University of Portsmouth: First Year Diary

September 2017-Part 4: First Parties

I am settling into halls well, and feel accepted by those I have met  so far, especially Joel and his friend Jack, The latter of whom I see every day as we share a kitchen. He understands What I'm going through, as he used to be in a wheelchair, but can now see the difficulties I may be having, physically or emotionally, from an able-bodied person's perspective. I am planning to introduce myself to others as well, as I am doing during the meetings in Induction Week, but for now those two are the ones making me want to stay rather than come back home.
   They invited me to their first party, which took place on the Sunday after I arrived, where I was introduced to some of their other friends who do not live in our halls. It was a memorable night with some good music and great people.
   As well as that night, I also spent another great night meeting one of Joel's other friends, Jordan, and his support worker, Lucy. Like me, Jordan is also in a wheelchair and loves listening to music, particularly Ed Sheeran, Unlike me, he is the only one, out of all of us along with Lucy who has seen Ed Sheeran live in concert. He loved it. I see our mutual love of music as a good way for us to connect, as Jordan cannot communicate verbally, but I can see that listening to music brings out joyous emotions in him, which is also clear from the fact that he evidently went to V festival this year, and enjoyed it very much, which is great. Hopefully we might see him again soon.
   Ultimately, for me the fact that I know that I'm going to see Ed Sheeran live in Paris next year in July is one of the things that helping me through my time here, when I have felt and will feel low, but at the moment the good company but I have found in halls is making me feel that I have made the truck right choice I'm coming here. This is because, for me, coming to Portsmouth University is less about achieving my academic potential then achieving my potential to be sociable, to make new friends and to make memories as I have experiences with those new friends, which I feel like I have started and will continue to do.