Epilogue

I have decided it's about time to stop putting it off and say:

I miss Lancaster. Terribly.

It shouldn't be surprising to read, especially to anyone who has been following my blog, but I still think it needed to be said.

But before I get to all of the weepy stuff, I'll write a few useful things down. Specifically, those things that international students reading this may not think about close to move out time, and things that are just useful to know that I have learned from my last little while at Lancaster.

First up, to those who decided to leave on move out day, give yourself as much time as possible to clean up your room and, if you are the last in your flat/space/hall, communal areas like the kitchen. Between me and another person, it took us a solid 4 days to get a years worth of living space cleaned, packed and otherwise put right. Room checkers will be at your door at 10am on the day as well, so don't count on them being late. We also saw people moving in on the day we were moving out! Tons of em too. So it's not like they have the time to wait for you.

Second, spend lots of time with your friends that you have made. Invite them over for a film, dinner, drinks, or even just to hang and do nothing. It will give you no excuses when the inevitable, "I could have spent more time with ___" comes to the forefront of your mind when you get back to your respective country. I'm certainly glad that I rarely had a moment in the last week of residence at Lancaster that I didn't see or wasn't spending time with my closest friends doing all sorts of things. Barbecues, beach volleyball, frisbee, teaching the art of the American football tackle and throw. These are things that made the last of the time that I had at Lancaster truly wonderful. Of course, as with anything that involves staying outdoors in England, it is weather permitting! ;-)

Third, if you are eager to get your results (like me), you won't know until they send them to your home university. They say this in an e-mail that is sent out regarding exam results, but if you skim things like that, you might miss that little detail. Doesn't stop it from being frustrating when you see all of your uni mates getting theirs and reporting them on Facebook...

Fourth, don't waste a sunny day. Pretty basic, but seriously, they really do make Lancaster light up.

Fifth, go to the extravs. Especially the last one, wherever it is. Make sure to get up early to get those tickets, otherwise they can quadruple in price should you try and get them later from someone selling theirs.

Right, I think that more or less covers that for now, I am sure that I have missed something out, but I'll make sure to update if I think of something I missed!

OK. Shout outs. Rants and Raves. Whatever you want to call them. Let's name some names.

Study abroad folk: From UMaine - Orlina Boteva and Susan Landry. From Lancaster - Nicky Rastall. You all are amazing. Prompt replies when I needed them, and always sound advice that never left me confused or wanting for more. Big props.

Lecturers and academic staff - WAY too many to name, but just a few mentions. Dr. Sam Clark (in contention for the title of "the most intellectually intimidating person I have ever met"), Dr. Cain Todd, Dr. Mari Mikkola, Dr. Padraic Monaghan (get him some cake), and Prof. Susan Condor (to budding psychologists, no bullshit goes past this woman). If you should get the opportunity to be taught by these people, they come highly recommended from me.

County College. No other place I would recommend for a college residence. Best porters. Best reps. Simply the best.

Rants, luckily, are few and far between. But I do have a couple:

1. Coursework vs. Exams. I found it slightly unnerving (as did some unnamed professors), that so much of your total grade for the year comes from exams. Even in research-centered fields like psychology and philosophy. To have so much riding on one piece of work that is timed in an artificial environment seems wrong to me, but that doesn't say as much about the university as it does the politics that govern them.

2. Study abroad going the other way. While I was at Lancaster, I had two friends that I had made that were planning on taking a cue from me and my girlfriend and go abroad to America for their second year of uni. One, was going to UMaine, the other, to UNH. These two people, I concluded, would much benefit from a year in the states, being the types of characters they are. Bright, curious, and willing to make the jump and commit to its responsibilities. Unfortunately, they were unable to meet the academic standards necessary to participate in the direct exchange program (one had near perfect coursework marks and the other was consistently high in theirs, both, though they both revised properly [I was an eyewitness to that]) did mediocre in their exams, for which I would see the above point). When I found out what those standards were, I compared them with those that I had to meet while in the states. Maybe it's just the type of tests that the standards are based, but I found them to be much more unforgiving than those that I had needed to satisfy. If there is anything that I have learned while I was in Lancaster, it was that the experience of the culture as a student was rich beyond measure, and that, above all else, would be what I truly took back with me. I may have a slightly biased perspective, but from my standpoint, I saw two students who truly cared about their education and broadening their horizons, denied a chance to do the latter because of a bar that, in my opinion, was not where it should have been. On that note, I praise the system at UMaine, because of the way it gives appropriate opportunities to those who deserve it. This is in no way a criticism of the education at Lancaster, but only of the inequality between the two program's standards of acceptance.

And that, is all I really have for negatives.

To end on a positive. Lancaster was all I had wished for, and more. They taught me to to stop copying what the lecturers are telling me and start applying my own ideas and curiosities about the topics. To use the knowledge that I have amassed from previous years and begin connecting the dots, deciding what's relevant, and especially in the philosophy dept., what isn't. It gave me great friends that I will have for a lifetime, and plenty of photos and memories to carry back with me. I now hold myself to a new standard of excellence, and if that isn't a success, then I don't know what is.