November 2013
Do you believe in fate? Or that certain things are meant to happen? I’ve never been sure myself. I like the thought of being in control of my own life..it kinda unsettles me to think EVERYTHING is planned out exactly.. but sometimes, it feels as though some things are just meant to be.
For instance, a big one for me was university. I applied to five different universities, and got offers from four of those. The one I ended up attending, Northumbria, was not my first choice, it wasn’t even my second choice.. it was a bit of a mess at the time.. and so it all became last minute..including living arrangements. Apparently, all spaces in student halls had been taken.. leaving me, and many others virtually homeless for our first year.. with only 3 weeks until the beginning of term. Thankfully the university ran an open day for people in the same position as me to come along and find houses to rent locally. It was a kinda raffle ticket deal. Once you arrived you were given a ticket. A random number on either green, pink or yellow paper. Then, five tickets at a time were drawn out of a hat and you were grouped together – this is who you would be living with for the rest of the year. I guess that was the fairest way. I ended up being put into the second house along with another girl and three boys – Nicola, Adam, Johnny and Jonno. They were complete strangers. At the time we were all on different courses and were all from various areas of the country – the Wirral, Southport, Wakefield, Darlington. Oddly, along with a few additions, our group actually stuck together for the full 3 years of uni. We got on.. not all the time of course, but it was a dynamic that just worked.
Nicola ended up changing onto my course and I became really good friends with her, and two other girls on our course called Emma and Hayley (who also ended up becoming a housemate for year 2 and 3). We went on trips together, and nights out, our leaver’s ball and even went to Mallorca together on a girl’s holiday. We’re still in touch now.. and try to meet up, when life allows. Its a funny thing. What if I’d chosen another uni? What if I’d got into halls? What if I’d chosen a different raffle ticket.. or even applied for another course? We probably would’ve never met.. was it meant to be? I don’t know.
Another situation which makes me ponder fate is Adrien. In my 1st year I took Italian for one of my modules. It was a weekly 2 hour lecture on a Tuesday evening. Languages were open to many courses so my lesson was filled with a real mix of students. I remember sitting in literally the first chair I found as I entered the room – easy to escape, I guess that’s what my anxious mind told me. But there was this one boy in the lesson who sat towards the back of the classroom. He was skinny (just my type), with short cropped dark hair and big dark eyes. He wore creepers. Always an obscure punk band tshirt and skinny black jeans with an old blue denim jacket covered in badges and safety pins. I’d already guessed he was an art student judging by the massive folder he carted around campus. His name was Adrien, he was 24, from Paris and I had a crush. Like a big one. Hell, I even had a boyfriend at the time, but that’s besides the point. This guy was.. well, French ..and just really cool. Maybe it was his looks, or his style, or the fact that he spoke 4 languages fluently (bilingualism is always a turn-on). But I think it was his nature.
I remember one time I was ill, and had missed the memo that our next lesson the following week would be in a different part of the building. When I got to our usual classroom, I found him stood outside it. He smiled when he saw me and said “You weren’t here last week, I knew you’d come here so I waited for you”. Swoooo-oo-n
He was lovely. That was it really. It was my first year and his last so I never saw him again after our lessons finished. I sometimes wonder about him.. I don’t even know his surname so its not like I could look him up on Facebook.. which I actually find a bit creepy anyhow.
I don’t really know why I’m writing about him. I just find it weird how we can come into contact with different people.. people we may have never met, and it can all be down to a single choice we’ve made.
WEIRD.
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