Over the past week it has suddenly hit me how fast the end of university is approaching. We are now halfway through the final semester – a simultaneously terrifying and exciting thought. For want of a better word, my friends and I have been compiling our ‘bucket list’ for the end of our time in St Andrews, a list of all the things we want to do before we leave (most of which, unsurprisingly, involve food). I don’t really like the phrase ‘bucket list’ because it sounds terribly morbid – we’re leaving university, but that’s not to say we can never come back! If anything, graduation is more of a beginning than an end, but nonetheless there are lots of things I’d like to do before leaving. During the last couple of weeks I made a tentative start to the list…
For example, I recently tried yoga for the first time. I realise that this is not exactly a St Andrews or university specific experience, but having cheap student gym membership is, so it made sense to take advantage of that. After precisely two painful and awkward sessions, I have decided that yoga is not for me. I know that it’s one of those activities where to reap the benefits you have to keep going, but I’m not altogether sure I have the patience. I prefer invigorating, get-your-heart pumping type exercise, where you can feel the endorphins afterwards. With yoga, I was just left feeling bewildered. I knew it had the potential to be a spiritual experience but I was utterly unable to relax. As we lay in the dark at the end, the teacher told us to empty our minds and open our hearts, but all I could think about was that I had an overdue library book to return and that I needed to buy kitchen roll on the way home… not quite the desired effect, I don’t think! However even though I will never be a yogi (or even vaguely flexible) I’m glad I finally tried it – it’s so easy to say that you’d love to do something but much harder to make the time to actually try it.
Since then, in the spirit of making the most of things, I’ve visited the Botanic Gardens, the Cambo Estate at Kingbarns to see the famous spring snowdrops and I went to the local farmers market this weekend and tried some delicious homemade hot chocolate.
As well as being a list of final things, it has also inadvertently inspired me to take up some new things. I was pleasantly surprised by how well my Botanic Garden photos turned out (see previous post) and as a result I’m now thinking about trying to take a photography class in the future. All of which really comes back to the fact that it’s not the end, it’s just the beginning…
la tarte framboise 