed glasses.

Then there's the other mindset. The one that still answers to “DOWN IT FRESHAAAAR”. There's a fresh set of friends who just arrived, and I'm kinda wanting to finish with them. It's the feeling of staying with them as much as I can, since I've already gone through the first set of goodbyes, which weren't easy, let me tell you. Again, it plays with that mindset of leaving home, but giving a very different result. This is me not wanting to leave the cocoon, and it's hard. Especially when you have these new friends telling you “you should stay!”.

While the first mindset is responsible, I don't think that's me. University is not only fun, it's been my safe haven for four years. And for a trans woman of colour like myself, that's golden. I've never experienced being in a place where I'm threatened just by walking out on the street, and quite frankly, I really wish I don't have to.

But that's personal. A lot of people have a lot of reasons for leaving or not leaving. Maybe some people, like me, like the safety net that it's become. Others feel too old for it. There are some who just find it boring and samey, and want to move on with their lives.

And with that, I leave you with a late night selfie with me and my little friends: Snow the bear, Nelson the tiger, and Drossel, my teeny robot.

Tonight, this is me:

Goodnight, everyone!