My 19th birthday was a brilliant one, not to be forgotten. it did start off with a seminar, but I didn't mind so much because I had to be given a tour through a new, as yet unopened- at the time of writing this-building, connecting to the one I needed to be in so that I could use the newly installed lift,as both the lifts in the building I needed to be in, were out of order, and I wouldn't have been able to get up to the classroom were it not for being given access into this new building.
The day from then on was quite uneventful and relaxing. I want to look around one of the University buildings, but I had never been in before, which I hadn't realised even existed up to that point. It was called the White Swan building and its housed Music practice rooms and Drama studios as well as a TV Studio. By far the most impressive feature that I came across, however, was the fact that this University building connected directly onto one of the the local theatres, the New Theatre Royal Portsmouth, so that students can go and practice there when there is no performance happening.
That was quite an experience, and then the day picked up a bit more as the evening drew in. All of us in our immediate friendship group went to see the new Marvel Studios cinematic release, 'Black Panther' at the cinema, not only because it was my birthday, but because we were all excited to see it anyway. It was nice however the it was on my birthday because it felt extra special. I liked the film very much when I watched it and subsequently decided to write an essay on the authenticity of it for one of my Media units. Upon further research into it however, I realised that my appreciation for the film itself diminished because even though it's celebrating diversity through an almost all black cast, as well as the fact that the film states itself as being set in Africa, which sound progressive, are nothing compared the cast being predominantly fully American or fully British. This suggests to me that the film is not as authentic as I thought, but I will argue both sides of the debate in my essay.
After the film, the party then retreated back to my kitchen where we had a really good time because we hadn't spent quality time with each other for a long time. I was grateful to find that a cake had been bought for the occasion as well as number balloons that came together to form the number 19. I made the occasion even better by ordering in pizzas that my parents generously paid me back for.
Overall, the day was a really nice experience that I was so grateful for. The only downside was that I was having such a good time I had to contend with going to bed at 4:30 in the morning, and then getting up to meet my mum at the train station at 2 o'clock as she had come to see me for the weekend. That was worth it and a particularly enjoyable time too though
![](https://img.wattpad.com/cover/122439440-288-k245286.jpg)
YOU ARE READING
University of Portsmouth: First Year Diary
Non-FictionThe documentation of my journey through the first year of my English and Media Studies degree at Portsmouth University.