I didn’t experience your standard university life, from 2000 - 2003 I went to a tiny little art college in Epsom, called The Surrey Institute of Art & Design to study Fashion Promotion & Illustration. There were probably only about 1,500 students on campus, no halls of residence, only student houses, the cafeteria doubled up as the student union bar and the opening of a new Yates & Wetherspoons was as exciting as it got. There were 2 locations you could loosely call a club, and then there was the Odeon cinema.

I found the first year very up and down. I am dramatically hating life one day and then loving it the next. For the most part I was jealous of my school friends living out the stereotypical student life in city centres like Leeds, Sheffield and Liverpool. I didn’t appreciate the new friendships I was building, as I was comparing 6-month friendships to ones that I had cultivated over 6 years and in my first year of uni I was obsessed with wanting to be friends with the group I deemed to be the popular & cool crowd. At school, everyone knew me, and I found it so difficult to suddenly be in a space where no one cared who I was.

I don’t have any student stories or endless drinking or constant partying. But what I will share are my coming of age experiences over my 3 years at uni; moving away from home for the first time, making new friends, learning how to self motivate, recognising my potential and finding a career focussed job in the industry I had aspired to work in since religiously watching The Clothes Show on TV every Sunday night as a teenager.

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Key Characters:

Beth - My best mate

Ashley, Ellie, Dawn, Sally, Harriet, Amber, Erica - Some of my oldest friends

Dan - My ex boyfriend who I spent 11 years with from 2001 - 2012

Locations:

The Surrey Institute of Art & Design - Now called

https://www.uca.ac.uk/life-at-uca/locations/epsom/

Odeon Epsom

https://www.odeon.co.uk/cinemas/epsom/

Wetherspoons Cheadle Hulme

https://www.greatukpubs.co.uk/kings-tap-cheadle-hulme?utm_source=google&utm_medium=local_seo_gmb&utm_content=website

Topshop Oxford Circus

https://www.businessoffashion.com/news/retail/topshops-flagship-oxford-street-store-up-for-sale

Entertainment References:

The Clothes Show

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Clothes_Show

Harry Potter 2001

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harry_Potter_and_the_Philosopher's_Stone_(film)

Graduate Fashion Week

https://www.graduatefashionweek.com/

Helmet Newton Photo Machine

https://www.dazeddigital.com/fashion/article/168/1/topshops-newton-machine

Topshop Unique LFW

https://www.vogue.com/fashion-shows/spring-2006-ready-to-wear/topshop-unique

Dazed and Confused

https://www.dazeddigital.com/

Twenty Twenty Podcast

https://messageheard.com/podcasts/twenty-twenty-pop-culture-podcast

Diary, She Wrote was produced by Liz Beardsell in partnership with Bird Lime Media with original music by Ethan Illingworth and artwork by Robbie Porter.