College Years (Part 2)

 

When I first found out I’d been accepted onto the Professional Writing course, I felt really proud of myself.

My parents were proud, too. They’d been told for years that I’d never be able to attend College, because of the severity of my Autism. Even the people who diagnosed me thought it would be impossible. However, those same people thought I’d never attend public school either. Yet I spent 8 years at Hook Lane Primary – not in a private school.

My sister and I were the first in our family to attend College at 18, and I was eager to prove myself. But I knew getting into North (West) Kent was just the beginning.

My first real taste of College life came when I went to register my personal details at the campus. On that day I was both nervous and hopeful; nervous because I had to fill out important information about myself without any help, but hopeful because I’d be meeting my fellow students for the first time.

I’ve said before that my later years in Secondary School weren’t the best of my life. I felt depressed and isolated because I didn’t have many friends, and I rarely socialised with anybody. To me, College was about more than just improving my writing skills. I also saw it as an opportunity to make a fresh start. I really hoped that the course would allow me to make new friends – ones who I could relate to.

When I first met my fellow writing students I was a bit surprised. I’d forgotten College wasn’t just for Secondary School graduates, so I expected everyone to be the same age as me. But it turned out I was the youngest in a group that ranged from 18-year-olds to over 50s. This concerned me at first, because I thought it would cause social barriers. Fortunately, this wasn’t the case. Being a small group, it was a lot easier to get acquainted with everyone. And before long we were speaking to each other about our dreams and aspirations as if age didn’t matter.

Everyone had their own backgrounds, but one thing we all shared in common was a passion for writing. Over the next two years, we became a lot closer through helping each other with assignments. We even had our own Facebook page so we could always stay in touch. Having such a close bond proved to be very beneficial for all of us. There were times when someone would suffer personal problems and consider quitting the course, but everyone else would offer their support and convince that person otherwise.

Being a part of this small group proved especially beneficial to me and my social skills. In Secondary School I’d never been to a friend’s house or done anything with them outside a classroom. In College however, not only was I talking a lot more, I was meeting people for lunch, doing Secret Santas with them, attending birthdays, visiting friends houses to watch wrestling, etc.

But my friends weren’t the only ones that made College life more bearable. I also had my tutors.

In my first year, I had two tutors: Neil Nixon who taught ‘Creative Non-fiction’, ‘Research for Writers’, and other subjects on Mondays and Wednesdays; and Michael Ellis who taught ‘Forms of Writing’ on Thursdays.

Neil was an experienced author who’d published a book called ‘How to Get a Break as a Writer’ (2011). He taught me that there was more to being an author than just writing something and trying to find a publisher for it. You also had to find your own writer’s identity and obtain recognition from the right sorts of people (e.g. agents, charities, publishers, libraries, etc). It’s because of him that I discovered my writer’s identity was being an Autism advocate; by writing about my personal experiences with the condition, I could raise awareness of it’s effects and help make a difference in other people’s lives. It’s also what encouraged me to become a volunteer book-picker at the Dartford Library.

Mike Ellis was a bit different from Neil. He had experience in many fields of writing including books, screenplays and TV adverts. He taught me there always needs to be a strong meaning/metaphor behind your writing. Every line you write, or scene you show, has to contribute to a much deeper story than the one your audience sees/reads. For instance, the film ‘Misery’ (1990) might seem like another horror movie, but the screenplay actually explores the idea: ‘What if’ someone couldn’t trust their mother. Ever since then, I’ve always thought of ‘Implicit Messages’ to go along with my story ideas. I’ve also used other techniques such as ‘Internal Dynamics’ and ‘Motifs’, which have made my fiction writing a lot easier.

In the second year I was taught by two more tutors in addition to Mike and Neil. They were: Andy Sayers, who taught ‘Electronic Applications’, and Graham Gladin, who taught ‘The Art of the Novel’ – both on Tuesdays.

Andy was experienced in IT and occasionally hosted Miskin Radio – North Kent College’s radio station. From him, I learnt how new technology was changing the way writers got their work recognised (e.g. podcasts, blogs, social media, online articles, etc). I also learnt how different it was to write something you read to yourself and something you read aloud to other people. Almost every week my classmates and I would research the local news, write a script and then speak about it on Miskin Radio the next day. It’s partly thanks to Andy that I have this blog and why I’m so good with presentations / public speaking.

As for Graham, he taught me things the other tutors didn’t, like the workings of a graphic novel and how fictional accounts could have an impact on society. This encouraged me to continue my dream of becoming a novelist – my writer’s identity could be used in this field too.

One thing was for sure. Whether I had two tutors or four, I knew I could always rely on them. They understood my Autism caused me problems sometimes, so they were on hand to help me if I was struggling – having your tutor’s email address is always an advantage if you want to avoid feeling stress or pressure in College. All of my tutors were friendly and memorable in their own way. I especially remember Mike and Neil, because Mike was known for liking Jaffa Cakes, and he and Neil had their own catchphrases: “one more time for luck,” and “it’s been emotional,” respectively.

By the end of my second year I felt so close to my tutors and fellow students that I decided to make our group photo the header of this blog (see above). From left to right the people photographed are Emily Bennet (out of shot, see Home Page version); Emma Cooper; Jane Stevenson; Lianna Magnus (crouched); Harpinda Thind; Graham Gladin (crouched); Katherine Kane (pictured); me; Neil Nixon; Thomas Lander (crouched); Scott Barker and Paul Davis.

Overall, my experiences in College were rather mixed: I didn’t have to live on campus – like I thought I would – but I still had to wake up early and travel in on two different buses; I was only in three days a week, but the amount of work I had to do kept me busy almost every day; I understood my assignments most of the time, but I’d always get stressed if I thought I was doing something wrong; my perfectionism allowed me to do well in tasks, but it always took me longer to complete them – especially when I had travelling, driving lessons and other work experience alongside my studies. It was a big problem when my tasks had to be done within a week or a couple of days.

In the beginning, I honestly wasn’t sure if I could handle the pressures of College. Mike noticed me felling this way and asked if I was happy doing the course – I hesitated when I answered, yes. But as time went on, I learnt to deal with things a lot better. And, by staying on the course, I achieved many things I never would have by myself. An article I’d written on Autism was published in an NAS magazine (my first ever publication); I contributed to a book called ‘Successful Studying’ (2013); one of my tasks inspired me to write a children’s book series and I even got advice from Jacqueline Wilson (via email). Plus, our Professional Writing group was the first where none of the students quit the course before finishing and our grades were higher than any of the previous years.

When the second year was done we had an ‘End of Year Show’ where everybody presented something to express how much they’d learnt. Much like this blog, I decided to put together a presentation telling everybody about what I’d been through since Primary School and what my hopes were for the future – it was very well-received.

Little did I know the end of College meant the beginning of a new life at Greenwich University – the most stressful, yet rewarding 24 weeks of my life.

(To Be Continued)

I hope you enjoyed this post. If so then please feel free to check out some of the other material I’ve written for this blog – especially the previous parts on my Primary and Secondary School experiences. If you have any questions then leave me a comment – I’ll be happy to answer them. And, as always, keep an eye out for the next post. Stay tuned.