In my quarter of a century on this planet, I've spent 13 years in complusory education, let's say 4 years studying higher education in a creative sense, and now, with a short gap studying "life", I'm entering my second year of university studying a "real subject", by which I mean it's in the Business School and doesn't involve carrying a glue stick and colouring-in impliments in my handbag...though I do still carry those). So while I may not be some sort of expert in student life, I've given it a damn good go and one thing that still excites me about the new school year? NEW BOOKS AND STATIONARY!!! (well it is a book based blog, what did you expect?)
Let's start with stationary, because while it may not be directly related to literature, it's still a huge passion of mine. In fact, part of me thinks I studied art just so I could have an excuse to play with different pens and papers. Most people these days will rely on their laptop but I personally am a fan of the old school pen and paper...and highlighter...and post-it note...and different coloured pens for titles...and pencils in case there's a diagram...sorry, I just woke up in a puddle of my own drool.
What I'm trying to say is that student cannot live on technology alone.
I personally have a different notebook for each module I take and am a fan of A4, lined and spiralbound and preferably hardback (in case buying me presents takes your fancy, seriously, a bouquet of pencils is my idea of romance). This allows me to keep my subjects seperate and I'm unlikely to run out of room, meaning I can use the extra paper for essay writing notes or jotting down other information when it comes to revising and the like. Last year, I bought all of my stationary from Paperchase or a wee local shop called Paper Tiger which has some more unique and indie items. I got a cute pocket sized year planner from there which was the greatest, especially as I suck as carrying around a diary!
There are so many websites out there that will tell you "stationary essentials" for students but it's all down to personal preference and you should know this from high school. I saw people using journals with all their notes jumbled up, as well as people who printed out every lecture slide and kept them in a massive binder (sorry planet earth!). I just like talking about stationary which was basically why I wrote this post. Most people stash porn in their bottom drawer, mine is full of notebooks!
The second part I love about going to uni is the books. Mmmm textbooks. What? You don't agree? Textbooks are not something you have to buy - the library has plenty of them and they've even reached the modern age where you can access a lot of the books online. Do not feel like you have to buy your books! But if you're like me and get slightly over-excited at the thought of education, as well as having books of your very own, you might want to buy them. The thing is, you usually get a list of about 10 books, some of which are "must-reads!!!" and some which are just suggested or relevant for one section of the module. I only bought a few of my books and I had a look into them first and made sure I would use them through-out my degree or over multiple modules.
When I bought my books new, I used Blackwells and I cannot fault them. The one in Edinburgh has a huge textbook floor so it's nice to go and have a browse for your books and see if they might be relevant and then you can do your homework and see if they're cheaper elsewhere. Did I mention they have a nice stationary section too?
My big secret for buying textbooks for uni though was to use ABEbooks which is a second hand buying and selling site. They won't always have what you want, and the books are often older editions so you may need to check any information for accuracy but it meant that for pennies, I had the books beside me when I was writing essays and didn't have to fight for them in the library. As an example, I bought three books, including shipping for £13 when one textbook alone sets you back about £40.
So...I'm not entirely sure if this post has a point, aside from "Kirsty loves books and stationary yay!" but I'm thinking and debating about writing more about university life on this blog rather than just my wee book reviews. I don't even know if anyone reads it (a comment would be nice if you do! :P) so it's mainly just for me but it might happen. All you may have learned from this post is that the way to my heart involves something very similar to that scene from Beauty and the Beast (you know the one I mean...and pizza, it definitely involves pizza, and beast is less of a wild animal and more a dirty, hairy...ahem. nevermind).
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