Non fiction

Finally Freedom?

The last days of the summer holidays are here, this means that you finally get to move to Sheffield and start university. Now you don’t have to live with your parents anymore and the saying ‘as long as you live under my roof…’ has lost its power too. You can go out during the week as well and don’t have to feel guilty when you wake up for lunch instead of breakfast. Your room can stay in the chaotic mess you like it in and your mum won’t freak out about your clothes lying on the floor. Finally you are free to live your life the way you want.

There are a few days of holidays left and you plan to spend them by exploring the town during the day and the parties at night. You go for a coffee and just watch the people walking by, of course you also check out the girls; this reminds you of your new found freedom once again. You can take girls home with you and there is no awkward moment when you try to sneak her out and your parents catch you. Oh, how wonderful this new life is going to be. You meet up with a buddy from school and you go for pizza and beer and you lament about your lame parents and the strict rules back home. You are both glad that this hell is over. After a few more beers and deep conversation about the long forgotten past, you head home. Because you want to enjoy your last night of freedom alone – sleeping alone and waking up whenever you want to.

The morning comes and it is the pure feeling of liberty – it is already two in the afternoon and you don’t have to apologize to anyone. You go into the kitchen and plan on having cereals – you put them in a bowl but when you open the fridge, there is no milk. You hear your mum’s nagging voice in your head which reminds you that she told you over and over again to get food from the supermarket. Both your parents wanted to go with you, but you wanted them gone as fast as possible. This is the price you pay. You have to go shopping before you can have breakfast. Fortunately there is a Tesco just close to where you live. You pick a few things like milk, bread, butter, cheese, sausages and tea but then you remember that there is also lunch and dinner to be planned. You walk through the aisles once more and pick up pizza and lasagne and macaroni cheese and head out. You are a little shocked about how expensive grocery shopping is but head home and finally have breakfast.

The next couple of days go by quickly and there is the first day of university. For the first class ever you plan to wear your lucky boxers and favourite t-shirt, but they are both in the pile of dirty laundry. You are frustrated and then you remember that you are so used to your mum doing the laundry that you just forgot. You can hear your mums nagging voice again as she tells you to look closely at how to work the washing machine. Of course you had better things to do than realise the importance of this information. You head to your class and you meet a bunch of new people. After class you decide to go for coffee with them and you chat about home and everyone tells how much fun they are having with their new freedom. You look stern and when your new friends ask you, if something was wrong and if you wouldn’t enjoy your freedom, you just say: “I guess reality has kicked in!”

Reflection

This story is based partly on things I have experienced when I started my studies and moved out from home. At first I loved my freedom but soon I came to realise that it came with a price. The fridge did not fill itself by magic and I had to plan my day carefully because sometimes I had classes that lasted to seven at night and back home this means that the shops were already closed. I also learned to cook alone because I had only ever been a helping hand around the kitchen at home.

When I planned to write this story I got the ideas from my past, but I wanted to try and figure out how a British male could face similar problems. I already knew how to do the laundry and iron clothes, cook some dishes and plan grocery shopping. I like to think that there are always two sides to a coin. Nothing is always purely positive or negative. You have to try and figure out how to see the positive and also be aware that something bad might spoil the ‘perfect’ thing.

This experience can show how you change your role in society. First you were a child that had to obey rules but suddenly you become an adult and you have lots of new found freedom. But this freedom comes with a price as there are many responsibilities that come along with it. With the change of your role in society you could also say that your cultural role changes.

Verena Kroepfl