My name is Jason Kennedy. I’m a post-leaving cert student from Borrisokane, Co. Tipperary and right now I’m in limbo; trapped somewhere between the familiar comfort of secondary school life and the new and exciting world of the University of Limerick.

At the time I’m writing this, it has been ten weeks since I finished my leaving certification examinations, where I thought the words ‘crash’ and ‘burn’ would be applicable. During the exams there were times when I left out vital answers, spent too much time on unimportant questions and left my rushed writing disjointed, disarranged and generally ugly. I pitied the examiner who would have to struggle through my papers.

Imagine my surprise when I opened my results envelope on Wednesday the 13^th and found that the points I had gathered landed me a place in my first choice course; Journalism and New Media. This worked out brilliantly, as I also had a room booked on campus. Although it may seem like everything is well organised, I have no idea what to expect. I’ve only ever visited the UL Campus once - briefly. I didn’t even make it to the open day! The only information I have on the campus is what I've read off the internet and what friends and relatives, who are students, have told me.

But still, I’ve learned a lot from the UL website, especially about the clubs and societies. Throughout my time in my alma mater, Borrisokane Community College , I’ve always had an active interest in such extra-curricular activities and I don’t intend to stop now. Societies, such as the drama, journalism and comedy societies would particularly rouse my interest. As for the clubs, I’m willing to give windsurfing, sub-aqua and kayaking a go. Not the normal sports that we have in the middle of Tipperary . These are the interesting details I was looking up when I should have been cramming for my leaving cert. Lately I’ve been looking up the entertainment that will be hitting the campus for orientation week. The prospect of bungee walks, dodgeball and live music already have me excited.

So it’s only a matter of days until I discover what student life is really like. I’m already having images of beans on toast, sausage rolls, tonnes of tuna and of course, the obligatory pyramid of beer cans on the windowsill. So I’m ready to make the leap from a familiar face in a small town to a little fish in a big pond and do you know what? I can’t wait.