Wait you commute to Uni?!! How do you...like...go out?

Commuting, the word a keen fresher dreads to hear as she starts university. The foreboding sense of FOMO creeps into her mind and she begins to dig her heels in...

Quick context:

Your girl lives in Surrey, which gathered is not too far out from London, but when those 9am lectures/seminars are calling, being on a Southern train is less than magical.

Fast-forward to the end of the uni year, what has the ex-fresher now learnt?

1. How to get the F**k up

Kind of anyway, 9ams for those lucky enough to be in accommodation will moan about getting up at 8:30am, as a commuter I felt completely justified in one-upping them with the fact I had to get up at 6 am or more realistically at 7:00 to catch a train at 7:51am. That my friends, is one other thing commuting teaches you; whether you like it or not, you will memorise that train timetable like a pro. 

Another pro? I can now safely say that I can do my makeup in under 30minutes.

Talking of train journeys...rush hour is literally survival of the fittest, without sounding too weird, there is an odd sense of satisfaction knowing that you can still manage to squeeze onto a tube during rush hour even when you know your arse is probably right in front of an old lady's face. Guilty of slamming her laptop bag in front of an elderly person on the tube... by accident of course. 

2. To Carpe Diem that Social Life 

Remember I mentioned the FOMO? Turns out, it was a pointless worry, university has so many individuals from a variety of cultures you will be able to find kindred spirits dotted all around. Those special people have made my year at university a complete excitement. Even the ones I no longer talk to, all the people I have met, have allowed me a new taste of life that I could not have done had I not taken the plunge to say hi :). Whether saying hi was through drunken table tennis at Pres or fresher fairs. 

3. You Appreciate Time Management

Early starts = later times home, well that is if you enjoy mooning around London or camping out in the library. Either way, time management becomes even more essential when you commute. Similarly, commuting in London means you have to join the stampede of city workers during rush hour or risk being trampled and left behind, or even worse having the one huffy person behind you in the ticket barriers as you try and force your way through the doors. 

Deadlines are your best friends, as you conscientiously begin to divide up your time between carefully. 

4. MORE MONEY

Tsujiri (Soho) 

GRIND (Covent Garden) 

I mean of course, I do have a student loan which surprisingly I've not really touched but all that extra cash I have whilst my friends are as quoted by a dear friend: 'I'm skint...it's so peak' means that I am able to indulge in the most spectacular lunches. Guilty not guilty, I don't even shop anymore money goes towards food. Oh, you're hungry? That's great, I know the best place for meat buns, yes I have turned into that annoying foodie who will take a picture before you eat. 

5. Appreciate the City 

As a commuter, I have learned to love and appreciate some of the great and simple things that London has had to offer me. I wish I could say I was best buds with the man who walks his ferret on the strand and the pigeon whisperer in St. James Park, but as I cannot. I will have to do with the notion that I can tick off half of the art galleries I've been trying to hit on my list and sunsets are gorgeous both on the journey home on a train and back from the uni library. 

Ferret Man on the Strand 

Walk back to the station from the Maughan Library