It’s almost an unwritten code of conduct that most blogs need to start with a variety of quotes, such as: “I cannot believe it has been almost three weeks!” or “It’s been really crazy*, but really fun!” or even some sort of nerdy programming quote that only people who are Computer Scientists would actually get. If I was writing one of these nerdy jokes to introduce my first blog post, then it would probably be based on some sort of “POST http\/1.1” reference. But of course, I’m better than that, hopefully.<\/p>\n
I should start, by giving credit, which is surely due, to everyone who helped with JumpStart. This was, then, week 0, starting only a couple of days after our various parental guardians dropped us off outside those tall imposing hall-like structures, filled with mysterious people that all seemed to be like you, except very different in a myriad of ways.<\/p>\n
They put us with our tutor groups, had us drag our helpers around the city, taking photographs to form some sort of surrealist comedy (starring the lovely, but ultimately fictional Susan Thorn), and at the same time rapidly showing us the various aspects of Southampton, which would come in useful in the coming weeks.<\/p>\n
I write this particular post, on the cusp of timetable week 3, which is almost my fifth week in Southampton, or So’ton as the motorway signs claim. Most of the novelty has worn off by now, although I admit that there are certain, terribly domestic, things that still give a sense of satisfaction, such as being in charge of your own food shopping, and finally putting those months of cooking practice into good use.<\/p>\n
We are reasonably embroiled in all our modules now. We have personal CVs and website design, the building blocks of programming (which are Objects with Attributes) with Java, digital electronics XOR computer science principles, and discrete mathematics, which is a fascinating branch of maths, possibly forever denied to me, because I am truly awful drawing curly brackets {and other fancy letters}.<\/p>\n
Coffee, scheming, snakes, pearls, the sea (sharp and positive), all these elusive subjects are up ahead, no doubt in the future. But for now, it’s learning about the basics of a rich subject, surrounded by people who are interested and good at exactly the same thing.<\/p>\n
* (Footnote: The past three weeks has not been entirely bereft of quotable stories. Climbing a tree with a laptop in hand, as well as a power extension lead is somewhat fresh in the mind. Creating an entire online persona for Susan Thorn was a strangely surreal afternoon. However, the fact that at the end of JumpStart I ended up walking back to Halls with five kilograms of fruit and vegetables, plus a pineapple head is ultimately worth the biggest mention.)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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