University Casualty

It's funny when you're parents are right, it's even more funny when it takes you a couple years to figure out that they were right all along.
After taking a fifth year of high school and then a year off to work full time, I finally decided to go back to school.
The year I graduated I had received admissions to every school I applied to. There were 3 universities and 5 colleges, an unending supply of knowledge at my fingertips. The problem was that as much as I didn't feel ready to head off to school, I was also a terrible money saver, and still am. My parents, as much as they wanted my sister and I to go to school, they never saved any money for us, and we weren't rich enough for them to just send us away and pay the bill. However, they made too much money for me to eligible for OSAP (FYI - a government loan to allow students the funds the further their education). They also always told us that we wouldn't appreciate it if they just went ahead and paid the tuition, we needed to earn it ourselves. School that year was out of the question.
I spent the next year wasting away for a fifth year. I slacked everywhere I could and made no effort to make the most of the extra year. I was a part time student, and had all my afternoons off. I think I had 4 courses, most of which were joke courses, and the year did nothing for my average. I didn't apply to any schools that year because I still had no money to attend anywhere. It's unsettling to think about this now, because I worked all through high school, and somehow never had any money saved. (I should be rich right now, but in fact am in a similar situation today.)
I was sick of watching my friends have the time of their life while away at school, so I began working full time as a hostess at a fine dining restaurant. I had worked there part time during high school as well. It was a fantastic job, that came with lots of hours, so I set my mind to saving, and was determined to attend school the following September. I applied to 3 universities this time, and only got into one. I was disappointed, because the one I got into wasn't even the school I had applied to, or the program. It was a satellite school in a different city, and a new program offer. I was disappointed, but I didn't make all this money and time into nothing. My mom and I went and checked out the school, and decided it was a go. I accepted my offer, and made the decision to enter residence, even though the school was only 45 minutes from where I lived. I said goodbye to the job I loved, even after being offered a management position for front of house. I thought I was ready to leave the confines of teenage life, and start fulfilling my own.
My residence life began with 4 other girls. We lived in a new building, and had a huge place. The residences at the satellite university were set up like apartments, full kitchens, and living rooms, and bathrooms. One of my roommates was the Don, and the other 3 girls were "interesting". 2 of the girls were best friends, and had come to university together, they formed a quick bond with the third girl as well. I thought they were weird, but I wanted to fit in, so I made the best of everything. Our orientation week was awesome, but unfortunately everyone kind of stuck to their new roommates during outings and events, I followed suit and did the same. This meant that I missed out on a lot of the fun things that went on, as my roommates were very introverted and made the whole thing seem ridiculous and wanted no part of it. As I have mentioned before I was very outgoing, and thrived on the things that were happening around me. I wanted to be involved, but I didn't know how without the support of my roommates. Luckily, before the week was over I made some friends in my building, and began hanging out with them, and was able to taste a bit of the fun that O-Week had to offer. I knew from this point on, things were only going to get worse for my roommates and I.


(My roommates, minus the Don, on Halloween)

I decided to stop letting my roommates stop me from having fun and being the person I wanted to be. I applied for a position on the residence student council, and after my interview I was asked to accept the position of the residence council president. I was honoured and excited, and the friends that I made during O-Week were super supportive, and excited for me as well! I also had a job at a new fine dining restaurant down the street as a hostess, but played more of an integral role in the restaurant than they ever gave me credit for. I was in a relationship as well. We had started dating in January before university. We had been together or only 2 months when he took off to New Zealand for a year. We decided to continue our relationship and make the best of it. We had turned it into an open relationship by the summer, but were still talking on the phone regularly, and "in love" during university. I had a lot on my plate. I started making dozens of friends, and since I was a little bit older than the rest of the students in residence, they looked to me for answers, and parties. This is where things start to change.
It's hard to write this, as I realize now, that a lot of what I am about to recount is fuzzy in my memory. Not sure whether it's due to what I did to my mind and body, or whether I subconsciously blocked it out of my mind for fear of what remembering it might do.
To be continued...

Love, N