The first day of college was the most confusing day in my life. I didn't know where my class is and the college was the biggest building I've ever been to, and worst of all – corridors were full of people who I have never seen before I got lost several times during the first 10 minutes after entering the school premises. I thought that there will be at least a few people who I catch a good contact with. And it happened. When I eventually found my class I discovered that 2 of the girls doing my course are Polish as me and it built up my self-esteem a small bit. I'm very shy and it gets even worse when I have to speak English. We also got assigned PASS leaders to bring us around the school and help us get to know each other on the course. We also got a timetable which was very confusing as the room numbers went from 1-1000 and the only thing I could think about at the time was how am I supposed to find these classes…
The next few days were really "light", lecturers were teaching us from the basics which I was familiar with already. We also started our practical sessions which were very interesting. The tutorial sessions was something which reminded me of secondary school, we just did what we had to do and if there was a problem with a question we could request help from the teacher. Everyone seemed very nice and helpful, and my college year started of very good.
Next week I decided to do a bit of extra work, as I am very lazy I preferred to do this instead of having to do something at last minute. I had a habit of watching TV or listening to music while studying which mostly deconcentrated me, but this was like an addiction. I couldn't do anything about it, at least that's what I thought.
In college I met a made a few friends also. I was happy that I had someone to talk to. I also had a good relationship with the teachers, all of them were very nice to me, unlike the teachers in secondary school which shouted at everyone once they did something wrong. I really enjoyed the city and college life in Galway, beautiful landscapes and very nice people! That's what I wanted to get away to from Limerick.
Even at home there was a nice atmosphere. My boyfriend and I got 2 free passes to cinema from the man we rented the room from for the good work we did at home.
On week 3 of college year the problems started. One day my boyfriend and I came home and the house owner wanted to talk to us. He said that we have to move out and his reason fr this was that we have different lifestyles. I never knew that if you're renting a room at somebody's house you need to have the same lifestyle as them' He gave us a month, but the ad said 'minimum 3 month lease'. This was very unfair as we thought that for a moment we don't have to worry about accommodation.
In college we had a new biology lecturer. At first she seemed very nice but when she started teaching I thought it's a joke. In my opinion biology tutorials are the most essential class that we should have. The lecturer only read her slides and didn't explain anything. It was very hard to learn anything and biology is my soft point.
In LIS we got told we will have 3 assignments to do. A power point presentation, team work report on subject chosen by the lecturer and this. I was very stressed to present the presentation in front of the whole class as I didn't really talk to people in my group and didn't know what they like in order to make it interesting. I didn't mind the other 2 as it didn't involve presenting in front of everyone.
The first time I visited my parents since I moved to Galway was on week 3. I didn't want to spend 2 hours on a train on my own so I had to wait for my boyfriend to get a weekend off work. My mother gave me a letter to me which informed me about the grant. I got it! I was very happy that I wont have to worry about the cost of college or about looking for a job. The letter said that they will be paying monthly just enough to pay for the rent. That was also a relief for my parents as it was them that helped me get settled. They have enough expenses to think about ' e.g. my 9 year old brother. At least this was a good information through those 2 weeks.
At the start of next week it was my birthday. 18th birthday. My parents decided to do me a surprise. They came over with cake and birthday present. It was very nice to see them thinking about me. I was surprised but happy that I got to see them.
On week 5 the house-owner started to give out to us. My boyfriend works in Centra by the Galway Airport. When we moved in he said that my boyfriend could use his bike to cycle to work. That day he told us that we are not to use his belongings. My boyfriend had to walk 7km the following day only to get to work. These situations started to get irritating. We could only wait until he tells us to move out straight away'
In college we started to get the dates for our assessments. The first ones were on the 4th and 5th of November. A month away and around the same time as my LIS presentation. Everything in 2 days' I thought I wouldn't be able to cope with this taking into account that I get sick when I'm stressed, sometimes it comes to a stage that I can't get out of bed in the morning, faint or can't talk. I could just hope for the worst not happening.
I started to study for my assessments as I was very bad at physics. This was the only subject that I didn't do for 5 years and never did a practical in it. I was very confused at lectures, tutorials and practicals as I just couldn't understand anything. At a tutorial I asked the teacher and he explained everything to me but it still was challenging.
Chemistry theory and biology practical were the exams coming up as well but I found those things quite easy. I just needed to revise what I already knew in order to get the best marks. I also needed to get my presentation started and learned but still didn't know what to do it on. I had a few ideas like my home country as there is a lot of Polish people in Ireland and FC Barcelona ' my favorite soccer team.
We still didn't find any accommodation around week 6 so we had to talk to the house owner to give us more time, he said that if we cleaned the bathroom that it would be spotless we would be able to stay one more month. We were fine with that as we didn't want to end up living in a tent or on the streets. We didn't know many people but we asked everyone we knew to contact us when they hear about a room to rent or a 1 bed flat in an affordable price'
This week I got my presentation going. I started putting together information about Poland. Most of it was from my head. I love Poland and it's history, I have the basic knowledge about it, all the wars and partitions, highest and lowest points or the people that every Pole should be proud of like for example Pope John Paul II or Marie Curie. I think it was a good idea to choose this as my assignment topic ' my classmates, me and our lecturer could learn something about a country which they have many friends from.
