Goodbye to Stoke Bishop

Although it seems crazy, the end of first year has now come upon us. I’m still not quite sure how a whole academic year has gone by so quickly without me ever really noticing the end was approaching. Looking back to freshers’ week, nervous about what the people I would meet at Bristol would be like and about whether I had chosen the right course, I can now positively say I have met a great new bunch of friends and very much settled into university life.

Personally, halls have definitely been one of the main highlights of first year. University Hall (UH) has honestly provided me with all I could have wanted from a hall; its slightly downtrodden appearance proved irrelevant given the friendly, down to earth nature of everyone I have met. Events organised by UH, such as our formal in the grand Wills Memorial Hall and fortnightly pub quizzes at our bar, will remain with me as some of the best memories of first year. I was initially emotional when thinking about leaving our ‘UH community’ behind as next year we will all be living across Bristol in houses. However, I feel that as second year develops I will appreciate the perks of living in our own house with the freedom of spending time at other friends’ houses and discovering different parts of Bristol as a result.

I cannot pretend that I was not sad as we drove away from Stoke Bishop, with my dad complaining about the weight of the car and my friends waving me off, yet I know that the summer holds different exciting prospects as well. In July, I have plans to au pair in Spain for a month, followed by various visits with family and friends. Everyone has varying but equally exciting plans for summer, after which we’ll all be back in Bristol ready for a good catch up and to take on second year.

– Emily