On the 30th June 2014, I awaited an email from Lancaster University, confirming whether or not my 1st year exam results were high enough for me to progress onto a year abroad. Having already been selected to attend the University of Calgary, I was very anxious to receive this email to say the least.
1pm. 2pm. 3pm… no email. At around 3:30pm I couldn’t wait any longer to hear the result. I quickly located my study abroad advisor’s office number and called her promptly. My heartbeat was in sync with the dialling-tone of the call, awaiting the welcoming “hello” from the familiar voice.
“Hi Emily [the study abroad advisor in question]” I warmly said when the phone was picked up, “It’s Phil Power here. I thought I would give you a call about my year abroad, because I haven’t received an email yet”.
“Oh hi Phil, lovely to hear from you” said Emily, returning the warmness I previously delivered. “I’m guessing you would like me to tell you the decision” Emily says in a pleasant tone, knowing full well that’s the only reason why I was calling.
“Yes please! I’ve been so nervous all of today waiting for your email to come through” I reply in the most upbeat way possible, without sounding too frustrated/angry/desperate/nervous – all of the above basically.
“Sorry about that, I’ve been rather slow with them because there are so many I have to send out”.
“Oh it’s no problem, I understand. I just couldn’t wait to find out”. My voice at this point has a high intonation in order to sound as cheery as possible, to cover up the high amount of doubt in the back of my mind which was yelling “I bet you messed up those exams!”.
“Let me just get your information up here” announces Emily. I can hear clicks of a mouse through the telephone. It was like standing on the stage of one of those horrendous talent shows, waiting for some dreadful presenter such as Dermot O’Leary to announce whether I’m through to the live semi-finals.
“Ah, here it is” highlights Emily. “And yep, you can indeed go abroad next year”.
A large smile spread across my face through a mixture of shock and sheer joy.
My first year at Lancaster University consisted of a lot of socialising, many interesting nights out to town and low amounts of further reading. The overriding doubt made me believe that I definitely hadn’t done enough to get the higher grades which were essential to go abroad. However, all of those feelings were washed away instantly upon knowing I had scraped through to secure my position as a study abroader.
The following 2 minutes spent talking to Emily became a blur through the overshadowing of positive thoughts which filled my head, combined with the opportunities which I knew were now inevitable.
I can easily state that the above phone call was the best I’ve ever experienced. After ending the call, I placed my iPhone into my pocket, and suddenly feeling like a free man, with no doubt hanging over me. I sprung into action soon after by looking-up potential flights, medical insurance etc.
So there it is… the beginning of my story. As for the middle, I’m sure it’ll be a lot longer and more interesting. And the end – well, let’s not get ahead of ourselves.
Banff, AB. 
Lancaster to Calgary 