The Discombobulated Life of a University Student

Today was my first day at University. It was everything I imagined it would be and much, much more. As you guessed from this blog's title, it was a crazy, wild day!

I had a dream!

Let's start from the beginning. A few days ago, I had a dream that I got lost on campus and couldn't find my class. In my dream, I even took the school's shuttle bus and went to the other campus that is located across the city. I ended up finding the class by the time it was over.

I had to take a photo of Concordia University's shuttle bus that takes you to the Loyola campus. I thought it was hilarious considering the circumstances!

Guess what really happened?

It all started when I woke up at 3:30am with a migraine. I took one of my meds with some Tylenol and fell back to sleep once the pills started to take effect. My alarms (yes, that is plural and not a typo) went off and I promptly shut them off. I snoozed my last alarm but slept through it. My baby bat's dad had a premonition and he called me to wake me up! I managed to get the kid up, get her lunch ready and sent her out the door.

  **side note: if you know me personally or just read my posts, I often referred to my kid as my son and used he/him pronouns. I have been given the go-ahead to use she/her pronouns and ask that you refrain from negative comments. Comments are moderated and I will not engage in any form of bullying/derogatory remarks.** 

I then made a mad dash out the door but had time to drink coffee while I was getting ready but didn't have time to put makeup on. 

Got to love public transit!

I live super close to school and I also live right near the metro station. I was super annoyed when I got there to see the train platform packed with people. I missed the first train because it was too packed. Lucky for me, the service resumed rather quickly and the next train arrived shortly after. My metro cart was still pretty full and was annoyed by the idiot in front of me who kept his school bag on, taking enough room for two people and was leaning on a pole. I had no place to hold on and despite my polite pleas to ask him to move, he had his headphones on and didn't hear me. I tapped him on the shoulder and asked him to give me room! I used to be so shy but now that I am older and a mom, I have no problems speaking up!

My phone's LTE crashed

The smart thing would have been to either write down the classroom number as well as which campus and building it is in the night before. Instead, I log into the University's website to get the details while I was on the metro. I just couldn't get on the Internet! I arrive at the school at 8:30am and my class starts at 8:45am. I remembered which campus and building my class was in but not the actual room number. After fiddling with trying to connect to the University's Wifi, I finally manage to get online. By the time everything was settled, my class was over! While all this was happening, it took a herculean effort to not break down and cry or have a panic attack! My dream came true! In a panic, I emailed the professor and explained my situation. My university is very good at being paperless and all my teachers post the syllabus for their classes when you log in and access your student info. I caught up with what I missed in class. 

Shopping extravaganza!!!!

Having a couple of hours to spare, I got my student ID and I decided to go purchase the books I need for my classes. My First Nations/North American Native Literature class (ironically, the class I missed this morning) reading materials are not sold at the University bookstore but at a quaint bookshop not far from the campus. I used to frequent that bookstore all the time. For any local Montrealers, the bookstore is called Argo and is located on Ste-Catherine St near Boutique Seduction and Capitaine Quebec. I love this bookstore because it is not a big chain. It is not Amazon either. It is a small little bookstore that is super cute! The staff is always friendly and I love going there to browse the books! I even got a really cute reusable bag that has books printed all over it! I decided to take a little walk since it has been ages  I have been in that part of the city. I saw so many Asian grocery stores that my heart was filled with joy! I also scoped out where all the coffee shops were located since I love coffee so much! I get back to Campus and noticed that there are greeters there for new students. I guess they show up later! I got so much help and advice from these volunteers that I went out of my way to thank them! I got all the books I needed (with some on pre-order) as well as some clothes. I couldn't help it! I am so happy to be able to go to University. It has been a dream of mine for a long time that I felt a need to buy the overpriced University paraphernalia. I got two t-shirts (in black, obviously and one for me and the other for the baby bat), pyjama pants with the University name on them as well as another travel mug. I can never have too many travel mugs and I always have a clean one ready to take with me in the morning! I also got a flag with the University name (Concordia) on it because I am super proud! 

My Concordia flag is proudly displayed on my dining room wall next to my Dali portrait

Killing time before my next class

Since I got my student ID, I decided to get back on the metro and head to Berri Uqam station because you can get your student transit pass there. Getting a student transit pass means I will be paying student fares and will save money that way since the fees are much less than regular transit fares. It would have been really handy to put a notice on the website that you need to make an appointment. I showed up for nothing! I also realized I could apply for the student pass online and get it mailed to me. I just need to wait a full 24 hours after my student ID is issued. I am in no hurry to get my student transit pass because I already bought a monthly pass for this month. I decide to go home and drop off my things. 

What my classes were like

My Introduction to English Literature class was really cool. We simply went over the syllabus and the teacher told us about the reading materials we will be covering. It will be a little bit of everything from short stories to video games, even anime! He did mention a lot of trigger warnings in some of the content. I know the anime we will be viewing, it is called Perfect Blue is not for the faint of heart. He wants us to develop critical thinking. There is more to this class but I won't bore you with the details.

The last class was Studies In Medieval Literature. I signed up for this class because I always wanted to understand old English, and read Beowulf and The Canterbury Tales by Chaucer. The class is covering those! The teacher began the class by playing a medieval song called “Sumer is icumen in” and he placed the lyrics on the screen. We all had a discussion about what they meant. I was enamoured! 

The funny thing is, the lecture hall I was sitting in for both classes was exactly the way I imagined it would look! It really is like what you see on TV and in the movies!

My lecture hall looked like this but I got this image from Shutterstock!

Needless to say, despite the rough start, my first day was a good one! I was walking around with a big, stupid grin on my face all day. I am sure people thought I was high or something! 

The Baby Bat

I am quite proud of my baby bat. She has been coming home by herself since I started work and has been a great, responsible kid.  She is old enough to do it and will be going to high school next fall! She texted me when she got home asking if she could go play D&D with her friends. I said yes. She went to the game shop up the street to play and they had a lot of fun. She wants all my lovely readers to know that she plays a witch, her group got a pet tiger named The Mighty Snuffles and her group all pooled their money together to have supper. I leave cash for her once a week in case she wants to run to the store. She got some new dice today and wants me to post a picture, so here you go! For the record, I think it is awesome that my kid is nerdy and plays D&D! I also think it is awesome that my kid is super supportive of my education and boasted about me to all her friends and teachers! Too cute! 

If you enjoyed this post, I have several "The Discombobulated Life Of" posts you can read. Either check the "discombobulated" tag or click on the links below! For the record, I swear, these things really do happen to me and while it can be daunting while it happens, I laugh it off afterwards. Today is one of those days!

https://www.theinsanebatmom.com/2022/11/discombobulated-corp-goth-halloween.html

https://www.theinsanebatmom.com/2022/10/the-discombobulated-life-of-corp-goth.html