now, this is a story all about how /
my life got flipped /
turned upside down
Somehow, I attended the University of St Andrews. At the beginning, I sometimes wondered if I was admitted because of a clerical error. SURELY there had been some sort of mistake...? I half-jokingly mentioned it during my academic scheduling meeting with the director of my specific school. The director replied, "Do you think I make mistakes?" and, uh, I guess not.
Wearing my academic gown and getting ready for the weekly pier walk
My front-row view of the opening ceremony
A printout of the lyrics to Gaudeamus
Afterwards, it was off to the Freshers' Fayre, where all the clubs and societies promote themselves to potential new members.
This is from the pool society. Most societies had a week of "give it a go" taster events, like so.
The hole digging society! It seems like a joke, but apparently it's really satisfying to go to the beach and dig a giant hole in the sand.
Some of the freshers' week free swag
After visiting the freshers' fayre, I went to the student association, where they were giving out little plates of Scottish food: haggis, neeps, tatties, and, uh, Tunnock's caramel wafers.
At the archery society during Freshers Week. I signed up for the society afterwards!
Give it a Go with the knitting society during Freshers Week, I learned how to knit!
One of the libraries on campus
"My" library aka the postgraduate library. It's beautiful but also cold, slightly dark, and puts you at risk of falling asleep. I loved it anyway.
The stained glass window on the front side of the postgrad library
studying. maybe.
One of the university museums, which I passed by every day but only went in during my last week.
First week of classes. A full day of being told "no plagiarism"! But ... I thought we were all already supposed to know that?
Occasionally, outside the undergrad halls on the weekends, someone would still be recovering from the previous night
I decided that I would be one of those people who packs a camera (almost) every day.
My usual seat
The view from my seat in School VI
More old buildings ...
I brought my cat with me! He's been with me since 2014.
Midway through my degree, I came across an internship opening to edit a podcast. I just KNEW it was meant for me. Naturally, I promptly forgot about it. Weeks later, the opening was reposted because there weren't enough applicants. I applied with a somewhat intense cover letter, got interviewed by a panel of 3 (!!) staff, and landed the internship. You can't actually see or hear me in anything, but I edited these:
The podcast that I edited, available on Spotify, iTunes, etc etc, and your favourite podcast source.
I also made a poster about my internship for the Careers Centre, even though I had sworn up and down that I didn't have time for it. Looking back, I like that I have this summary.
a lot of university students pretty much survive on this combination
At an old-fashioned ice cream parlour in town
After a Christmas carol service
(almost) deserted at Christmas
Spring outside a residence hall
And then I worked on my dissertation. I somewhat delusionally thought it would be my life's magnum opus. Turns out, it was just another project. I was awarded a Merit for my efforts.
A simple web scraper I made as part of my dissertation. It is available for download from the Google Chrome Store. I am flattered but also baffled that it has actually been downloaded and used by 700+ people.
My ticket etc. to graduation
Getting seated for graduation. The view from my seat.
Last event: the graduation reception!
