Living with embarrassment

It's good to be back. Following a week in which I seem to have been busy all of the time, I am now able to sit down and reflect on the last few days. Last Friday was a particularly eventful day as I visited JMU for their open day, ahead of starting my Journalism course in September. I was experiencing some anxiety, given my status as a 'Mature Student,' and I was bracing myself for one or two embarrassing moments. When I arrived, I was greeted by a car park attendant who was operating the barrier. He asked me if I was the bus driver who would be driving the coach around the city to show the prospective students the sights of Liverpool. I shook my head and informed him that I was in fact there to have a look around the campus. But I wasn't even in and my cheeks were reddening.

Once inside I gave in my name to the woman on reception. As I was handed a paper bag with a few JMU freebies in, I scanned the room, and the sight which greeted me only added to my rosy glow. Around twenty young men and women were scattered about, most of them with their parents. The sad thing was that I was older than some of the parents. I sat next to a young man whilst we waited for the presentation to start but I didn't even attempt to make conversation. He looked gormless, disinterested and not in the least bit eager to talk to me. I sat and waited.

30 minutes later we were invited into a large lecture theatre to listen to various people inform us about the course, accommodation, finance etc... I lost count of the number of times they mentioned that this would be a stressful period, that there would be nobody there to clean their rooms, cook meals for them, (the student) etc..In short, the whole presentation was geared towards school-leavers, and wasn't applicable to the slightly overweight Probation worker sat a few rows from the front. But despite this I found myself listening intently, and feeling quite excited at the prospect of studying to become a Journalist. There are many interesting modules to be studied including Radio, Print and Online Journalism. The course appears to be everything I was hoping for, and more. As I made my way back to work after spending 2 hours in the campus where I will study for 3 years, I felt excited. It will be difficult, and I felt apprehensive on a number of occasions as they explained how much work is involved. But I have got a strong feeling that something good lies at the end of this journey, and so I will be doing my upmost to be successful. I also accept that living with embarrassment will be as much a part of the course as lectures, tutorials and essays.