As well as this I had all of my study for the exams done. I only needed to catch up on physics but I started to understand it more and more each day so I didn't have to worry about it that much.
On Tuesday, week 8 my boyfriend decided to take me to the cinema. We finally had time for each other as we don't usually spend time together because of his work and my college hours. When we came home at 11pm the house owner said he needs to talk to us. He mentioned that he thanks us for all the work we did at home, cleaning, cooking etc. but I knew where this conversation is going to. He said that there is a man coming to look at the room we're renting on Sunday and we need to move out until then. I nearly started crying in front of him. We did nothing wrong, we were quiet and they didn't even notice us at the house. When me or my boyfriend got home we went to our room and just took care of our stuff. And a few days before he told us we can stay there one more month' It just didn't make sense and I was disgusted with the house owner's childish behavior.
Our situation was getting worse every day as it got closer and closer to the moving out date. Fortunately my best friend texted me later that week. He told me that in a house his friend is living in there is a free room. I got his number and called him the very next day in the morning. I was very happy as we met up that day and he showed me the house and people he lives with. The house was owned by a landlord who just bought a few houses and started to rent rooms instead of full houses. Luckily he was there that day and I got to talk to him. The conversation went really well, he is a very nice person. We talked for an hour or two. He said that we can move in whenever we're ready! Straight afterwards I called my father and asked if he would help us. We set up the move out-move in date to Saturday and I got the keys on Friday. My boyfriend and I were the happiest people in the world!
The following week was just settling into a new house. Every one of my new house mates is polish, there is 3 people living here excluding me and my boyfriend. They're all between 45 and 55 years of age but I don't really mind. You're not old if you feel young. ' Everyone was very nice and helpful and my father was proud of me as I managed to find such a good place. Our new room was twice as big as the previous one and it was way cheaper!
When I got into a deeper conversation with one of my new housemates I started to notice that the place we used to live in was rented to us illegally. The house owner didn't really own the house but it was rented and they never took our personal information like PPS number or date of birth! Also, they counted us very much for the bills which was stupid. They didn't even show me the bills. I decided to contact them and ask about the bills. They kept saying they would send it to me but I never got them' They calculated that for the first two weeks it was '80, unbelievable!
I found the exams very easy, there wasn't really much I didn't know and I thought they were just fine. The presentation went good as well, I got very good feedback on it and I wasn't short for words! It was probably because my mother told me that if I took pills to calm down it would be better and I took them but I don't think this is cheating.
We got results the next week. I did very good and was very proud of myself! So were my parents and boyfriend. Everything was finally going good for me and I was walking around with a huge smile on my face! I also started to put together my piece of work for the team work assignment. In my opinion we got the worse topic we could get as there was nothing really to write on it. We submitted the assignment. A few minutes later I found out that it was the rough copy that we submitted. Everything just copied off the internet'
I still had another problem coming up ' my boyfriend's birthday. I thought that as he has a weekend off during that time we could go somewhere fun. We went out only once during our stay in Galway. We don't enjoy drinking like many other people around our age. I found out that my boyfriend's and mine favorite Polish artist will have a concert in Dublin in the next few days. I bought 2 tickets without thinking any longer and found booked transport straight away. It is going to be a nice day and night!
So the day has finally came. The concert. My best friend decided to go with us as he knows the artist. He said that I'll get a picture with him without a doubt. I trusted him. When we got to Dublin we didn't know where to go, none of us was in Dublin for longer than a few hours and it's such a huge city. We found the place with the help of a few people we saw on the streets. When going up to the room where the concert was I noticed the artist. I took a photo with him. I won't forget this day until I die.
One day when I came home from college, one of the house mates was there and she said we need to talk. I was scared that she would ask us to move out or something. Luckily that wasn't it. She said that as it is getting colder we need to start collecting money for heating oil. She mentioned that she's the only one doing the cleaning in the house also (not including when someone's cleaning up after themselves) and that she would be happy if I took care of the money. I agreed but I'm not really bothered about the heating. The house has solar panels on the roof and we got the warmest room also, we didn't need the heating.
Biology assessment was on the way and I decided to stay in the library after classes and do some study. At the start it went very good. I spent up to 5 hours a day in the library. I was very happy that I started studying and overcame my laziness. I love my course and I hope I can do something related to it in future so I had to study.
In the middle of week 13 I woke up with a headache and a funny feeling in my stomach. I decided to stay home for the day. I didn't miss any practical throughout the semester so I thought that one missed biology would do no harm. Straight after the practical I called my friend who's in my group to find out what we did and she explained it step by step. It was very kind. I didn't go to college the following day as my health started to worsen. I started looking up a good doctor around my area but all of them were expensive and the college doctor was to far away. I decided to look for my medical card and go to the out-of-hours GP but couldn't find it. I was really nervous as because of my health I couldn't study for my exams.
Week 14 started and this meant that my biology assessment and chemistry practical exam were coming up. I think I failed both exams as I couldn't concentrate on what I learned. I read the questions and it seemed like it was some foreign language. It was my worst day ever.
Now I know I need to study on a day to day basis just to get used to it and then it will come naturally. It can be addicting like anything else. I only need to do my maths assessment next Monday and that will be the end of semester 1! I'm very happy that I didn't need to go back to my parents house and that I overcame all the problems with the help of the closest people.