Chapter 2 in the World of University

The biggest change about second year is moving out of halls. You loose the conveniency of rolling out of bed for a 9am and being able to go back to your flat in between lectures, but you gain a house! Living in a house with your friends has it’s perks, and means it just generally feels more homely when compared to the way halls are. When searching for a house, I unfortunately made the process a little more complicated! To get a house that has level access, a bedroom and bathroom/ shower on the ground floor and is suitable for my needs can be like trying to find a needle in a hay stack. Yet we managed to find a 5 bedroom house that everyone was happy with, after being here almost a month I love it!

During my first year I was given quite a few pieces of equipment to help within my studies, they were all delivered to my flat so it was all fine, only the prospect of having to move them to another house was a concern. I still do not know how we got a desk that is on hydraulics and a pretty big desk chair out of halls, into a car and back into another house! Fortunately I was able to pick up my keys a little earlier so we could spend more time moving my equipment. On the other hand, I have also been fortunately to get more equipment to help me this year (and next) when at university. Due to numerous hospitalisations last year and my chronic pain making sleep appear to be a myth I was able to receive a profiling bed. A profiling bed is very similar to the beds that they have within hospital, meaning it can go up and down, sit up and bend at the knee which is a more comfortable position for me to be in. Also, when I do have larger seizures they are less likely to admit me to hospital if I have a bed which can accommodate my needs during that time- which is certainly a major bonus! Despite being a ‘hospital bed’ it is not identical to the ones in a hospital, making them look a little more ‘normal’ but the comfort of it is definitely worth it.

Similarly, due to being registered as partially sighted it has meant branching out into the world of new equipment, and trying to find out which works for me! Like many university students, I have quite a lot of big textbooks which will need reading at some point. Reading for long periods of time can be made significantly harder when you can’t actually see what you are reading… However, one piece of equipment which has been extremely useful is a desk lamp that has a magnifier built in, meaning I can read large parts of text without having to move a smaller magnifier across a page. I have also received funding for a handheld magnifier which is about the size of a small tablet and will mean I can still read textbooks/ handout while at university. I have not received this yet, but I am looking forward to trying it out!

With another chapter starting in my educational journey it will mean new challenges and new adventures. Like I have just said, I now live in a house which is off campus- meaning I now get a train and a shuttle bus to get into university. Despite this not being the hardest thing ever, it is taking some time to get used to, and does make the day a little more tiring! I have also found that the train and bus can be extremely crowded during certain times of the day. Luckily I am with a PA when getting on and off public transport because the drop between the train and the platform is pretty big and I really do not want to fall before or after a day of lectures!!! Furthermore, a new university year means a new set of lecturers. This means a new set of people who need to remember certain things to allow me to fully access the lecture. On the whole the lecturers have all been great, it can just take a bit of prompting now and then which is not a problem!

Another change which has happened this academic year has been employing two new PA’s over summer. The two people I had last year left due to various reasons over summer, but it has been great to remain in contact with them both! When hiring a new PA it can be incredibly hard to find the right person. Ideally you need to get on with them, as well as finding someone who would be suitable for the job. I am happy to say that both new PA’s are great. One of them is my mum, and it has been very nice to be able to spend more time with her and for her to be involved with the university aspect of my life. Also, I think after 19 years of experience in all things Chloe related, she is more than qualified for the job! Secondly, it has been lovely getting to know my other PA, who has just finished her masters degree. I definitely believe they will both be amazing in this job and I look forward to the year ahead!

After having a very fun-filled summer I am prepared for the next academic year (well, I think I am…) and hope it will go as smoothly as possible. My physical health is actually doing really well at the moment, I am using my wheelchair less and have fully recovered from my various falls last year! I hope this will continue and that winter will not affect me too much- but that is also part of the adventure!

Let’s go and get this degree, have fun and raise plenty of awareness along the way!

~ Chloe x