Last three months in Dundee before the end of the academic year...

The last three months in Dundee before the end of the academic year passed by unexpectedly quickly. Unexpectedly because I expected the exams, the search for accommodation and the packing up to be among the less pleasant and more boring things to do in my first year at the university. But the opposite was true, and before I knew it I was at the airport, a cup of coffee in one hand and my suitcase in the other, waiting for my flight (delayed, for a change). But first things first.

As I have mentioned, the final exams were the most important and difficult part of the entire first year; they required thorough preparation, as the results accounted for 60% of the overall grades in most cases. Hence, nothing was to be left to chance and all first year students would spend all their time in the library, rehearsing lessons and reading all those articles they had initially ignored and considered senseless. Exams then showed what the students actually learned (not just memorized) in the second semester and how well they could present the facts learned and their opinions.

Fig. A vista of Dundee from Law Hill

But the end of exams was not the end of my worries – there were still a lot of unpleasant things to arrange for, most notably finding accommodation, which looked downright tragic at first. But, as they say, patience brings roses, and I soon found a beautiful room in the city centre, where I will be living with my friends next year. So I just carelessly savored my leisure time before flying home in the late weeks of May, waiting for my exam results. Of course, I also had to solve an issue that seemed unsolvable at first – what to do with all those things that I had accumulated all through the year. You can’t really stuff all your books, dishes and blankets into a suitcase if the weight limit is 20 kilos. Thank God, my schoolmate (and now my roommate too) offered to keep my stuff, freeing me of my last worry. So then I just packed up the rest of my belongings, handed back the keys and set out to the familiar Edinburgh airport.