I had my university entrance English screening this morning, the one all first-years have to do to access their academic English skills. It’s 30 minutes broken up into vocabulary followed by speed reading and editing paragraphs. I was unbelievably nervous beforehand, which is to be expected, but it was so bad I thought I was going to throw up. Rarely do my nerves create that sort of feeling; generally I just get butterflies and need to pee a lot.

The test went well and I was on, I think, the second-to-last paragraph when the time ran out. Fortunately I had done enough, and well enough, to pass, as the results they emailed to me told me. Now all I have to do is pick my courses (one has to be English, one will be Psych, not sure on the third yet) and take my Offer of Placement form into uni so they can go over it with me.

I need to remember that I am not automatically meant to know things like what exact stationery I’m going to need, what kind of bag I’ll want, and all those little things. I’m coming to terms with the big stuff, the scary “OMG, I’m actually doing this” stuff, now all the little details are stressing me out. Bus routes and times, are my shoes comfortable enough for walking, I’d better start walking on the farm so I don’t die on the hills in the city, etc.

This milestone is like shedding the old skin in order to get a better one.

Anyway, tomorrow around midday I’m going to help out at my sister and brother-in-law’s new cafe. They need some help and I could do with the experience. I don’t know if I’ll get paid, and to be honest I don’t really care right now because I just want to help them out until they get their feet on the ground.