I found that I got on far better with other people from another student society, as those on my course seemed to be constantly switching who/what their alliances were.
I found that I got on far better with other people from another student society, as those on my course seemed to be constantly switching who/what their alliances were.
I went to university 3 times. The 1st was more an exercise in education than social life. I was living about 60 minuets from uni in another city to save on costs. In retrospect probably a mistake. My department (maths) sociaty was rubish. First year they did practicly no events. Second year they ran maybe 1 or 2. 3rd year was really boozy full of pub crawls so I opted out of most of it. 4th year most people I came in with left and it was still mostly boozy stuff.
The most interesting thing they ever tried to do was a charity slave auction which they canceled ... I think because I was the only one who volenteered to be a slave.
The christian union I was also involed with but they had been 'possesed' by the local baptist church which seemed to be morally oposed to both fun and interlectual debate. Almost all of their social events were orgonised either in halls of residence or on weekends which was not great for someone comuting into uni.
For my second course as a post grad I was in a difrent uni in my home town. I went to the odd student club night there but there weren't any social clubs that interested me. Instead I got involved with the anime sociaty at my old university which was frankly great. As a rowdy noisy bunch of nerds in the late 00s / early 10s it was probably the best soccial life I ever had ... which is to say it felt like I had one.
I got kicked out of anime soc not long after I finished my second course. Which was ironic because my 3rd course was at my old uni. I spent most of the course appealing that ban. An appeal I won about a week before the course ended. So I didn't really have much of a social life at uni for my 3rd course. I couldn't join the sociaty I wanted to. I couldn't join a lot of others because every sociaty adjacent to anime sociaty had banned me too. Most of them were run by the same clique that decided they hated me.
Am halfway through this - Chris is such a handsome hot hunk and he’s adorable too
It seems like I'm one of the few who loved uni and had a really good and possitive time there, I'd love to go back and study other things and things related to my first course.
coven” of women of a certain age,
Be careful how you speak about women, please.
Definitely, as I can never resist a handsome man - he’s gorgeous too
So a lot of Scottish students could go to uni 1 year before their English counterparts. I don't know if this is still the case
Still the case, yes.
Never heard of Chris Packham?
You need to start watching Winter/Spring/Summerwatch then.
I’ve never heard of him before, but he’s a hottie though
Thanks. I really hope kids are getting better guidance in school now so that they don’t have to bootstrap themselves in their 20s.
I copied that approach and I think that’s where my masking stepped up several levels.
That is a good way to do it - not many have the patience or persistance for the approach so I'm impressed.
I was lucky in that I had a girlfriend who kind of trained me to be socially invisible and explained a lot of the stuff us autists rarely get to learn at that age. I guess I was a project for her, but I'll always be grateful for those life skills.
I did mediaeval history, I don't know if it was age or ASC, but I found I looked at things differently to many of my younger class mates.
Sex, drugs and rock and roll are all part of the uni experience, even some of them for me when I went at the age of 42. If I won the lottery I think I'd become a perpetual student, I loved learning.
In many ways my teen years were the most challenging socially so I just didn’t have the skills to go into a brand new environment where I didn’t know anyone and build relationships with them. I became very depressed through 1st and 2nd year as a result.
But around 2nd/3rd year I vividly remember reading a book about a famous academic who had the same problem and he decided to sit in the refectory and observe people talking to each other to try to figure out how to do it himself.
I copied that approach and I think that’s where my masking stepped up several levels. Add on a couple of years of forced interaction at work and by my mid 20s I would have been much more able to make connections with people.
Doesn't surprise me in the slightest. Advanced STEM subjects like Science or Math aren't particularly attractive options for most Neurotypical individuals compared to those somewhere on the spectrum. I'm expecting that when I start my PGCE next September, i'll be working with a lot of Neurodiverse people again on the basis that Computing especially isn't very attractive to most neurotypical mindsets.
My Degree was very Neurodiverse in terms of who was studying it.
In retrospect this was true for me too. I studied Applied Physics and when I think of the people I spent 3 years studying / lab working with then there were neurodiverse traits on show all over the place.
It was a bit like The Big Bang Theory with Scottish accents.
I got on better with the lecturing staff than fellow students. I kept in contact with one staff member and have met up a while back. I volunteered as a cinema projectionist on campus so that was my alternative to the student union. I would love to go on to further study but the fees are beyond my funds.
I might have had a much better time at uni if I’d waited a few years.
I'm curious as to why you thought that would have been useful - can you elaborate?
Personally it gave me a break from so many of the restrictions that were holding be back because of people thinking "you're not old enough to know about that". It really annoyed me to be judged on a number such as age when I was proving myself more capable in other areas than most of the adults in my life, including teachers.
That was my perception back then anyway. I coped well enough even if the sex, booze and rock 'n' roll were a bit of a distraction. I doubt it would have made a difference waiting another year.
I started at 17 too for the same reason. In retrospect I might have had a much better time at uni if I’d waited a few years.
