u/UseExternal3224

hello, Southampton student here in my last year. i am 21 and still can’t drive… which is becoming a headache for me. i don’t really know where to start but does anyone have any driving school recommendations? particularly nervous driver but can’t keep relying on public transport.

i have about £5000 saved but could extend up realistically if needed.

also any suggestions for starter cars would be greatly appreciated but not a priority as when i move back home in london we dont have a driveway.

thanks in advance!

hello, looking for some advice regarding different postgraduate courses in the UK and some advice about different “focuses” of each course. and if you went what you liked/didn’t like about it please?

im looking to apply this year for starting september 2027.

im mostly looking at:

- guildhall school of music (my favourite by the looks of it so far)
- roehampton

but open to others

i have a year’s experience as a music therapy assistant / intern in paeds palliative care and six months intern at an adults day service / community setting

im particularly interested in neurorehab, grief work, profound and multiple learning disabilities, work in schools and again palliative care (which i really loved)

any advice super appreciated, thanks!

Has anyone else experienced this after taking a year out of college 🥲

I was the only one in my friendship group to secure an internship, so I have spent the last 9 months away from uni. Before that, I was part of a really close group of 7 and saw them pretty much every day. I was also quite well known within the same society I’d made these friends from.

Being away has shown me which friendships were built on real mutual effort and which were kinda based on proximity. I find myself being the one constantly reaching out, trying to make plans, and keep in touch, only to get ignored or ghosted in group chats. A planned joint birthday I was meant to have with a friend went ahead without me, which I never understood. I think it was probably the point I realised something had majorly changed.

I also live with two people from the group but I am barely home. One tends to hang out with other friends over me, which is fair as she’s got closer friends. But the other has become openly different, which has been hard to come to terms with e.g. openly ignores me in the house and slams her bedroom door if she hears my voice in the house, when this time last year we would be laughing away with each other.

I stay on weekends and when I do see the group/go to socials now, everything feels different. The dynamics feel different, everything has changed and I don't really feel like myself around others anymore. Part of me wonders if I've done something wrong, but I genuinely can't think of anything as I’m so aware of hurting others and feel anxious about asking!! 🫤

The positive side is that I do have a couple of friends who consistently make me feel valued and put effort in, and a lovely boyfriend, and I'm really grateful for them.
I think I'm grieving the loss of a friendship group that was a huge part of my uni experience. Has anyone else felt like they've simply outgrown or lost a group they once felt incredibly close to??

I just don’t understand. I’ve reached out, given my all to make sure im always there for them and a good friend. I celebrate their achievements. But this year when I swum a marathon for charity I didn’t get a single well done. I know friendships aren’t transactional but to be consistently ignored hurts a lot. I just feel like a lot of college friendships can be a bit superficial and flaky and I should just pull up my big girl pants and make decent friends 🫠