♥ How To: Cope on Your Own

I'll let you in on a massive secret... I never actually wanted to go to university. My childhood was far from normal and we never had much money so the cost of university seemed silly. The summer after secondary school, I took part in The Challenge - a government funded project that let me experience university halls, different ways of teaching and it let me meet people from very different backgrounds - I loved it and it made me want to carry on with education.  It wasn't until looking at universities that I discovered Falmouth University. It was still a University College when I started looking and has since been granted full university status - making it Cornwall's only university. I'd been holidaying in the nearby St.Ives for most of my life and my dad had worked in the area for a few years so I had a good idea about life in Cornwall. I knew that this was were I wanted to be and was absolutely chuffed to be given a place. It didn't ever occur to me that I would be moving three hundred miles away from home, with no friends close by, no family and no where to turn if things got rough. It seemed really easy to do but there are times when I would love nothing more than going back to the city, best friend and my parents.

The hardest thing for me is undoubtedly being away from my parents. I have a little bit of an issue because for a massive chunk of my childhood Mom was in hospital and the only time I would see her was for an hour every other night - even when she was in a coma and unable to do anything. I thought I'd be used to not seeing her, but it's really hard! I phone her all the time just for a chat when I feel a bit stressed or to check that she's okay and taking all her medicine. My friends don't phone home as much but I speak to my parents at least once a day.

Being away from my best friend is horrible. We still get teary when we see each other for the first time and when I'm leaving which is weird because you'd think we'd be used to it by now. We both have great friendship groups but being apart isn't ever easy. She's still the person I turn to when I'm going through something tough and I wish that she was around when there are issues we're facing. I recently went through a break up and there is nothing you need more than your best friend when that happens so it was a new kind of awful.

Food is a massive part of my life. I love the stuff. I love cooking and I'm a massive Jamie Oliver fan and try to be adventurous with my food while I'm at uni and free to cook as and when I like. The kitchen is my favourite place and it's definitely something I got from my Mom as she was a chef before she took ill. The massive downside, though, is having to buy food. It's costly and when you're living on a tight budget it isn't any fun to spend twenty quid on food! It's also really time consuming and sometimes it's such a pain to do the washing up.

Getting to and from uni is a chore. With almost three hundred miles between my home town and the place I now live, it's time consuming and costly to travel between the two. This means that I avoid it at all costs. Luckily, my dad loves Cornwall and comes down to collect me whenever he can. The Megabus is a brilliant way to travel between the two places. It's super cheap though it does take me around ten hours to get from Falmouth back to Birmingham this way!

At the moment I'm suffering with a cold. The absolute worst thing about being so far from home is feeling so helpless when you're ill. There's nothing better than staying in bed and Mom bringing you cups of lemsip or tea and cooking your favourite comfort food but that's near impossible when you're away. It makes you feel ten times worse having no one to look after you!

I by no means at all want to scare anybody who is applying to university. It's much easier than you expect it to be and friends and family are only a phone call away. Like most things in life, it's never going to be really easy so it's an experience you just have to grab with both hands!

If you're applying to university, how do you feel about moving away from home? Let me know in the comments! Also, I'd love to hear any coping strategies, because I think I'm going crazy and I can't wait to be at home for Christmas!

Em x

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