25 Things

I was recently perusing Facebook (whilst procrastinating from work of course) and stumbled across the notes section of my profile, where I found something which almost serves as a digital time capsule for my life at the age of 18. You see, at that time my peer group were all writing a ‘25 Things’ note which consisted of 25 things about yourself. Re-reading mine was pretty interesting and got me thinking about how much I have changed in such a small amount of time. Below are some of my favourites from those 25 things, and my reaction to them these days.

1. My name is Sam Thorpe.
2. I’m very tall. Unfortunately, some people allow this to define me.
3. I have size 14 feet. Unfortunately, some people allow this to define me.

I’m still tall with big feet, but Cardiff is a much bigger pond than Old Windsor so I’m amongst others that are just as tall as me. It’s kind of nice to have more of an identity outside of those 2 things.

4. Items 2 and 3 lead to lots of jokes about my genitals. I am in no position to confirm or deny any myths.
I’ll stand by that statement. University has taught me a lot, just not in that area.

5. My brain rarely stops working, but not on anything significant. I can’t shut the bloody thing down and I lose sleep because of this.

Most of these insignificant thoughts are now just fodder for my Twitter account. One of my latest ponderings came during the Paralympics. In the midst of the grandeur and spectacle of it all, my brain took the time to ask the question “Do they give shorter medals to the dwarf athletes so that they don’t hang around their knees?” It’s this (and TigerTiger on a Monday) which makes 9am lectures so difficult.

7. I drive a 1989 Ford Escort which I call Elanor. Some mock me for this but in my opinion, it’s endearing.

This one is quite painful to talk about. Sadly, Elanor is no more, R.I.P. I currently drive an equally endearing car though, a 1994 Ford Escort convertible named Penelope. It’s a change but not a big one; I’m still all about the retro cars. I’ve said for a while now that if I won the lottery I’d get Elanor back and fix her up, as well as buy a Volkswagen camper van.

13. I have a microwave with a pizza setting. I hit pizza, select frozen or chilled, then enter the weight and it works out the time itself. I believe it will be a necessity at uni.
The microwave is gone and I can actually cook! The most complicated thing I’ve ever made is a lasagne but it’s definitely a step up. Looking at this I can’t believe I thought I’d be so dependent on a microwave to eat. An oven really isn’t that hard to use. That being said, I’m somewhat dependent on Magic Wrap now. However if you’ve ever had the pleasure of a post-lash at my house, you’ll know I’m the king of hot dogs and cheese and ham toasties.

21. I spend my money on stupid things, drinks, food between meals etc. I plan to buck this trend and save up for a MacBook.

Ahhh, perhaps the most relevant of all of these! Did I honestly think I’d become better with my money when the government chucks a grand at me every few months!? This was hopeless. I now seem to spend ludicrous amounts of money in the iconic K&C Stores of Cathays. Mostly this consists of jelly snakes and cans of Monster to nurse my hangovers. That being said, I suppose I can budget for a weekly food shop so I have made some progress. Still no MacBook though.

24. 24 shots in one night is my record. I can see myself breaking it.
That was before I discovered pre-drinks. I’m now up to 36 but it was brutal and involved me taking a nap in the toilet in Revs. I can’t see myself breaking that one.

25. I guess what I’m trying to get at is that reading this left me feeling quite good about how far I’ve come. I kept hold of some of the personality traits that I believe make me me, but at the same time I’ve done a lot of growing up which I guess is needed over a period of 4 years. Your experience at uni is also likely to teach you a lot about the world outside of your parents’ house and bring about a number of changes in you, just make sure it’s the things that you want to change!